Month: September 2012

by

Annual Native Plant Sale on October 6

Download Pre-Order form at this link.
__________________________________________________

Can you help the Chapter to share the gift of growing natives?
October 6 , 2012 from 10-4 pm*
(*or until all plants are sold)
CNPS members will be allowed into the plant sale 
for the first hour, from 9-10 am.

The Chapter’s Annual Native Plant Sale will be held in the backyard of the Three Rivers Arts Center. You will find an enclosed pre-order form, with a discount given to Chapter members. We do our best to fill the pre-orders, but sometimes plants are not available from the nurseries as the plant sale gets closer. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Volunteers are needed to help set up the plant sale on Friday, October 5 at 10 am. Cathy Capone and Melanie Keeley will be the leaders for this important task. Cathy will be arranging the plants and Melanie will be making sure all the ordered plants are on the truck from Intermountain Nursery. We will also have plants from Cathy’s nursery in Porterville, Cal Natives. We are so fortunate to have these two wonderful nurseries supplying us with locally grown native plants.

Janet Fanning will be in charge of all pre-orders and sales. Please call Janet, at 559-561-3461, for more information or to volunteer for the Native Plant Sale on Saturday. Please join us!

by

Green Faire is coming on October 6

Alta Peak Chapter will be the sponsor and organizer for the 6th Annual Green Faire, that will be held in conjunction with the native plant sale at the Three Rivers Arts Center. Environmental groups and non-profit organizations may have a complimentary table/booth to share information with the public.

Artists and crafts persons are invited to sell their work in booths, both inside, outside, and in part of the parking lot of the Arts Center.  Artwork can be in any media but must be inspired by the natural world, or be made from recycled materials, or reflect aspects of environmental concern. Booth sizes are variable and not necessarily the standard 10 x 10 ft square. Booths are available both inside the Arts Center and outside, in the front yard and part of the parking lot.  The Green Faire will also be part of the First Saturday arts event that day. Booth fee is $10, payable to CNPS. No percentage of sales is required.

Deadline for booth registration is September 28, and must done by calling Elsah Cort at 559-561-4671. Booths must remain open from 9-4 pm.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Green Home Tour: Sunday, October 7
Tours start at 12 noon and at 1 pm

Five special sites, located throughout Three Rivers, are on the Green Home Tour, which is now in its 6th year and is part of the Annual National Solar Tour. Each location showcases active or passive solar powered, incorporate recycled materials, earth forms and other natural materials.  One site is a multi-purpose garage, gym, and yoga studio built to Leed gold certification. A 6.5 KW solar system is mounted on the roof, and a west facing green living wall helps cool the space, and is a lovely hanging garden. Besides being innovative, all the sites are quite beautiful. Reservations are required for the two tours, one starting at 12 noon and the other at 1 pm. The groups will carpool to the locations.

Tickets are $15 per person or $25 per couple.
Call the Tour Organizer, Mona Selph, at 559-561-4676 to reserve a place.
Proceeds go to the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund for assisting with our local issues.

by

Re-imagining the California Lawn and Garden
 Using California Native Plants

Alta Peak Chapter Fall Program
September 15 , 2012 at 7 pm

Presenter: Bart O’Brien
,
Horticulturalist and Director of Special Projects
at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont

Three Rivers Arts Center
Directions: east on Highway 198 to Three Rivers. Turn left on North Fork Drive (just before Anne Lang’s Emporium).The Arts Center is the first building on the left after crossing the bridge over Kaweah River.

Bart O’Brien is one of the authors of Reimagining the California Lawn, along with Carol Bornstein and David Fross. They are visionary horticulturalists, who also wrote the award-winning book California Native Plants for the Garden. In this program, he will share his passion for water-wise plants and landscapes to help us discover the many possibilities and pleasures that come with reimagining our California lawn and garden.

This talk will cover the basics of gardening with California native plants (What is a California native plant? Why should I be interested in growing these plants? Why are these plants different from the usual plants found in nurseries?) as well as providing examples of some of the most beautiful and useful native plants from some of our best gardens and landscapes. These spectacular plants are then showcased through the prism of our five senses: touch, smell, sight, taste, and sound.

 

Bart O’Brien is Director of Special Projects at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (RSABG) in Claremont an educational institution dedicated to research, conservation, and horticulture of California. A fifth generation Californian, he is an authority on the native flora of the state and of northern Baja California, Mexico and is an accomplished collector, grower, photographer, lecturer, and author.

His most recent publication is a 514 page edit of a Percy Everett manuscript which was completed and published online earlier this year (2012) and is titled Second Summary of the Horticulture and Propagation of California Native Plants at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden 1950-1970. Bart’s ongoing work with the rivers of Los Angeles County resulted in the collaborative publication of the Los Angeles River Master Plan Landscaping Guidelines and Plant Palettes for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works in 2004, and his Plant Lists for the San Gabriel River Watershed for the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy in 2007.

Bart was named Horticulturist of the Year in 2005 by the Southern California Horticultural Society. O’Brien was listed as one of “The 100 Most Powerful People in Southern California” by the editorial staff of the Los Angeles Times/West Magazine (Aug. 13, 2006). Bart was also editor of Fremontia, the journal of CNPS, from 2006 to 2009.

Also, Bart is currently working on a wide array of native plant projects, including the following:

• Leading the rare, endangered, and endemic vascular plants of northwestern Baja California, Mexico project (primarily funded by the Jiji Foundation; The project cooperators are: José Delgadillo Rodriquez, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, Mexico; Steve Junak, Herbarium Curator, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara; Thomas Oberbauer, Chief Land Use Planner, San Diego County Department of Planning and Land Use, San Diego; Jon Rebman, Curator of Botany, San Diego Museum of Natural History, San Diego; Hugo Riemann, Departamento de Estudios Urbanos y del Medio Ambiente, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Tijuana, Mexico; and Sula Vanderplank, Herbarium Collections Manager, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont).

• Co-curating (with John Wickham of the Theodore Payne Foundation, Carolyn Bennett, and Kitty Connolly of The Huntington) the exhibit When They Were Wild of California native plant folk art at The Huntington’s Boone Gallery in the spring of 2013.