We have entered California Native Plant Month! California’s Legislature has made this month to recognize California as one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, with 6,500 different native plants and more plant diversity than any other U.S. state.

This diversity is noteworthy, but its importance, according to the California Native Plant Society, “California native plant gardening and landscaping have tremendous positive impacts to our watersheds, to habitat recovery and to curbing catastrophic wildfires.”

Benefits from California native plants:

Water savings: A sustainably designed native garden can use 85% less water per year than a traditional landscape, according to California’s Department of Water Resources.

Maintenance reduction: Once established, a California native garden eliminates the need for mowing and fertilizing lawns, applying pesticides and fertilizers and watering thirsty plants.

Wildlife and biodiversity increases:

Native plants create a functioning ecosystem by attracting the native insects and wildlife that depend upon these plants. Native pollinators can improve fruit and vegetable production in your home garden, and beneficial native insects, reptiles and birds can manage pests such as mosquitos, aphids and others.

Pesticide use reduction: Native plants defend themselves from many pests and diseases, and attract beneficial insects and animals that attack pests.

This reduces or eliminates the need for pesticides, which keeps toxins out of our waterways and soil, improves environmental and human health, and allows natural and beneficial pest controllers to thrive.

Connection to a California sense of place is enhanced: A garden with locally native plants creates a strong sense of place and helps connect you to the natural world.

With the recent rainfall and cooler weather, this is a good time to plant a native garden. The mild conditions typically associated with late fall through early spring allow plants to get established before the heat of summer arrives.

California native plant sale

With good timing, the Santa Cruz Chapter of the California Native Plant Society will hold its Spring Plant Sale on Saturday at Cabrillo College’s Horticulture Center.

See the details at “This week in the garden” below.

This year’s Spring Plant Sale offers over 500 annuals and 500 bulbs, many locally sourced, along with a wide selection of other perennial plants and shrubs.

CNPS has commented on one of the several of these plant’s benefits:

“Many California native plants make great choices for a ‘fire-safe’ garden.

In the thirty-foot zone around the house, native annuals, perennials, grasses and ferns (especially ones that hold onto moisture) are great options, along with some well-spaced, low-growing shrubs and, farther from the home, larger shrubs too.”

They recommend, “When assessing plants for a fire-safe garden, experts recommend focusing on plant characteristics rather than trusting to plant lists, which can vary. Fire-prone shrubs tend to have fine twigs or shredding bark and/or oily or resinous small, narrow leaves and may retain dry plant material.”

Fire-resistant California natives include flowering currents (a Ribes species is included in today’s image gallery), coffeeberry, toyon and manzanita.

Native annual plants are also featured in this sale because, during a short bloom period, they support birds, small mammals and beneficial insects, and reseed easily. Today’s image gallery includes examples: California poppy and lacy phacelia.

Dahlia tuber sale

The Monterey Bay Dahlia Society will hold its 2025 Dahlia Tuber Sale on Saturday 12 from 9 to 11 a.m. Thousands of dahlia tubers and dozens of dahlia plants will be for sale.

Dahlias, native to Mexico, grow easily and successfully in the Monterey Bay area and much of California.

Dahlia cultivars offer an astonishing range of colors and forms, making these plants pleasing additions to the garden, whether in swaths of the same color, combinations of complementary colors or (the popular option) individual collections of flavored varieties.

The MBDS’s Tuber Sale has the exceptional quality of offering unique cultivars developed by local growers and hybridizers.

For more about dahlias, visit the MBDS’s website (mbdahlias.org/resources) for “How to Grow Dahlias” and a link to the American Dahlia Society (dahlia.org). When visiting the MBDS site, also click on “Lovely Bouquets” for brief stories about people discovering dahlia gifts provided by the society.

This week in the garden

The CNPS Spring Sale Plant will be presented for a fairly short period: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Arrive early for the plants you want to add to your garden. The CNPS’s list will be available online at chapters.cnps.org/santacruz. For info on plants of interest, search for their botanical names at calscape.org.

Also Saturday, Cabrillo College Horticulture will hold its sale of perennials, shrubs, native plants and organic vegetable starts.

To find new plants for your garden, go to Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Dr., Aptos. Shuttle service will be available as there is limited parking. Carpool if possible.

Another featured sale on Saturday, the Monterey Bay Dahlia Society’s 2025 Dahlia Tuber Sale will be at the Capitola Mall, Capitola (to the left of the central fountain). Arrive early for the best selections; enthusiastic dahlia gardeners often collect all the tubers before 11 a.m. One benefit of being inside the mall is that the sale can go on as planned, rain or shine.

Enjoy your garden!

Tom Karwin can be reached at gardening@karwin.com