A note from the Chapter: Greetings and BIG NEWS

We hope you are all well and staying safe during these challenging times.  It is not easy on any of us, but we hope you are able to spend a little time thinking about and working in your gardens.  Being outside, digging in the earth, planting or cleaning up weeds and debris, can be very satisfying – and good for the soul, not to mention the flora planted and the pollinators that visit your garden.

Our devoted group of volunteers have been able to continue to do maintenance work in the Martha Walker Garden, as there is enough room (and enough weeds) for us to find an area in which to work while maintaining a good 30-50 feet apart.  You can’t imagine how good it is to pull weeds and mulch the cleaned area for 2-3 hours.  If you are so inclined and would like to join us on a Wednesday morning, let us know by sending an email to henni@napavalleycnps.org.  We work from 9:00 to noon, but if you want to come by for an hour or so, that would be fine, too.

May 2020 Plant Sale Details (the BIG NEWS)

Although we had to cancel our annual Spring Plant Sale and Wildflower Show, we are going to have an online sale so you can purchase native plants that you have been dreaming of.  Thanks to the support, ingenuity, and technical expertise of the staff at the State office of CNPS, we are setting up the online sale.  Here are some particulars:

• The sale inventory will go ‘live’ on Sunday, May 24 for members and on May 26 for everyone else. You will be able to shop through Sunday, May 31.  We will send out an email blast with the link to the Napa Valley Plant Sale for each group the day before.
• We will post an availability list on our website, napavalleycnps.org, on May 17. That will give you plenty of time to peruse our offerings.
• You will place your order, pay, and schedule your pickup time online.
• Orders will be processed in the order in which they are received and will be assembled during the following week.
• Pick up of orders, outside the gate to our sale area in Skyline Park, will be the weekend of June 6 & 7. In order to maintain compliance with social distancing, for your protection and ours, pick ups will be scheduled at 15 minute intervals.
• We will have a contact number listed if it is necessary to contact us, and we will request that you provide contact information for us to contact you.
• There will be representatives at the gate to assist you and to answer any questions you may have.
• Because we had to cancel our usual sale, the inventory is smaller than usual. We have large inventories of some plants that we have propagated ourselves, but have limited or very limited quantities of other plants.  In some cases, we have only 1 of a particular cultivar.  Available inventory will be tracked as the sale proceeds.
• There is also a small number of plants that need nurturing, as they are looking stressed from being in their pots a little too long. These will have a special reduced sale price and will be clearly marked as a SALE PLANT.  While not in ideal condition, you may find that a bargain plant can still thrive with proper care.

While not an ideal way to have our sale, as we like to be able to help you find the right plant for the right place, and give you some advice about planting and care, we hope this will be a good substitute for no sale at all.  We will be happy to answer any questions, either via email or by phone, during and after the sale.

Thank you in advance for supporting Napa Valley Chapter of CNPS and continuing to enjoy the beauty of native plants.

Below are samples of sale plants and the plants in the garden

Ribes sanguineum var glutinosum pink flowering currant	Rhododendron Occidentale ‘Irene Koster’	Pysocarpus capitalism, Pacific Ninebark
Dudleya farinosa , Bluff Lettuce	Ceanothus ‘Diamond Heights’	Erioginum umbellatum var aureum ‘Kannah Creek’