The sticky monkey flower is an example of a flowering California native.

If you haven’t firmed up your weekend plans yet, try to work in a drive to Claremont. This pretty college town offers a darling downtown village, handsome residential architecture and landscaping for the Looky Lou in you. And it’s also home to the gardeners’ heaven, the wonderful Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, a living laboratory of California native plants.

But here’s the best part, and I’m quaking as I type: this weekend is RSAG’s annual fall plant sale. Reasonably priced, thousands of California native and water-efficient plants, trees, shrubs, perennials, seeds and bulbs await. Many of the plants are propagated from the garden’s own collection and are not available anywhere else.

This is a great chance to snag hard-to-find California native plant materials and volley questions at experienced professionals.  There are no guarantees that horticultural rock star Bart O’Brien or backup singer Barbara Eisenstein will be on hand, but the well-trained horticulture volunteers will pick up the slack. Don’t know exactly what you want? Come browse, ask about plant characteristics and growing requirements, and what “water-efficient” really means. For a sneak preview, the plant list is available at rsabg.org. There is no admission fee to the sale, although members get first dibs and discounts. Shuttle service for shopper and plants.

Annual Fall Plant Sale
Saturday, November 7
Members’ preview 8 a.m. – 11 a.m.; general public 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Sunday, November 8
9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
1500 College Ave., Claremont, 909.625.8767, rsabg.org

Relevant Reading

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