Join us to learn more about arranging California native plants in bouquets, garlands and wreaths for the holidays!

This is a continuation of the talk last year where Cynthia focused on bouquets. This talk will primarily focus on creating garlands and wreaths. Last year’s presentation is in our YouTube channel @NSJV_CNPS

When Cynthia Gingerich and her family moved from the South Bay to the Santa Cruz Mountains fifteen years ago, she inherited a yard stocked with native perennials, trees and shrubs from the previous homeowners. After attending her first native plant garden tour to learn more, she took another decade to remove non-native plants and increase the habitat value. Now that her yard is planted exclusively with California natives—just a few non-native bulbs and inevitable weeds remain—she is quick to point out that while she loves growing and arranging California natives, she is still a native plants enthusiast, not an expert.

In 2019 Cynthia visited private and public gardens that featured California native plants in 3 countries and 5 US states; some highlights were wildflower meadows at North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve in April, ceanothus and penstemon in Canada in May, and Matilija poppies in England in July. During that year she also began foraging in her own native garden for flowers, foliage, branches and seed pods to create a variety of natives-only arrangements which were displayed both indoors and out. Some of those bouquets illustrated an article in CNPS’s Flora magazine and she’s continued to create arrangements in all seasons and sizes throughout the years since then.

Virtual on Zoom, register here