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| SPRING 2026 NEWSLETTER |
2026 Butterfly Festival in June
Native plants attract and support native pollinators like butterflies. Butterflies rely on native plants as important food sources and ideal habitat for laying their eggs. Young caterpillars are crucial food for adult birds to feed their chicks, and the interconnected beauty of California’s biodiversity continues from there! Date: Sunday, June 14 More info: bayareamonarchs.org |
Spring & Fall Plant Sale News
Despite a cold and windy day, the Chapter plant sale on May 2nd generated more revenue compared to last year’s sales! Between a steady stream of walk-in customers and our online pre-sales, we brought in an impressive $5,073 (compared to $4,394 at last spring’s sale and $4,796 last fall). Many people were looking for butterfly-friendly favorites like California Pipevine and various Milkweeds, and we ran out of those plants quickly. But, thanks to our knowledgeable volunteers who were on hand to provide recommendations, customers found other California natives that would thrive in their home gardens. One customer bought more than 40 plants! [READ MORE] |
New Faces on Jepson Board From left-to-right: Johanna Derkacz, Membership Committee Chair and Kristen Rogers, Public Outreach Committee Co-Chair.
Jepson Board President Pam Muick appointed two new directors to the Board that fill vacancies and to support her objective to bring new ideas to the Chapter. In May, Kristen Rogers accepted the position as Co-Chair of the Public Outreach Committee. More recently, Johanna Derkazc agreed to become Chair of the Membership Committee. Rogers inquired about the vacancy on the Outreach Committee after reading about it in the Winter 2026 newsletter. In responding to the announcement, Rogers stated “I am very interested in volunteering for the Outreach Chair Board position. All of the responsibilities are things I do regularly in my day job like produce newsletters, write articles and press releases, create social media posts, and design layouts and graphics. I would love to do these in service of the chapter and of educating people about native plants in general. And, I've wanted to get more involved with the chapter since I'm not able to help at the nursery anymore.” [READ MORE] |
Bucket List Wildflower Trip Driving through California Valley on March 20, 2026 approaching the north entrance to the Carrizo Plain National Monument looking towards the Caliente Mountain Range in San Luis Obispo County with Tidy Tips and Owls Clover in the foreground. A solar farm cuts across the top third of the photo and Owls Clover continues up the foothills.
By Steven Goetz As a life-long California resident and a CNPS member for many years, my “bucket-list” wildflower destinations included the Carrizo Plain and Santa Cruz Island. As part of a Jepson Chapter Board assignment to attend the March meeting of the CNPS Chapter Council in Carpinteria, my wife and I extended the weekend to visit Carrizo Plain and Santa Cruz Island during wildflower season. I thought to share this experience to encourage others to visit these locations when you can. Click here for photos from this trip. [READ MORE] |
2026 Garden Tour Wrap-Up & What's Next The Jepson Board heard a report on the County’s first native plant garden tour that occurred in April, and is considering whether to sponsor a similar tour in 2027. For the 2026 tour, the Jepson Chapter partnered with Sustainable Solano which has organized an annual garden tour for several years that focused on “food forests”. This year’s tour included several native plant gardens and docents were stationed at each garden to answer questions from visitors.Click here to see photos of the private gardens that were on the tour. The captions for these photos were provided by the garden hosts. Self-guided tours of native plant gardens in public spaces were offered the day following the private garden tours at eight locations throughout the county. Docents were stationed at three of these locations. Click here for a list and map of the Public gardens on the tour.
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Native Plant News from Others Oak woodlands at Rockville Hills Open Space, Fairfield
Recent threats to our oak woodlands from pests, pathogens and humans are reviewed in the Spring-Summer 2026 Oaks print newsletter. Also included is the first in a series of articles on the Blue and Valley Oak Conservation Action Plan initiative to develop recommendations to combat the pest, pathogen and human threats that have the potential to significantly damage the two most widely disbursed oak species in California.
Free Sunday talks on Botanical Hotspots of Northern California as announced in the May edition of the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden newsletter for May. Dr. Glenn Keator will present a series of free talks exploring this diversity. Please join us at the Botanic Garden Visitor Center on these Sundays, July 19, July 12 and July 26, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Talks are open to the public.
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Solano Native Plant All-StarDiplacus aurantiacus
This newsletter initiates a series of articles that feature native plants our members like to grow in Solano County. If you have a native plant that grows well in your yard, and you can tell us why you like the plant, its growing conditions, how you care for it and can provide photos, email us at contact@jepson.cnps.org. Diplacus aurantiacus(Bush or Sticky Monkey-Flower) is recommended for Solano County gardens by “Amy”, a Chapter member who resides in Cordelia. “It’s really windy here, but the plant grows well, seems to be fine in my clay soil, and I barely water it. The hummingbirds and pollinators really like it and has flowers almost year round. I have it growing in full sun and in partial shade and its growing fine.” |
Calendar of Events
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Some of our Spring 2026 plant sale volunteers and Chapter Board members (left to right): Steven Goetz, Pam Muick, Barbara Reiley, Lily Warner, Linda Lake, Zola Warner, Suzanne Clark, Heather Jantzen, and Nancy McCoy.
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CNPS Statewide Website | Jepson Chapter Website     
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