California Native Plant Society - Los Angeles / Santa Monica Mountains

Please support this conservation effort.

Fyi

Biodiversity in Urban Gardens: California Statewide Project Kickoff Webinar! 🌿🌸🐝🐦‍⬛

Learn about urban biodiversity, discover the power of community science, and find out how you can get involved.

Join us Wednesday, June 10 at 6 PM for an introduction to the Biodiversity in Urban Gardens (BUG): California Community Science Project—a statewide effort to document biodiversity in public, home, and neighborhood gardens across California using iNaturalist.

📋 Register at https://bit.ly/439yJ4c

The BUG project is made possible with generous project support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Special thanks also to the Mary A. Crocker Trust and the CNPS Santa Clara Valley Chapter for their generous support of BUG in Santa Clara and southern San Mateo counties.

Fyi

Save the date: Trail lovers, this one's for you! 💪🌿

Join National Park Service staff and partners at Paramount Ranch for National Trails Day on Saturday, June 6!

Help us care for the trails that connect our community to nature. Volunteers will help trim and cut back vegetation, clear paths using hand tools, and improve trail safety and accessibility, for all.

No experience needed. We'll provide all training on site! Tools and gloves will also be provided. Please come prepared for warm weather with closed‑toed shoes, sun protection, and long pants recommended.

As a thank you, volunteers will receive a free lunch, and appreciation items (while supplies last.) 🎁

Share this opportunity with a friend, neighbor or family member and get outside with us! All ages are welcome.

Event details:
🗓️ Saturday, June 6
⏰ 8:30 AM – 1:00 PM
📍 Paramount Ranch
🔗 RSVP on our Outdoors Calendar
✉️ For questions, please contact: [email protected]

This National Trails Day invites our community to leave places better than we found them, so come be part of something bigger and help steward your local trails! 🌍✨

NPS photo.
Image description: A group of volunteers works along a grassy trail on a gray, overcast day. They are raking and clearing brush on both sides of the path, surrounded by tall grasses and dense vegetation.

Fyi

Here's a little native plant gardening reminder for your Thursday evening 👀

Our free Naturehood Webinar is happening next Thursday, June 4 at 5:30 pm, and there's still time to grab your spot!

Oscar Lucario will walk you through seasonal pruning, water budgeting, and plant-by-plant tips to keep your native garden looking beautiful and full of life all summer.

Register at https://bit.ly/4uZ0W9D

🌿: Summer chaparral garden
📸: Philip Van Soelen

FYI

Introducing the BUG Initiative: Biodiversity in Urban Gardens. 🌿 🐝

94% of Californians live in cities, and more than 30% of the state’s plants and animals are at risk of extinction. That means the way we use our backyards, parkways, and even highways factor into California's biodiversity crisis. We need *your* help to better understand and foster the diversity of life that surrounds us.

BUG is a new two-year CNPS initiative that connects three things:
1. Community Science: Document native plants & wildlife in your neighborhood via iNaturalist. No experience needed, just a smart phone or digital camera!
2. Advocacy: Learn how your observations and personal experiences can connect to real civic action for urban biodiversity.
3. Public policy: Be part of shaping policy statewide and locally for urban biodiversity.

You can be part of a beautiful change for California!

Read the full announcement at https://bit.ly/4uxPDp9 and stay tuned in the coming days to get involved. 🐛🦋🌻

The BUG project is made possible with generous project support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Special thanks also to the Mary A. Crocker Trust and the CNPS Santa Clara Valley Chapter for their generous support of BUG in Santa Clara and southern San Mateo counties.

Fyi

Are you a history, museums studies, or other student with strong research and writing abilities looking to make a difference in the community this summer? CalBG has an opportunity for you! As the Garden approaches its 100th anniversary in 2027 we're looking for some extra help with an ongoing deep dive into our long history of native plant horticulture and plant conservation. Join our Visitor Engagement team this summer as a Historical Research Intern and help us tell the story of CalBG, while gaining valuable experience with archival research and exhibits. Learn more and apply today at https://www.calbg.org/employment.

Fyi

Join us for a volunteer community planting day in Tujunga with No Canyon Hills/Transverse Range and Theodore Payne Foundation!

🪴🪏 We'll be planting around 50 locally sourced native plants, all of them important local species to the Verdugos. 🌄

Help contribute to a community landscape that supports local biodiversity, strengthens neighborhood connections, and brings nature, art, and people together! No experience needed and all are welcome.

Please remember to:
👒 dress for the weather — we recommend light layers
🚰 bring a full, refillable water bottle
🌞 bring/wear sun protection
🥾 wear closed-toe shoes
🧤 bring gardening gloves if you have a pair

To join, register here: https://www.cervistech.com/acts/console.php?console_type=event_list&event_id=914&console_id=0292&ht=1

Fyi. Typo in tour dates 2027 not 2026

Fyi

The next public meeting of the Topanga Lagoon Restoration Project is happening on Sunday May 31st! 📣

Project partners are ready to share updates on the status of this project following the fires of 2025. Join us in-person or virtually and share your personal stories and memories of Topanga Beach & Lagoon to help inform pieces of its design. 🤝

RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/topanga-lagoon-restoration-project-public-meeting-tickets-1988605236795?aff=oddtdtcreator

Fyi in the Antelope Valley

Tameobit BioBlitz
Sunday, May 31: 8 a.m. - 12
Register and more information: p.m.http://cnps.convio.net/site/MessageViewer;jsessionid=00000000.app20121a?em_id=33191.0&dlv_id=73567&NONCE_TOKEN=349DFC99EA87E27AFAFE25B5D6DDE7C9