Upcoming CNPS SCV Events and Activities - Jan 13, 2026

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CNPS-SCV News

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Jan 13, 2026, 2:27:21 PM (3 days ago) Jan 13
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Dear Friends,

Check out our chapter's upcoming events:

[1] Near-Future Events
 
(a) Online Plant Sale with Pickup on Friday and Saturday
Monday, Jan 19 at 12:00 am to Tuesday, Jan 20 at 11:59 pm PST
Go to the CNPS SCV Nursery Online Store on Jan 19 and 20 to make your purchases. The sale will continue until all of the pickup slots have been filled or Tuesday evening - whichever comes first. Scheduled pickup for purchases will be available at the CNPS SCV Nursery at Hidden Villa on Friday, January 23 or at the PCC during our Seed and Cutting Exchange on Saturday, January 24.
 
(b) Seed and Cutting Exchange & Plant Sale Pickup
Saturday, Jan 24, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Location: Peninsula Conservation Center, 3921 E Bayshore Rd, Palo Alto
The Seed and Cutting Exchange will be on Saturday, January 24 from 1:00 to 3:00pm at the Peninsula Conservation Center (PCC), 3921 E. Bayshore Road in Palo Alto. This free event provides an opportunity to share and receive both seeds and cuttings of native plants. Browse the diverse offerings, ranging from easy-to-grow to hard-to-find, and go home with seeds and cuttings of new native plants! We will provide coin envelopes for seeds but bring containers to carry cuttings home.
 
(c) Apply for CNPS-SCV Community College Scholarship
Deadline: February 15, 2026
CNPS-SCV is offering a $1,500 community college scholarship for a motivated student studying native plant horticulture, ecology, or habitat/park management. Applicants should aspire to work with native plants or their habitats and have completed (or plan to complete) at least one course with significant native plant content.
Eligible applicants are community college students who live in San Mateo or Santa Clara County and/or attend a community college in either county. Full eligibility and requirements: https://www.cnps-scv.org/cc-scholarship
We would appreciate it if you share this announcement widely. 
 
[2] Chapter Meetings
 
The Year in Pictures: Your Best Nature Photos of 2025
Sunday, Jan 18, 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Location: Redwood City Library, 1044 Middlefield Rd, Redwood City
Our CNPS Chapter has an annual tradition: a winter celebration of the beauty and diversity of native plant habitats and their denizens, as captured in photographs by you. This year, we will meet in person on Sunday, January 18, 1:30-4:30 pm to view photos of notable plant and nature excursions during the previous year. All are welcome.
 
[3] Volunteers Needed
CNPS SCV is a volunteer-run organization. Please consider if you have time to keep events running smoothly by filling this vital role.
 
(a) Greeters needed for The Year in Pictures event
Sunday, Jan 18, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location: Redwood City Library, 1044 Middlefield Rd, Redwood City
We need greeters for this event. Please sign up via the link above if you are able to help.
 
Signing up for a greeter is an excellent opportunity to learn about what our chapter does. Worry not if you are new to this! You will have an experienced volunteer with you to assist you. The greeters' responsibilities are to staff the welcome table and answer basic questions about CNPS if attendees have any. Tables, chairs, and CNPS literature will be provided.
Questions? Contact Priya at: priya...@gmail.com.
 
 
(b) Hospitality Chair
If you have organized food for large gatherings before, then you already have what it takes to be hospitality chair! The Hospitality Chair oversees food and beverage arrangements at chapter events including the Wildflower Show in April, the Fall Plant Sale in October and the potluck in November. There may be other smaller events throughout the year, like the mailing party that's usually held in April.
 
Your main tasks include shopping for food and drinks, and directing other chapter volunteers with set up before events and clean up afterwards.
 
If you are interested, please email Janet Hoffman (ja...@cnps-scv.org) or Toni Gregorio-Bunch (tidyt...@gmail.com).
 
[4] Chapter Restoration Activities
RSVP is required for all Chapter restoration activities, along with signed waiver forms. Please see the individual listings for details.
 
