California Natives

Natives are generally defined as plants that occur naturally, or have been in an area for a very long time (endemic plants are ones that occur naturally AND uniquely in an area, and nowhere else).

California natives are well suited for Sonoma County because they:

Are water thrifty and drought tolerant
Are suited to the climate and soil types of the area
Look right with the natural landscape

Sonoma County Master Gardener information on natives includes:

Other Native Plant Resources:

California Native Plant Link Exchanges

California Native Plant Society

CalFlora searchable wild California plant database

California Native Grasslands

Theodore Payne Foundation

Other reading on native plants:

Bornstein, Fross, O’Brien, California Native Plants for the Garden, 2005.
Lowry, Judith Larner, Gardening with a Wild Heart, 1999.
Smith, M. Nevin, Native Treasures, 2006.
Pacific Horticulture magazine (quarterly)
Fremontia, quarterly journal of the California Native Plant Society

Information Desks:
Santa Rosa: (707) 565-2608
M-F 9-12 1-4
Sonoma: (707) 938-0127 MWF 1-3
email: mgsonoma@ucdavis.edu
(If clicking this link doesn't work, type the email address in your email program)
or bring plant problems in for analysis
Locations/REQUIREMENTS

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