GOING WILD WITH NATIVES: The CNPS Garden Tour April 11 & 12 And More Pollinator Friendly Native Plants!
- Mar 1
- 5 min read
By Susan Lewitt, for Let’s Talk Plants! March 2026.
Please join the California Native Plant Society’s Native Garden Tour which will include many exciting and beautiful gardens for you to visit. Where Native Plants Thrive, We Thrive: When native plants flourish, they create gardens full of life where everything is connected.
The CNPS Garden Tour April 11 & 12 And More Pollinator Friendly Native Plants!
Songbirds return, butterflies flutter by, and the landscape feels alive in a way that ordinary gardens do not. Surrounded by this living richness, all garden dwellers find calmer, greener spaces, and neighborhoods become cooler, healthier, and more resilient. That liveliness engages our senses, restores our well-being, and deepens our connection to the natural world. You may explore more than 30 private native gardens, plus a few public spaces, in the south part of San Diego to explore during the two-day garden tour, giving you plenty of selections to enjoy.
For more information go to: https://cnpssd.org/2026-garden-tour/
For tour tickets go to: fhmhttps://www.eventbrite.com/e/cnps-san-diego-2026-native-garden-tour-tickets-1977458509634?aff=oddtdtcreator
Box Elder: Unlike other Maples, the Box Elder has three leaflets, but they both have palmate or palm-shaped leaves. Left: "Acer negundo (box elder)" by tgpotterfield is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Middle: Keir Morse. Right: "Acer negundo ssp. californicum California Box-elder" by David A. Hofmann is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
BOX ELDER (Acer negundo) is a small tree in the same genus as Big Leaf Maple which attracts a profusion of pollinators. It can quickly get 35 to 66 feet tall and 40 feet wide. Since this tree is winter deciduous, you will get some really nice yellow leaf color in the fall. In the spring, it will start to flower and leaf out in colors of red, yellow, cream, and green. Planted in full sun, it will need watering about once a week once established. Companions for this plant include other riparian species such as Alders (Alnus spp.), Dogwoods (Cornus spp.), Ash (Fraxinus latifolia or velutina), Northern Black Walnut (Juglans hindsii), Cottonwood (Populus spp.), Sycamore (Platanus racemosa), Willows (Salix spp.), Black Elderberry (Sambucus nigra), Bay Laurel (Umbellularia californica) and other Maples (Acer spp.). It is found in Chaparral, Foothill Woodland, Valley Grassland, Yellow Pine Forest, Wetland-Riparian plant communities. It grows by river and stream banks, and moist coastal mountain locations. The Box Elder supports bats, birds, caterpillars, butterflies and moths including the Common Gray Moth. This plant is deer resistant.
Yellow Bush Penstemon with a visiting bird (left) and a close up of its flowers (right), Photos courtesy of Calscape.
YELLOW BUSH PENSTEMON (Keckiella antirrhinoides) is a bush that is summer deciduous, just opposite of winter deciduous maples. This bush with its yellow spring flowers, has a pleasant fragrance and will grow at a moderate rate, reaching about 2 to 7 feet tall and up to 4 feet wide. It needs a low amount of summer water once established; two times a month. It can be found in the Chaparral alongside California lilacs (Ceanothus spp), California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), Scrub Oak (Quercus ilicifolia), Southern Honeysuckle (Lonicera subspicata var. subspicata), and Chaparral Yucca (Hesperoyucca whipplei). In desert areas, it may be seen with Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata), Brittlebush (Encelia farinose) and Desert Agave (Agave deserti). Species that are found with it, in Pinyon-Juniper Communities, include Pinus spp., California Juniper (Juniperus californica) and Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata). It supports a wide range of pollinators including the Variable Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas chalcedona).
California Fuchsia in a private garden (left), close-up of a flower (middle) and in the wild (right). Left photo courtesy of Calscape. Middle photo by Neal Kramer. Right photo by Keir Morse.
CALIFORNIA FUCHSIA (Epilobium canum and Epilobium canum ssp. latifolium) is a very popular species that will enhance your landscaping. Several of my neighbors recently started native gardens and have included one of these in their landscaping efforts. Both species enjoy full sun, while the Epilobium canum may be placed in partial shade. Both work in variable soil types from fast, medium, or slow draining, and require very little water once established. Once a month in the summer will do. They may be grown in containers or used as a ground cover. They are also deer resistant.
One visitor that you might see on California Fuchsias is the Langston’s Forester, as a caterpillar (left), and as an adult (right). Left photo: "Alypia langtoni larva" by Jason Grant is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Right photo: "Alypia langtoni" by rockpile250 is licensed under BY-NC 4.0.
Both California Fuchsias are found in the Chaparral, while Epilobium canum, also occurs in Coastal Sage Scrub, Lodgepole Forest, Oak Woodland, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Red Fir Forest, Subalpine Forest, and Yellow Pine Forest. When you include California Fuchsias in your landscape, you might consider some of the following companion native plants: Milkweed (Asclepias spp.), Giant Wild Rye (Elymus condensatus), Sand Aster (Corethrogyne filaginifolia), Sagebrush (Artemisia californica), Monkeyflower (Mimulus spp.), Encelia californica, Buckwheat (Eriogonum spp.), Heartleaf Keckiella (Keckiella cordifolia), Penstemon species, Salvia species, and Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum). Using California Fuchsia and its companion plants will give you an even wider range of pollinators including hummingbirds, other birds, bats, caterpillars and butterflies. One visitor that you might see is the Langston’s Forester (Alypia langtoni).
(pic 6) Caption: Here are some leaves (left) and flowers (right and middle) of the California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum ssp. latifolium). Left and middle photo by Keir Morse. Right photo by Jean Pawek.
Sages (Salvia species) are also native pollinator friendly and there is information about a few of the species in the Salvia genus in “Going Wild with Natives” for June 2024 and Oct 2023. Many other native plants work to attract beautiful and helpful native pollinator species to your garden which may also help your vegetable garden! My search on Calscape for pollinator friendly plants, limiting it to five local nurseries, and those that are found naturally in San Diego County, came up with 509 choices. If you search for your specific area, that should narrow down the choices to a more reasonable number. Remember, Calscape is a great tool for choosing some fabulous native plants for your garden and has a planning tool as well. For more information, go to: https://calscape.org/
Left: White Sage (Salvia apiana) leaves. Middle: Black Sage (Salvia mellifera) and Right: Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea) are both full of blooms. Photos courtesy of Calscape.
Susan Lewitt is a member of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS), participating in their Native Gardening Committee, and their Conservation Committee.
Susan uses Wildhero - email that plants trees, and she can be reached at nativebutterflies213@gmail.com.
Speaking of Garden Tours!
Tickets On SALE Now for the San Diego Horticultural Society's Spring Garden Tour on Sunday, March 29, 2026 ...
