Regional Parks Botanic Garden Celebrates 85 Years!

Members of the Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden gathered in the Garden after-hours on Saturday, August 23, to celebrate the Garden’s 85th anniversary. The Desert Heat Dancers and the Berkeley Morris Dancers added to the festivities. All enjoyed delicious food, a sing-along, and great company. Chair of the Friends Leadership Council David Sherertz gave welcoming remarks and acknowledged each of the leaders of the 30 years of the Friends organization. Garden Director Bart O’Brien gave a detailed, decade-by-decade history of the Garden and extended thanks to the Garden staff and numerous volunteers who keep the Garden and its activities running so beautifully and smoothly.

Erosion Repair Along Wildcat Creek in the Garden’s Canyon Section

Erosion by the bridge at the north end of the Canyon section is scheduled for repair starting at the end of August. The work will take four to six weeks, extending through September and into October. This will be a large-scale environmental engineering project with logs, rocks, plantings, and wrapped soil to stabilize the slope. The creek will be temporarily rerouted through pipes, and trout in the work area will be relocated to further down Wildcat Creek. The large machinery involved will have access from Anza View Road, and the entire Canyon section and the recently opened new rainforest trail will be closed during the construction. A Park District biologist will be on-site at all times during construction.

Save the Date: Annual Fall Plant Sale Saturday, October 4

Mark your calendar for the Garden's annual fall plant sale! Public sale hours are 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with exclusive access for Friends members starting at 9:00 a.m. Friends memberships may be purchased at the Garden starting at 8:30 a.m. on the day of the sale, or in advance on the Garden website. 

The sale will feature a wide array of California native plants propagated and grown

from the Regional Parks Botanic Garden collection. An early peek at some of the plants that will be available:

• Many ferns, including quite a few particularly good looking young coastal woodferns (Dryopteris arguta).

• Desert willow (Chilopsis linearis): many unusual cultivars, including ‘Warren Jones’, ‘Dark Storm’, ‘Bubba’, and others. These are great large shrubs or small multi-trunked trees for hot inland parts of our region. 

• Red columbine (Aquilegia formosa) grown from seeds, and in gallon pots. A member of the buttercup family, its red and yellow flowers attract hummingbirds, and its seeds feed other bird species. In the garden, it needs regular water, partial shade, and well-draining soil. It will self-seed.

• Cobb Mountain lupine (Lupinus sericatus) grown from seeds, and in three-inch pots. An unusual mounding lupin with big, silvery, palmate leaves and spikes of beautiful pink-to-purple flowers.  It’s named for Cobb Mountain, the tallest mountain in the Mayacamas Mountains in Lake County.

• Liveforevers (Dudleyas):several species in two-inch pots, and grown from seeds:  D. cymosa, D. formosa, D. albiflora D. pulveruenta, D. pachyphytum, D. gnoma, D. virens ssp. hassei.

• Crassulaceae: these plants, in the stonecrop family, form rosettes with flowers rising on stalks above the succulent leaves.

• Monkey Flower (Diplacus): several cultivars will be offered. Monkeyflowers are small shrubs with colorful tubular flowers that range across the color spectrum.

The full list of plants for sale will be posted on the Garden website during the week before the sale.

September Butterfly Walks

Join Sarab Seth, the Butterfly Guy, for guided butterfly walks in the Botanic Garden. The September walks will take place on Sunday, September 28, at 1:00 p.m. and 2:15 p.m.

Walks are free, but reservations are required. Each walk is limited to 10 participants, and we meet near the main entrance. Sign up for these walks HERE.

From Sarab’s Notebook:

The first half of August was really dismal for butterflies, but after an extended spell of consistently warm weather, the butterfly season seems to be back on track. With decent weather on walk days, we should see between six and eight species on the September walks.
Likely sightings include cabbage white (Pieris rapae), fiery skipper (Hylephila phyleus), mylitta crescent (Phyciodes mylitta), mournful duskywing (Erynnis tristis), and field crescent (Phyciodes pulchella).

Where to look (if you can’t join the walks):

The best spots right now are still:

• The Santa Susana tarplant (Deinandra minthornii) near the entrance

• The area around the large circular bed in the Channel Island section


But in the next few weeks, more and more asters will come into bloom along the creek near the Sea Bluff end of the long bridge, and that will become an excellent spot, too.

Also, check out all the California pipevine swallowtail chrysalises (Battus philenor hirsuta) near the roofline of the shed on the upper path, just before the Channel Island section. Standing on the path, you can see three brown chrysalises and a green one (along with empty chrysalis shells). On the adjacent side, there are five more brown ones. Looks like they will be here all winter, and hatch only in the spring.

Tip: Binoculars help a lot, especially close-focus ones. The happiest walkers are usually the ones who bring them! Want a preview? See the butterfly pages on the Garden website.

NEW: Two ASL Butterfly Walks Saturday, September 27

Sarab Seth will lead two butterfly walks on Saturday, September 27, specifically for the American Sign Language (ASL) community. There are two one-hour walks scheduled: 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. Each walk is limited to 10 participants, and we meet near the main entrance. Registration is required.

Space is VERY limited due to the small size of many of the butterflies and Garden paths. Each person needs to sign up for a separate slot. Please show up promptly and on time. If your plans change, please cancel your reservation (at least 24 hours in advance). Register for the ASL walks HERE.

Photos by Sarab Seth.

Sarab Seth is a butterfly photographer and docent at the Botanic Garden. He is helping to finalize a new brochure highlighting butterflies found in the Botanic Garden. Sarab's monthly Garden butterfly walks will continue through October.

Garden Greeter Volunteers Needed

It is great fun to welcome our visitors as a Garden Greeter. Most of our visitors are new to the Garden and welcome a friendly face and a brief introduction. The kids love the ISpy and Treasure Hunt games we offer them. Would you like to be more involved with the Botanic Garden on weekends? Our next Garden Greeter Training will take place on two Saturdays, November 1 and 8 (both dates required), from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day. If you would like to know more, contact the Greeter Coordinator, Holly Haugh, at greeter_coordinator@nativeplants.org

Come join our enthusiastic crew of volunteers!

New Manzanita Issue: Unsung Garden Treasures

The latest edition of Manzanita, the Botanic Garden’s quarterly magazine, has been mailed to members of the Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden! Entitled “Unsung Garden Treasures,” the issue focuses on nine native shrubs that are not often planted but, never-the-less, make excellent garden additions. Six Garden volunteers joined Bart O’Brien in writing about their favorites. If you are not already a Friends member and would like to become one, SIGN UP HERE.

Garden Tours and Fall Garden Sights

You're invited to our free, docent-guided tours on Saturdays and Park District holidays at 2:00 p.m., and Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Meet at the Visitor Center, no need to sign up. Directions to the Garden.

Below are a few of the fall sights in the Botanic Garden.