(a) Habitat Restoration at Alum Rock Park
Wednesday, Jan 14 and Monday, Jan 19, both at 8:30 am
Location: Alum Rock Park, San Jose (meeting spot varies; email contact provided on page)
Come help us weed non-native, invasive plants at this natural gem of San Jose. Our habitat restoration efforts allow the native plants to “come to light.” Forms and reservations are required to volunteer. For the Monday/Wednesday workdays, the meeting spot varies, so please contact Todd Hayes at ultra...@gmail.com for more information and instructions on where to park.
 
(b) Friday Edgewood Restoration
Friday Jan 16, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Location: Edgewood Park and Natural Preserve (Redwood City)
Help restore habitat at Edgewood Park and Natural Preserve, known for fabulous wildflowers and amazing diversity. Weeders see far more than weeds: we get to be up close to the native plants, some of which are seen only by weeders. To participate, join the email list and sign the electronic volunteer agreement, by sending an email to weed-warr...@friendsofedgewood.org.
 
(c) Habitat Restoration at Cataldi Park
Saturday, Jan 17, 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Location: Cataldi Park — 1797 Bethany Ave, San Jose
Join us to restore habitat in Cataldi Park, San Jose, attendance to prepare it for the 2026 Growing Natives Garden Tour. We are planting and maintaining native plants in a 1/2-acre area of the park off Bethany Ave. Activities include planting, pruning, sheet mulching, irrigation setup and general maintenance.
 
(d) Habitat Restoration at Cunningham Park
Saturday, Jan 17, 8:00 am – 10:00 am
Location: Native Garden Parking Lot, Lake Cunningham — 2305 S. White Road, San Jose, San Jose
Join us to restore habitat (weeding and mulching) in the Native Garden at Lake Cunningham Park. During the summer months, we water, weed, and mulch. See the Meetup link for detailed information about the location.
 
(e) Community Work Day at the Native Plant Garden in Kirk Park
Saturday, Jan 17, 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Location: Briarwood Drive & Wawona Drive, San Jose
Volunteers meet at the garden on Saturdays from 9 am to 11 am, weather permitting, for weeding, watering and other maintenance activities. Occasionally there will be other tasks such as mulching and planting. Community volunteers, including families with children over 6, are always welcome!
 
[5] Other Chapters & Organizations
 
(a) Manzanitas and their animals – keys to evolution (Friends of San Pedro Valley Park)
Saturday, Jan 17, 7:00 pm
Location: ZOOM
The Friends of San Pedro Valley Park will host Dr. Tom Parker, Professor Emeritus of Biology at San Francisco State University, for a Zoom lecture titled “Manzanitas and their animals – keys to evolution.” The talk explores the remarkable diversity of manzanitas (genus Arctostaphylos), which includes over a hundred taxa and unique traits such as long-lasting soil seed banks and fire-dependent regeneration. Dr. Parker will present research on how animals—especially rodents that cache seeds—have influenced the evolution of these plants by shaping seed bank dynamics. He will discuss how these processes affect species survival in fire-prone, arid regions and what they reveal for managing chaparral ecosystems containing manzanitas.
 
(b) A Walk in the Garden (Midpen)
Saturday, Jan 17, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location: Windy Hill Preserve
Join Docent Naturalists Susan Bernhard, Noa Doitel, and Maureen Draper on this leisurely-paced afternoon hike to take a closer look at these moist areas for water-loving organisms such as fungi, ferns, mosses, and lichen. You’ll see a diversity of plant species, possibly including miner’s lettuce, redwood sorrel, poison hemlock, California poppies, and stinging nettle.
 
(c) Our Winter is Different: Seasons in California Native Gardens (Western Hort)
Wednesday Jan 14, 7:30 pm
Location: The Garden House at Shoup Park, 400 University Ave., Los Altos
Do you have California native plants in your garden? Have you been frustrated by garden maintenance recommendations originating in England or the East Coast? Helen Popper understands that California’s gardening seasons are different from those in other parts of the world, that our ‘winter’ makes maintaining a California native garden distinctive. Helen will begin with a discussion of the local progression of seasons and how central that is to understanding the timing of maintenance. She will tell us how to maintain California native plants throughout the year, while emphasizing winter tasks we can do in our gardens right now.
 
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