Big Bear Xeriscape Tour and Plant Sale July 16

Rose Sage will be on sale at Hunter's Nursery. © Orchid Black

I’ll be up in Big Bear this weekend at Hunter’s Nursery, providing native plant advice for drought-tolerant high-elevation gardens during the Big Bear Xeriscape Tour.  Hunter’s carries some amazing local Big Bear native plants.  Most are grown from local seed, and many are rare.   See the resources page where I have posted the list of plants available as well as instructions on how to plant them. The best selection is on the day of the tour, but Hunter’s will carry these special plants until they sell out.

The Sierra Club co-hosts the tour with the BBLDWP.  The tour is free, and it starts at Emingers Mountain Nursery at 41223 Big Bear Boulevard.  Participants can stop by between 9am and noon on Saturday, July 16, to pick up a tour booklet.  The tour continues until 4pm.

Hunter’s Nursery is at 42132 Fox Farm Rd., kitty-corner from the K-Mart, Big Bear, 909-866-2547

 

“Easy Natives” featured in Calabasas Patch

Shawna Burreson has written a great article about the “Easy California Natives” class that I taught last week for the Theodore Payne Foundation out at Mountains Restoration Trust in Calabasas.

“In her lecture ‘Easy Native Plants,’ Orchid Black discusses the vital relationship among birds, bugs and blooms and how to fight fire with flora… …“I work for the birds and bees, but the people pay me,” Black said, evoking laughter from a group of dozen gardening enthusiasts. “Our goal is not just to have pretty flowers, it’s to have habitats that work.”  Read Article“

Shawna captured the essence of both the class and the work the Trust is doing.

“In addition to a native plant sale, the trust is hosting a variety of events this summer aimed at providing awareness of restorative efforts, including nature camps for children, docent-led trail hikes, naturalist programs and an open house.”

It’s a fun piece, and while there are a few errors of fact which will be corrected, the enjoyment of the participants shines through.

 

Greener Gardens Starts June 23 at UCLA

I’ll be teaching ‘Greener Gardens: Sustainable Garden Practice’ again at UCLA Extension starting Thursday, June 23  with co-instructor David King. People who take this class will get the benefit of the breadth of experience that each of us brings to sustainability in the garden. This class fulfills an elective for the certificate programs in both Horticulture and Global Sustainability.

We’ll be covering sustainable design, soils,  swales and earthworks,  appropriate use of greywater and rainwater harvesting, along with the basics of native and drought-tolerant planting. All aspects of sustainable backyard food will be addressed.

Following is a quote from the UCLA Extension website:

“Sustainability is today’s buzzword and many people seek to create a lifestyle with a more favorable impact on the environment. From home and school gardens, to commercial sites, our gardens present the perfect place to start. Designed for horticulture students, gardening professionals, educators, and home gardeners, this course focuses on turning your green thumb into a “greener” garden. Topics include composting, irrigation, water harvesting, water wise plants, eating and growing local produce, recycling, and moving away from a consumptive, non-sustainable lifestyle when choosing materials and tools. … “

I’m pleased to teaching this class again with David.  He will be a panelist for the upcoming Dwell on Design event and is regularly quoted by the Los Angeles Times and other outlets. His expertise includes sustainable food gardens. He teaches for both Extension and for the Master Gardeners, as well as frequently lecturing and writing about gardening. He blogs at The Beautiful Food Garden.

Here’s a link to UCLA Extension page for the class, which is still open:

https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/Course.aspx?cn=X+498.10&dc=BIOLGY

 

CNPS Plant Walk, Eaton Canyon, May 8

I’ll be leading the Mother’s Day plant walk for the San Gabriel Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Cliff and Gabi McLean, who usually lead the May walk, are out of town.

You do not need to be a member to participate. We will learn some plant families. Because of the late rains, there should still be flowers.

We meet at 9 a.m. at the flagpole in front of Eaton Canyon Nature Center, 1750 N. Altadena Drive, Pasadena. Water, sunscreen, hats are suggested. A hand lens is helpful. Children are welcome with parents. See you there!

 

Tree of Life Lecture April 20 for CNPW

I’ll be giving two lectures for California Native Plant Week:

Tree of Life, April 20, 12 noon

Luncheon with Native Plant Landscape Designer Orchid Black
Bring a sack lunch and come ready to soak up some valuable native plant design information.  Orchid has worked in a variety of award winning projects and knows her natives and projects inside and out.  We look forward to her presentation over lunch, as always, bring your questions!

