As a reminder, always check the website to confirm if there are last-minute location changes, or other notices. We meet on the third Tuesday of most months, from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm. Meetings are most often at 1300 17th Street, at the Superintendent of Schools Building (1st Floor, with the tables). Our alternate meeting location is the University Square Building, at 2000 “K” Street. This building also has parking on the back side, and we meet on the 1st floor, too. Refreshments are served!

On October 18th we have our Kern Chapter's next General Meeting is at Beale Library, downtown Bakersfield, at 705 Truxtun Ave., between P and Q Sts. Turn south from Truxtun into the AMTRAK parking lot, then take the first right into the library lot. The main entrance is on the right corner of the east side of the building, near the Truxtun side. We start gathering at about 6:00 pm, with refreshments, and our speaker starts around 7:00. Normally, the first hour is spent with demos/lessons on how to key out of native plant specimens, using magnification to help learn to recognize some of the differences between members of the same plant family. There will also be books available to look at, from the Chapter's library.

Our speaker this month is Orchid Black. She is an landscape designer, who has been an active member of California Native Plant Society for many years, both in her local chapter, and at the state level. Her landscape designs are focused on natives and she has a wealth of knowledge. Here is what the Theodore Payne Foundation said about her class, when she gave her presentation there: "This class presents a fabulous palette of bulletproof species and cultivars that thrive in a wide range of garden situations. Great for both beginning and experienced gardeners. Orchid is a native garden designer who teaches for UCLA extension and lectures throughout Southern California."

Orchid wrote the following to tell us more about her presentation: "The program will be Easy Natives for Your Garden: Why grow native cultivars — the named varieties? Because in many cases these have been selected for their reliability and consistent bloom in the garden. This talk will discuss the easiest cultivars and other selected natives that grow reliably in a wide range of gardens."

Orchid will also be giving us information about caring for our native plants, and she will answer our questions after the presentation, as time allows. The meeting will conclude at 9:00, or a little before, so that the library can be closed as close to 9:00 as possible.

Our annual CA Native Plant Sale at Cal State Bakersfield, will be on October 29th, as Lucy said. We are really looking forward to celebrating our 30th Plant Sale. It will open for members at 8:00 am, open to the public at 9:00, and will close after 1:30 pm, depending on what plants are left.. As usual, there will be a membership table for people to join that day, who want to get in at the earlier time, and to get special gifts for joining at the Sale. If you want, check our chapter's website, www.kerncnps.org . Also, here is a link to the section where it tells you plant lists for various hikes and areas: http://www.kerncnps.org/PlantLists/index.html. You could look for ones nearest your home, to get an idea about what grows naturally around your area. There are many other sources of plants lists, and I will try to gather them for you this week.

We try to have native plants best-suited to our area as the main group available at the sale. We are keenly aware of invasives, and non-natives, so I don't think you will have to worry about those at the sale. I also have information on invasives, and we have brochures that we display at the plant sales and at other booth events.

The first Saturday of the month is normally the volunteer work day sponsored by Kern Audubon at the Panorama Vista Preserve. Many CNPS members are also Audubon members and have already volunteered, but everybody is invited to participate. The volunteer hours through April are 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. February 5, March 5 and April 2 are the upcoming volunteer days. Those wishing more information and/or directions should contact Harry Love (love3@bak.rr.com) or Andy Honig (andym5@bak.rr.com).

In addition to the regularly scheduled volunteer days there will be other times we will be seeking volunteers. About 3,000 more cuttings and seedlings will need to be planted into the 30 acre grove that we started last winter. The time for that planting is between now and mid spring. Additionally, we will be needing help transplanting seedlings that will be germinating in flats.

We also have an endless need for weeders. Exotic mustards are already vigorously growing and competing for water and nutrients. In March and April tumbleweeds will be germinating. What is a real pain to eradicate as the year progresses is a cinch to take care of when small and green. Tumbleweeds, when small, can even make a nice contribution to a salad. Bring gloves and, if possible, a hoe or shovel. Bottled water will be supplied.

Contact Harry or Andy if you’re free to help on the first Saturday. If you’d like to help at other times, contact Andy. We can always use you. You also can get a great deal of information on the Panorama Vista Preserve by going to the website panoramavista.org. Check out the blog (Look at the menu line at the top of the home page) where current information is regularly posted.

Kern River Parkway Festival

Events will be posted as we hear about them

The 2nd Annual Living Green Festival was held MARCH 17-21, 2010 and was a big success!

The Aleutian Goose Festival has fledged into the California Redwoods Bird and Nature Festival. During the second weekend in May (May 7 - 9 in 2010) in Crescent City, California come join the fun with 70 field trips/workshops, boat and kayak trips, for birding, botanizing, Native American cultures, and more. In the home of Redwood National & State Parks and the Wild and Scenic Smith River, with 425 recorded bird species, wild Del Norte county is a nature lover's dream.