with Stacy Anderson and Joe Davitt, San Diego Zoo Global Native Plant Seed Bank
San Diego Zoo Global’s Native Plant Seed Bank has been making seed collections for restoration and conservation purposes since the early 2000’s. The seed bank houses over 750 seed collections from plant populations located throughout the county and beyond. In recent years the program has become an integral part of the California Plant Rescue project (CaPR). Focusing on rare and imperiled plant populations, our seed banking efforts have resulted in over 115 seed collections in the past 4 years, from San Diego’s most endangered plant populations. We’ll discuss our process from collecting, drying, and freezing, to germination testing and propagation research, as well as many of the fascinating species we’ve been working with recently.
Stacy Anderson began collecting seeds for the Native Plant Seed Bank in 2004 as part of a collaboration with the Millennium Seed Bank at the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in London. Joe Davitt began in early 2015 as the program became making CaPR rare plant seed collections. Both Stacy and Joe were raised in rural sections of San Diego County and native plants and animals hold a special place in their hearts. “We are so happy to be working to conserve the native plants of this important and unique region for future generations, and we’re excited to share our work with you!”
Joe’s blog page - institute.sandiegozoo.org/science-blog/by-author/6187
California Plant Rescue - caplantrescue.org
6:30pm-7:00pm: NATIVES FOR NOVICES
“San Diego Natives for San Diegans: How the CNPS-SD Seed and Bulb Committee Can Help You Plant Local”
with Cindy Hazuka, Seeds and Bulbs Coordinator, CNPS-San Diego
The CNPS-San Diego Seed and Bulb Committee acquires, packages, and sells California native seeds primarily from the San Diego area. Hundreds of volunteer hours go into maintaining our inventory of over 100 species which are available to the public for purchase. This talk will cover the steps we take to acquire and prepare our seeds, as the well as how to cross reference the current inventory list with plants that are known to grow close to your home using the “What Grows Here?” tool in Calflora.org.
Cindy Hazuka has been the Coordinator of the CNPS-SD Seed and Bulb Committee since 2016. She has been a member of CNPS since the early 1990s and been involved in many native plant garden and propagation efforts. She holds a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Physiology from Stanford University.
Seed and Bulb Committee webpage: cnpssd.org/seeds-and-bulbs
Current list of seeds for sale on Calscape: goo.gl/6Nk3xr and on Calflora: calflora.org//app/ipl?list_id=px419
7:00pm-7:30pm: A time for discussion, camaraderie, visiting, and enjoying the sales table.
7:30pm: FEATURED PRESENTATION
There is no fee to attend these presentations.