I’ll also speak on Easy Natives on the same day at the Alhambra Democratic Club, starting at 7:30,  at 368 W. Main Street, Alhambra.

 

Easy Natives Talk at Theodore Payne, Sat. 1/8

I’ll be giving my Easy Native Plants for the Garden talk at The Theodore Payne Foundation this weekend!

Saturday, January 8, 1:30pm – 3:30pm

Theodore Payne Foundation,

10459 Tuxford Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 (map), 818-768-1802.

$20 members, $30 non-members

Presenting a fabulous palette of bulletproof species and cultivars  (that is, plants selected for reliability or consistent bloom) – plants that thrive in a wide range of garden situations. A great session for beginners and experienced gardeners!

Theodore Payne classes fill up quickly, so you may want to preregister by calling them  at 818-768-1802.

Here is their Calendar.

Scroll down to this post for a list of plants that will be covered.

 

Four Boxes at Cal Poly Pomona

Four Boxes in the Readymade Forest:
The Farmer, The Architect, The Landscape Architect and The Chef
Friday October 1, 6:30 PM in the atrium of Building 7
College of Environmental Design, Cal Poly Pomona

Residential Carex and Perennial Wildflower Meadow

Event Participants:
Kulapat Yantrasast, Design Director, wHY Architecture

Kyle Brown, Ph.D., ASLA, Director, John T. Lyle Center, Cal Poly Pomona
Ed Bobich, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Plant Organismal Biology, Cal Poly Pomona
Orchid Black, of Pitcher Sage Design, a garden design practice specializing in California native plants, educator and native food enthusiast
Mike Brown, BioTrek Curator, Department of Biological Sciences, Cal Poly Pomona

I am privileged to be invited to speak about my design process for designing the proposed new meadow at Cal Poly Pomona’s Biotrek.

I will be in amazing company: wHY Architecture designed the first LEED Museum, the Lyle Center sets the standard for science-based sustainable systems design;  and Dr. Bobich, my former professor for California Flora (Taxonomy), will speak about the carbon implications of Lawns versus Meadows.  Mike Brown, of Biotrek, one of the most knowledgeable and creative people in ethnobotany in the region, will speak about eating native and provide a native food tasting.  I’ll be contributing Acorn-Mesquite-Cornbread to the tasting.

Yarrow, Blue-Eyed Grass and Carex in Residential Meadow

 

Big Bear Xeriscape Tour and Plant Sale

I’ll be up in Big Bear this weekend at Hunter’s Nursery, providing native plant advice for drought-tolerant high-elevation gardens during the Big Bear Xeriscape Tour.  This is the 5th year that I’ve done this – the first year, we had the plants on my friends the Otterstrom’s deck!  Hunter’s carries some amazing local Big Bear native plants.  Most are grown from local seed, and many are rare.   See the resources page where I have posted the list of plants available as well as instructions on how to plant them.

The Sierra Club hosts the tour with the BBLDWP.  The tour is free, and it starts at Emingers Mountain Nursery at 41223 Big Bear Boulevard.  Participants can stop by between 9am and noon on Saturday, July 24, to pick up a tour booklet.  The tour continues until 4pm.

Hunter’s Nursery is at 42132 Fox Farm Rd., kitty-corner from the K-Mart, Big Bear, 909-866-2547

for more information: http://www.bbldwp.com/Xeriscape/Tour2010/page.htm

 

