Botanic Garden Newsletter November 2026

THE BOTANIC GARDEN NEWSLETTER
November 2026

Halloween Spooky Plant Tour: Saturday, October 31.
"Wildflowers of the World" presentation: Sunday, November 1.
Wayne Roderick presentations begin: Saturday, November 7.
2027 Botanic Garden Docent Training.
Highlights from the Fall Plant Sale, and continuing plant sales.
Free, docent-led November tours.

The Garden is a peaceful place to visit in the fall months. Please note: the Garden will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, and South Park Drive will be closed November through March for the annual newt migration.

Halloween Spooky Plant Tour: Saturday, October 31, 2:00 p.m.

Celebrate Halloween with a special walking tour of the Botanic Garden to discover the spookiest, creepiest plants.

From flesh-eating carnivorous plants to thorny and poisonous specimens, learn why some plants look so scary and how these strange features help them survive. Join us for eerie tales in the autumnal Garden to put you in the Halloween spirit! Meet in front of the Botanic Garden Visitor Center; no reservations needed (tour is cancelled if it rains).

Photo: California pitcher plant (Darlingtonia californica) by Sandy Steinman.

“Wildflowers of the World” Sundays: 10 a.m. to noon, Botanic Garden Visitor Center

Dr. Glenn Keator continues his presentations on botanic areas of the world.

November 1: TEMPERATE EUROPE: covering plants from the areas of Europe that are winter cold and summer wet and include a wide range of forests, woodlands, and meadow-like habitats.
See the Garden website for future topics.

Wayne Roderick Presentations begin: Saturday, November 7, 10:30 a.m.

Join us November through March for our popular Wayne Roderick Lectures, a series of talks on a broad range of topics related to plants and natural history. These presentations are enjoyable for beginners and professionals alike.

Named in honor of its founder, a former director of the Garden, the Wayne Roderick Lectures take place on Saturdays, 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., in the Garden’s Visitor Center auditorium.

All talks are free and open to the public. Topics will be listed on the Garden website.

2027 Botanic Garden Docent Training

A few spots are still open for our 2027 Garden Docent Training Class!

Garden docents lead weekend and holiday tours, special tours for groups, and weekday tours for school groups. If you have an interest in California native plants and enjoy sharing your knowledge with others, becoming a Botanic Garden docent is a fun and rewarding way to get involved.

Come learn, connect with others, and help visitors discover and appreciate the beauty of California’s native plants. Sessions will be held on Wednesday mornings, starting in January and running through June.

Interested? We’d love to have you join us! Contact info@nativeplants.org with your questions.

Highlights from the Fall Plant Sale, and continuing plant sales

Our Fall 2026 Plant Sale set a number of impressive all-time records:

It was our most successful in number of plants sold: 3,659!!
We had the most individual buyers ever: 418+
The proceeds reached an all-time high, providing more funds for Garden improvements.

Native ferns were among the top sellers on this one-day special sale, including many rare species. All plants were propagated at the Botanic Garden.

LEFT: 2027 Fall plant sale, by Sandy Steinman.

The Botanic Garden’s weekly and monthly plant sales are back! Fall marks the start of the rainy season, making it the ideal time to plant California natives. Stop by to explore our wide selection of species for your garden.

Sale hours are: Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. to noon and the first Saturday of the month, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The plant inventory is available on the Garden website.

Free, Docent-led November Tours

Join us at the Botanic Garden for free docent-led tours every weekend! Saturdays and Park District holidays at 2:00 p.m., and Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. No registration needed—just drop by the Visitor Center (tour cancelled if it rains).

There will be a docent-led Veterans Day tour on Wednesday, November 11 at 2:00 p.m.

November highlights in the Botanic Garden:

Changing leaf color announces the arrival of the fall season.

LEFT: Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum).

As trees drop their leaves, lichen species on trunks and branches become more evident.

RIGHT: Common greenshield lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata) and Beard lichen (Usnea).

Late-blooming flowers are evident throughout the Garden.

LEFT: Cobweb thistle (Cirsium occidentale).

Fringed cornlily (Veratrum fimbriatum), a rare plant native to the northern California coast, shows its delicate blooms every fall.

All photos in this section by Sandy Steinman.

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