We’re pleased to announce that Plant California Alliance will be PlantRight’s new home and lead its future growth. With major support from the state’s horticultural industry, including plant growers and retailers, Sustainable Conservation launched PlantRight over a decade ago to stop the sale of invasive plants in California and prevent new introductions. Before we launched PlantRight,…Read more
A lot has changed since Kathy Kramer started the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour in 2005. In those days, native plants were much more difficult to find in nurseries, and there wasn’t as much information readily available for people who want to plant them in their gardens. Resources like Calscape didn’t exist to provide people with information about which California native…Read more
Last year marked the 8th year of PlantRight’s annual Spring Nursery Survey, and thanks to a large number of UC Master Gardener volunteers, as well as volunteers from other organizations, it was a huge success! The UC Master Gardener Program and its volunteers have been a key partner since the inception of the survey in 2010, and…Read more
A website, like any landscaped area, requires good design and continued maintenance, and there may come a time when you need to start over. That’s pretty much what we’ve done with the PlantRight website, which now has even more information to help Californians plant right, and some great new features. Responsive Design and Mobile Friendly…Read more
Water gardening is popular because ponds and fountains can bring beauty, relaxation and wildlife to your backyard. But the more we bring in water plants for these features, the more risk we run of introducing invasive aquatic plants into local creeks and streams. Some of the aquatic plants commonly available online and through local nurseries…Read more
Buy Right, just one of the ways you can Plant Right: Here are some of our newest retail nursery partners — in order from the date they became an official partner. Check out PlantRight’s Nursery Partner Directory for other Retail Nursery Partners near you. 1. High Country Nursery Anza, CA High County Nursery has been around since 1971,…Read more
This past spring, they were all over California. With clipboards, cameras, and data sheets in hand, they were searching at a nursery or garden center near you — for invasive plants. The nursery survey is how we measure what is happening in California’s retail nursery industry, and none of it would happen without our survey volunteers. This…Read more
On a chilly, foggy morning, typical for summer in the Bay Area, we prepared for our annual Steering Committee meeting in cozy Julia Morgan Hall at the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley, surrounded by trees and plants from all over the world. As the meeting’s start time approached, members of a group almost as diverse as…Read more
By Jan Merryweather I saw Elvis today. Really! He’s quite the regular at Sustainable Conservation’s San Francisco headquarters these days. More than a titan among musical icons “The King” has become a muse to the PlantRight team, especially this National Invasive Species Awareness Week. We love Elvis’ A Little Less Conversation because it might as…Read more
Many Californians appear to be taking up Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for the removal of 50 million square feet of lawn energetically and enthusiastically. But all that energy may be misplaced: As homeowners and businesses seek out drought-tolerant, low-water plants at local nurseries and big-box garden departments, they may unwittingly be picking up invasive plants…Read more
They’re usually gorgeous; that’s the start of the problem. They grow easily and often freely, propagating offspring effortlessly. With a little water and time, they really do take over. And that’s when a beautiful ornamental plant becomes an invasive thug… Read the full article by Debbie Arrington in The Sacramento Bee Home & Garden section…Read more
California’s drought crisis is driving low-water landscaping: lawns are coming out, xeriscaping is going in. Fortunately, water agencies, nurseries, garden media and our friends at Save Our Water are all promoting drought-tolerant plant lists to guide purchasing decisions and reduce water usage. Unfortunately, in this rush for water conservation, invasive plants are creeping onto some…Read more