Easy Natives for your Garden List

Gabi McLean, President of our local CNPS chapter, asked me at one point for a list of ‘bulletproof plants.’  Bulletproof plants are ones that grow in a variety of situations without much attention, and are what many people ask for in a garden plant: reliable and sturdy. They are tolerant of some water, since most gardens look better with some irrigation, but live without lots of water.   They have a predictable shape and size, and are often floriferous.  Many of the groundcover plants are listed because they are so useful, other plants are useful because they are taller than they are wide.  The following plants are the list that I used from my May talk at the San Gabriel Mountains CNPS chapter.  It is not comprehensive;  I had to fit the talk into an hour.  I’m putting the list here because people at the lecture asked me to.  If this post is helpful to people, I may expand it to its own page at some point, with commentary and pretty photos.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Yarrow
‘Island Pink’ Yarrow
‘Sonoma Coast’ Yarrow
‘Carmel Sur’ Manzanita
‘Howard McMinn’ Manzanita
‘John Dourley’ Manzanita Groundcover
‘Wayside’ Manzanita Groundcover
‘Golden Abundance’ Oregon Grape
Creeping Oregon Grape
‘Pigeon Point’ Coyote Brush
Baja Fairy Duster
‘Anacapa Pink’ Island Morning Glory
Meadow Sedge
Bush Anemone
‘Concha’ California Lilac
‘Ray Hartman’ California Lilac
‘Snow Flurry’ California Lilac
‘Yankee Point’ California Lilac
Island Bush Poppy
Britton’s Dudleya
California Sunflower Bush
‘W.R.’ Seaside Daisy
‘Dana Point’ California Buckwheat
Rosy Buckwheat
‘Siskyou Blue’ Idaho Fescue
Island Snapdragon
Toyon
‘Wendy’ Coral Bells
‘Susanna’ Coral Bells
Desert Lavender
Douglas Iris and Pacific Coast Hybrids
Chuparosa
Chuparosa, yellow variety
‘Canyon Prince’ Giant Wildrye
‘Silver Carpet’ Aster
Deergrass
‘Margarita BOP’ Penstemon
Eaton’s Penstemon
Catalina Currant
‘Mound San Bruno’ Coffeeberry
‘Allen Chickering’ Sage
‘Winifred Gilman’ Cleveland Sage
‘Bee’s Bliss’ Sage Groundcover
‘Mrs. Beard’ Sage Groundcover
Blue-eyed Grass
Apricot Mallow
Cedros Island Verbena
San Diego Sunflower
California Fuschia

Achillea millefolium
Achillea millefolium selection
Achillea millefolium selection
Arctostaphylos edmundsii
Arctostaphylos densiflora hybrid
Arctostaphylos hybrid
Arctostaphylos hookeri selection
Berberis (Mahonia) aquifolium selection
Berberis (Mahonia) repens
Baccharis pilularis selection
Calliandra californica
Calystegia macrostegia selection
Carex praegracilis
Carpinteria californica
Ceanothus hybrid
Ceanothus hybrid
Ceanothus hybrid
Ceanothus griseus var. horizontalis sel.
Dendromecon harfordii
Dudleya brittoni
Encelia californica
Erigeron glaucus selection
Eriogonum fasciculatum selection
Eriogonum grande rubescens
Festuca idahoensis selection
Galvezia speciosa
Heteromeles arbutifolia
Heuchera hybrid
Heuchera hybrid
Hyptis emoryi
Iris douglasiana and PCH
Justicia californica
Justicia californica
Leymus condensatus selection
Lessingia filaginifolia selection
Muhlenbergia rigens
Penstemon heterophyllus hybrid
Penstemon eatonii
Ribes viburnifolium
Rhamnus californica selection
Salvia clevelandii x leucophylla
Salvia clevelandii selection
Salvia sonomensis hybrid
Salvia sonomensis hybrid
Sisyrinchium bellum
Sphaeralcea ambigua
Verbena lilacena
Viguera laciniata
Zauschneria (Epilobium) californica

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Printable Easy Natives List (pdf)

 

Acorn Workshop at Farmlab

Metabolic Studio Public Salon:
Orchid Black
Friday, June 18, 2010 @ Noon
Free Admission

Oak our Mother, Acorns our Food: Preparing Acorns to Eat

Acorns have long been a food staple of Northern Hemisphere peoples for whom gathering and preparing them was an important communal task. In that spirit of sharing work and wisdom, join native plant expert Orchid Black for her introduction to the history and culture of this highly nutritious food. In a hands-on workshop we will identify different oak species, leach and grind flour, and eat yummy acorn cornbread.

PLEASE NOTE: Because this salon comprises a talk and workshop it will last longer than usual, ending around 2.30pm

Image: Shelled Acorns in a Pine Needle Bowl Handmade By Jim Otterstrom, © 2007. Courtesy Jim Otterstrom

FARMLAB ADDRESS:
Metabolic Studio
1745 N. Spring Street #4
Los Angeles, CA 90012

CONTACT:
Phone: 323 226 1158
email: info at farmlab dot org
web: www.farmlab.org
for directions

Find downloads of how to process acorns and a book list on the Resources page under Acorn Resources.