Planting & Design Guide
Try our native garden planting and design guide!
This page catalogs resources both within and without the Chapter.
The Chapter sponsors an annual fall plant sale, monthly public programs about native plants and related subjects, and an occasional Spring Garden Tour. We maintain a native plant garden at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center (PVIC) in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes (RPV). Members may engage in weed eradication, rare plant monitoring, seed collection, plant community sampling, community outreach and other chapter programs.
The chapter received a bequest of $392,000 from the Vincent Conze Living Trust on March 5, 2009, in support of “native plant garden projects.” We started giving Conze grants in 2010 and as of 2021 we are still providing grants to the community.
California Native Plant Society
Parent Organization
Neighboring CNPS Chapters
Other Organizations
- California Oak Foundation
- Endangered Habitats League
- Friends of Gardena Willows Wetland Preserve
- Friends of Madrona Marsh
- Surfrider Foundation – Ocean Friendly Gardens Program
- Weeding Wild Suburbia – Adventures with Native Plants
- Beautify Lunada Bay – Lunada Bay HOA native plant installation
Botanic Gardens
Classes
Garden Tours
Theodore Payne Garden Tour (typically end of April)
Invasive Plants
Purchase Native Plants & Seeds
Retail
- Las Pilitas Nursery
- Matilija Nursery – Moorpark
- California Botanic Garden’s “Grow Native Nursery” – Claremont
- Theodore Payne Foundation – Sun Valley
- Tree of Life Nursery – San Juan Capistrano
- Larner Seeds
Wholesale
- El Nativo Growers – Azusa (retail by e-mail)
- Native Sons – Arroyo Grande
- RECON Native Plants – San Diego
- San Marcos Growers – Santa Barbara
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Mar 02 2026
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Jan 27 2026 
Point Vicente Garden Volunteering
Join experts Megan and Cannon as they lead a gardening event for experts and novices alike!
Come join us on a…
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Jan 06 2026 
Jan 20th – Native Plants 101, Harte Library, Long Beach
Join CNPS South Coast at the Harte Library in Long Beach, 1595 W. Willow Street, on January 20th and 24th…
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Apr 01 2025 
Poppies, Grown by Leuzinger High School
Teacher Nicole Hamasaki Chang and her class at Leuzinger High School grew out some California Poppies for us this spring. …
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Jan 22 2025 
Fire and Recovery
Arroyo Lupine looking into unprotected pool area next to Southern tarplant protected area
Our hearts are with everyone affected by the…
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Oct 07 2024 Native Plants for the S. Ca. Habitat Garden
NATIVE PLANTS FOR THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HABITAT GARDEN
Perennial Herbs and Ground covers Height x Width*Asterisk denotes plants that are locally…
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May 23 2024 
June 3 7:30 PM – Brandy Williams on An Inner-city Pollinator Oasis
See the video of this meeting at https://youtu.be/YsBSGqHOrOE
Abstract
Learn how a small residential landscape in South Central Los Angeles supports local… -
Mar 06 2024 Mar 24 – Gardening at Point Vicente Interpretive Center 10-12 – please reserve a ticket
Come join us for a short day (10 AM – noon) of cleaning up our beautiful native garden at PVIC!…
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Jan 26 2024 
Feb 5 – Whole-System Gardens & The Carbon Culture with Studio Petrichor
Dee’s notes from tonight’s meeting
Tony will be leading a plant identification walk at Madrona Marsh on Sunday Mar 10, from… -
Dec 20 2023 Native Plant Garden and Landscape Service Providers: Design, Installation, and Maintenance
This is a placeholder blog post while we accumulate initial content and review our policies.
CNPS is a non-profit organization that…
Planning & Information
- Calscape – hundreds of plants and pictures for each zip code
- Las Pilitas Nursery
- Tree of Life Nursery
- Council for Watershed Health sustainable landscape resources
Reference
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Nov 15 2022 The Darkness Manifesto: On Light Pollution, Night Ecology, and the Ancient Rhythms that Sustain Life
If you have a general interest in conservation, then you may be…
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Jun 01 2022 Book: Plant Life in California’s Deserts
We received this press release today and thought that it might be…
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Oct 07 2020 Field Guide to California Insects
As a native plant enthusiast I am often curious about the bugs…
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Jul 14 2020 
Baker’s Dozen recommended plant books (2020)
We are proud to present Tony Baker’s list of the best /…
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Apr 05 2020 Baker’s Dozen recommended plant books (2016)
Following forthwith is Tony Baker’s list of most recommended reference books for…
Relevant Blog Posts
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Mar 02 2026
Planting & Design Guide
Try our native garden planting and design guide!
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Jan 27 2026
Point Vicente Garden Volunteering
Join experts Megan and Cannon as they lead a gardening event for experts and novices alike!
Come join us on a beautiful Sunday morning and help us keep our garden clean, healthy, and beautiful. You will be rewarded with sweeping ocean…
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Jan 06 2026
Jan 20th – Native Plants 101, Harte Library, Long Beach
Join CNPS South Coast at the Harte Library in Long Beach, 1595 W. Willow Street, on January 20th and 24th for a discussion on the basics of native plants, their ecological benefits, how to plant them, when to plant (now…
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Oct 17 2025 
Friends of Banning Museum receive Conze Grant
Congratulations to the Friends of Banning Park!
On November 1, 2010 the Board awarded the first Conze grant to Friends of the Parks, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Hermosa Beach, for the purpose of renovating the historic Theodore Payne Native Flora…
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Sep 27 2025 
Point Vicente Garden Volunteers Needed
Come join us 2nd or 3rds weekends in the month on beautiful Sunday mornings and help us keep our Point Vicente native plant garden clean, healthy and beautiful. You will be rewarded with sweeping ocean views, the fresh sea breeze…
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Aug 26 2025 
PVPLC Receives $13.35k Conze Grant
Congratulations to PVPLC for a successful Conze proposal.
On November 1, 2010 the Board awarded the first Conze grant to Friends of the Parks, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Hermosa Beach, for the purpose of renovating the historic Theodore Payne Native…
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Jul 21 2025 
CNPS Veg-a-thon
I recently had the opportunity to participate in a CNPS Veg-a-thon in the San Bernardino Mountains near Big Bear Lake. It was a great learning experience, I saw many new plants, and was surrounded by an excellent group of people.…
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Apr 01 2025
Poppies, Grown by Leuzinger High School
Teacher Nicole Hamasaki Chang and her class at Leuzinger High School grew out some California Poppies for us this spring. Seeds were provided by Tony Baker and are collected with permission. A notable aspect of the seeds is that they…
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Jan 22 2025
Fire and Recovery
Arroyo Lupine looking into unprotected pool area next to Southern tarplant protected area
Our hearts are with everyone affected by the fires in Southern California. The losses, both immediate and those that will emerge in the days to come, are beyond…
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Oct 07 2024 Native Plants for the S. Ca. Habitat Garden
NATIVE PLANTS FOR THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HABITAT GARDEN
Perennial Herbs and Ground covers Height x Width*Asterisk denotes plants that are locally native to the coastal areas of the CNPS South Coast Chapter
NOTE: Two useful online tools: Use Calscape to find plants…