Botanical Encounters

Monthly Meeting

NEXT GENERAL MEETING: Right Tree, Right Place, Right Fire Zone: A Look at San Diego’s Trees and Their Future, With Tony Gurnoe, June 20, In-Person, Oasis, Rancho Bernardo, 1:30p -3:30p

Native trees are all the rage, with municipalities such as Encinitas passing regulations that require new landscape development projects to include native species. Which trees count as native? Are they good choices for your yard? How do native trees relate to fire and California's new zone 0 regulations? We'll talk about all of these things while profiling some of San Diego's unique and often underappreciated local trees. Tony Gurnoe has conducted research related to native t

5 days ago

Download Coupon

View this month's Sales and Events

Articles

BOTANICAL ENCOUNTERS: The Atacama Desert Superbloom of 2011

Words and pictures by Ida K. Rigby, for Let’s Talk Plants! June 2026. The Atacama Desert Superbloom of 2011 This month’s column illustrates the adage: “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words”. What can we say in the face of the exuberance of nature? The flora of the Atacama was glorying in a 40 year bloom. The rains had come. We often found ourselves in quite forbidding landscapes. Someone had written in on the road sign “MALO CAMINO MA “, advising against making a left and taki

5 days ago

BOTANICAL ENCOUNTERS: The Atacama Superbloom, Chile 2011

Words and pictures by Ida K. Rigby, for Let’s Talk Plants! February 2026. The Atacama Superbloom, Chile 2011 Let’s return to the fog shrouded Atacama Desert coast in Chile… …and immerse ourselves in the abundance of tough desert flora that were exuberantly flowering in the aftermath of a rare phenomenon in the Atacama, rain. As we know, the plants survive on whatever moisture the perpetual fog offers. Each plant has strategies for waiting until the next time there is rain whe

Feb 1

BOTANICAL ENCOUNTERS: The Atacama Blooms - Copiapoa Cactuses

Words and pictures by Ida K. Rigby, for Let’s Talk Plants! December 2025. The Atacama Blooms - Copiapoa Cactuses Let’s continue our quest for the marvels of El Desierto Florido, the Atacama super bloom of September 2011. Along this foggy Pacific coast, ... ... as is often the case in areas that outsiders might consider gloomy, everything is colorfully painted. Fishing ... ... and mining are the two main industries. We of course enjoyed delicious fresh fish. Nature’s fishermen

Dec 1, 2025