GOING WILD WITH NATIVES: California Native Plant Society’s Fall Plant Sale Coming Next Month! Meanwhile, Want succulents? How About Native Succulents!
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By Susan Lewitt, for Let’s Talk Plants! September 2026.
California Native Plant Society’s Fall Plant Sale Coming Next Month! Meanwhile, Want succulents? How About Native Succulents!
Our Native Plant Sale is back this fall with a new format. Choose from more than 350 California native plant species and cultivars from local nurseries and CNPS growers. Pre-order September 1–15. Plant orders are open to CNPS members only and require a $150 minimum purchase before discounts. CNPS members receive 10% off plant purchases. Not a member yet? Join CNPS for $30 through our Plant Sale membership offer and receive the member discount. Pick up your orders at Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead on Friday October 16th, or Saturday October 17th. For more information, go to https://cnpssd.org/2026-plant-sale/ Email us at plantsale@cnpssd.org with any additional questions.
San Diego tends to have low rainfall, but it is not all desert. San Diego County does include some desert regions, but there are many other microclimates. We have Coastal Sage Scrub, Chaparral, and Coastal Strand, just to name a few, and many of these include native succulents. In San Diego there are many native succulents available from local nurseries, and the CNPS Fall native Plant Sale. According to Calscape, 15 native succulents are available from Moosa Creek Nursery. There are other nurseries that carry native succulents, and there are many more that may be seen in natural areas.
SEA DAHLIA (Leptosyne maritima) is a rare succulent that is available in several local nurseries. It is endangered due to erosion, expansion of human habitats, invasive exotic plants, and human foot traffic. It is a member of the largest flowering plant family, Asteraceae, which includes asters, daisies, and sunflowers. This plant that gets to almost 3 feet tall and about 3 feet wide, has large yellow daisy-like flowers in the spring. Its presence is not widespread, but it has been found in the coastal sage scrub cliffs, and dunes of Southern California, and Baja, California. It supports bees, butterflies, birds, and bats. And here is why attracting and supporting bats is vital, “…California Bats are important pollinators and pest controllers, feeding on night-flying insects and visiting night-blooming nectar-rich flowers. Native plants support both” (types of bats) (https://calscape.org/plant/1100/Leptosyne-maritima-(Sea-Dahlia)?return_to=https%3A%2F%2Fcalscape.org%2Fsearch%2F%3Fsearch%3DSea%20Dahlia).
The Sea Dahlia is moderately easy to grow and needs full sun with medium to fast draining sand, or sandstone soil. It can tolerate a watering schedule that is moderate to very low. The Kumeyaay use this plant for medicinal purposes, but having this plant in your landscape does not have to be for medicine. Making it part of your landscape increases its range and helps make it less vulnerable to extinction.
FISH HOOK CACTUS (Mammillaria dioica) a small dainty succulent, slowly grows to about 6 inches tall and 4 inches wide. It will have white and yellow flowers in the winter and spring. Plant communities where it occurs include Chaparral, Coastal Sage Scrub, Creosote Bush Scrub, and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland. It can be found on slopes, cliffs, and in desert canyons. Moths, bats, caterpillars, and birds depend on this succulent. Many native plants make good companions for this little cactus including several willow species (Salix spp), plus several succulents. See Calscape for the full list and more details on this plant: https://calscape.org/plant/2447/Mammillaria-dioica-(Fish-Hook-Cactus)?return_to=https%3A%2F%2Fcalscape.org%2Fsearch%2F%3Fsearch%3DFish%20Hook%20Cactus.
Due to its small size, it might be best in a container or as part of a dish garden. I can see this in a dish garden with other small native plant species with similar requirements. It will do best in full sun, with soil that is fast draining rocky, sandy, sandstone, or decomposed granite (dg). Once this plant is established it will not need supplemental watering.
TAPERTIP LIVEFOREVER (Dudleya attenuata) is a species indigenous to San Diego, and its range includes the coast from Los Angeles to Tijuana and beyond, well into Baja California. It grows in Chaparral, and Coastal Sage Scrub plant communities. This perennial succulent will have white and yellow flowers during the spring and summer. In a container, or in the ground, it will need full sun and low to very low water. It supports many different wildlife species including hoverflies, butterflies, moths, and bats. This plant also hosts 11 native bee species. One bee associated with this species, that I have seen many times, is the Yellow-Faced Bumble Bees. It may visit also visit other natives including Common Yarrow, Big Leaf Maple and Sand Verbena Like European Honey Bees (An invasive species), it is also known to pollinate alfalfa, almonds, apples, and artichokes, but native bees are more efficient pollinators than their European rivals.
These represent just a few of the many succulents you might consider to populate your garden, and help support biodiversity. Keep in mind that our native plants are the ones that are best adapted to our climate, and are more suited to survive here in San Diego without pesticides, and fertilizers, and with less frequent watering. They are a step in the right direction in helping our communities thrive and when native plants thrive, we thrive.
