Chapter Happenings
Lots of happenings happened since the last newsletter in June!
The chapter started off the summer with its June public program and 50th anniversary celebration at the UCSC Arboretum. Plant lovers old and new, a plant identification session focusing on grasses (Big kudos to Lucy Ferneyhough and Grace Brieger for tackling that!) displays, a slide show, a welcome from the Arboretum’s new Executive Director Rick Flores, a presentation on the chapter’s logo Santa Cruz cypress (Hesperocyparis abramsiana var. abramsiana) and Butano cypress (H. a. var. butanoensis), cakes and free gifts for all combined to create a festive and fun gathering.
The meeting room was bursting at the seams with folks coming to learn, eat cake, and take home new stickers as well as multiple free plants. While many folks contributed, special thanks go to Jodi McGraw for a wonderful presentation, Liza Ferneyhough for her design used to create a beautiful new sticker, Luen Miller of Monterey Bay Nursery and Josh Fodor of Central Coast Wilds for their donations of beautiful and bountiful native plants, Stephen McCabe for Dudleya donations, and to the fantastic members of our chapter!
Summer included ongoing chapter activities in habitat restoration, field trips, propagation, and conservation as well as several community collaborations, starting in July with the chapter celebrating Cabrillo Horticulture’s 50th Anniversary, with Kari Olsen and Jill Baldwinson hosting a table in the CNPS growing area to show and talk about how we work together. August brought an invitation to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, which Linda Brodman, Laurie Kiguchi, Kari Olsen and her sister Lisa were more than happy to accept to honor this long-standing partnership. Finally, the chapter extended its community connections via a collaboration with the Advocates of Nisene Marks State Park in their effort to landscape the new sign at the entrance of the park road.
Summer ended with a standing-room-only turnout for Nicky Hughes’ sip and stroll through Cabrillo Hort’s planned garden and the nursery. The chapter was pleased to offer a location more convenient to members living in south county and even more pleased to see that southbound traffic from Santa Cruz was manageable at 6 p.m. One wow factor followed another as people experienced the beautiful horticulture building with its knockout views of Monterey Bay, identification of composite (Asteraceae) flowers with Grace Brieger and Lucy Ferneyhough, Nicky’s presentation and tour of the facilities (aided by new Cabrillo Horticulture Center Coordinator Mercy Olmstead), the gorgeous plants being grown by our propagation lead Kari Olsen and the propagation team, and finally the treats and numerous lovely door prize specimens of coast buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium, from local seed) and Santa Cruz island buckwheat (E. arborescens).
That set the scene for our next event coming up right around the corner – the highly anticipated Fall Plant Sale! Following on its heels will be the October public program about the flora of the northern Sierra, field trips exploring two different habitats of our coast (first to the south and then to the north), and a December public program about seaweeds. We continue to strive to offer a variety of programs and experiences for our members while promoting education and preservation of native plants – and welcome your ideas! –Laurie Kiguchi