Monarchs & Local Butterflies w/ Bug Bob Allen
May 10, 2024
Monarchs and Butterflies of Orange County
Category: Blog
California Native Garden: Plant Selection and Establishment Throughout the Seasons w/ Colin Dunleavy
April 22, 2024
Saturday workshop w/ Colin Dunleavy!
April in the Natural Garden
April 13, 2024
The cool (never extremely cold) and consistently wet winter/spring season has allowed us to put our gardens on autopilot. Even brand new plantings have required very little extra attention. Our storms have stacked up evenly over the last six months or so, totaling 20” of rain to date (TOLN reading), with more on the immediate horizon. Rejoicing in another easy year to be a naturist gardener.
Requiem for a Beach
February 19, 2024
This stretch of coastline is unique in our state and in all the world. The round-rock-cobble-reef, formed by enormous long-ago flows from two creeks: the San Onofre and San Mateo, make for rolling surf where keikis and groms learn to surf, and experienced surfers toy with waves that are perfect for simply being toyed with. When it was big, the grown-ups would ask us, “Did you make it out to first break today?”
“Inspiring the Next Generation” – CNPS-OC Membership Drive & Spring Plant Sale
February 16, 2024
Spring Plant Sale & Presentation by Tony Tubbs.
February in the Natural Garden
January 31, 2024
Our climate zone is called Mediterranean, but maybe we should start referring to our weather as uniquely “Californian.” We get our rain in winter and spring. But in between what we call “rain events,” we can have some of the most beautiful days imaginable. It is not uncommon to appreciate a perfect 78 degree beach day, only to be immediately followed by cold blustery winds, heavy rain, and snow levels below 3000 feet. Three or four days like that and when it clears, we’re back to the beach! No where on earth is quite like this.
January in the Natural Garden
January 12, 2024
“Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. But humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine for example, one need be neither god nor poet. One need only own a good shovel.” Aldo Leopold
December in the Natural Garden
December 9, 2023
December is a quiet month, at least in the world of nature. The natural garden is a quiet place as well, and a perfect refuge for us in a month when many are running about…
November in the Natural Garden
November 12, 2023
Fall is in the air and the breeze, in the soil and on the calendar. And just in time, as always, comes the perfect precursor for winter, when our natural gardens grow ever quiet.