#TheNativeGuild
🦋Happy Monday, Bluesky!!

I have made another short motion video - this time about Matilija Poppies 🌼

Hope you like it! I'm having fun learning After Effects 💖
#GrowNativePlants #MatilijaPoppy #TheNativeGuild #PollinatorGarden
April 27, 2026 at 8:43 PM
I love trees! 💖

An individual Coast Live Oak is essentially a skyscraper for local wildlife

They support:

Over 300 species of animals

Thousands of insect species, including the California Sister butterfly 🦋
#grownativeplants #thenativeguild #coastalliveoak #pollinatorgarden #nativetrees
April 22, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Good morning, Bluesky!

I've been learning motion design to enhance my support of native plants.

Starting with the California Poppy, here's a tidbit of interesting information about the little beauty 😍
#californiaPoppy #grownativeplants #thenativeguild
April 19, 2026 at 4:08 PM
🌿Hummingbird sage has deep roots with the Chumash people, the indigenous inhabitants of the Santa Barbara region

They used the leaves to make a medicinal tea for treating lung congestion and sore throats⚕️
#GrowNativePlants #TheNativeGuild #HummingbirdSage
February 23, 2026 at 12:24 AM
🌿It's Ceanothus season

Indigenous Californians used the flowers and seed pods as a gentle soap for centuries

Pick a small cluster of blossoms

Add a little water and rub your hands together

Result: It creates a natural, fragrant lather!
#GrowNativePlants #Ceanothus #TheNativeGuild
February 10, 2026 at 4:36 PM
🌿Cleveland sage

My favorite💖 native plant.

It smells soooo good and is always teaming with pollinators! 🦋🐝🐞
#PollinatorGarden #ClevelandSage #GrowNativePlants #TheNativeGuild
February 8, 2026 at 3:03 AM
🐝Bumblebees perform "buzz pollination"

They grab onto a flower & vibrate their flight muscles at a high-pitched middle C frequency, shaking the pollen loose

Without it, many of our favorite native plants wouldn't be able to reproduce!
#GrowNativePlants #TheNativeGuild #Bumblebees #PollinatorGarden
February 6, 2026 at 11:24 PM
🌿Dudleya "Live-Forevers"

They are a perfect example of the Fibonacci sequence in nature

Their leaves grow in a tight spiral pattern that ensures every single leaf gets maximum exposure to sunlight and channeled water without shading out the ones below it
#GrowNativePlants #Dudleya #TheNativeGuild
January 31, 2026 at 3:45 PM
🍒Toyon - Wildlife Magnet

Clusters of bright red berries feed mockingbirds, robins, cedar waxwings, coyotes, and even bears

Its bright red winter berries once covered the hills around Los Angeles so vividly that early settlers called the area the holly woods
#GrowNativePlants #Toyon #TheNativeGuild
January 31, 2026 at 1:05 AM
🌿Native CA Tidy Tips

They are:
Easy to grow
Attract pollinators
Their succulent-like stems store water
Require very little maintenance
Bloom reliably in cool spring weather
So beautiful that British gardeners help spread their popularity
#GrowNativePlants #TidyTips #TheNativeGuild #PollinatorGarden
January 29, 2026 at 6:12 PM
🐝Bumblebee enjoying the sweet sweet nectar from Manzanita blossoms this winter
#PollinatorGarden #GrowNativePlants #TheNativeGuild #Invertebrates #Manzanita #Bumblebee #NativePlants
January 22, 2026 at 5:36 PM
💖Help researchers track the health of local pollinator populations with these orgs:

🦋Western Monarch Count: www.inaturalist.org
🐝Bumble Bee Atlas: www.bumblebeeatlas.org
🌿Free Habitat Kits: xerces.org/pollinator-c...
#PollinatorGarden #GrowNativePlants #TheNativeGuild
January 4, 2026 at 7:04 PM
🌿Practice Lazy Gardening

🍂Leave the Leaves: Many native bees and butterfly larvae overwinter in leaf litter

🐝Save the Stems: many solitary bees nest inside hollow stems

Bare Dirt is Good: About 70% of California’s native bees nest underground
#GrowNativePlants #PollinatorGarden #TheNativeGuild
January 3, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Happy New Year, Bluesky! 🐞🐝🦋🪲

Thank you for the support and everyone's kindness on this platform💖
#HappyNewYear #GrowNativePlants #PollinatorGarden #TheNativeGuild
January 1, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Look who I found in the garden today🥰

A Walking Stick insect - the living "phantom"

If you see one, it’s a sign that your garden's ecosystem is healthy and pesticide-free!
#TheNativeGuild #PollinatorGarden #GrowNativePlants #WalkingStickInsect #StickInsects
December 29, 2025 at 11:42 PM
🌿Native Plant Curious?

Check out these two extremely helpful resources (especially if you live in California):

Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens
sbbotanicgarden.org

and

Homegrown National Park
homegrownnationalpark.org
#GrowNativePlants #HomegrownNationalPark #SBBotanicGarden #TheNativeGuild
HNP - Homegrown National Park - Regenerate Biodiversity
Homegrown National Park is helping to regenerate biodiversity one yard at a time with a simple, science-based, and measurable solution for every
homegrownnationalpark.org
December 28, 2025 at 9:19 PM
💥Native plants are California’s quiet superheroes

🌧️When heavy rain hits—like what we just experienced—native plants act as a natural buffer by stabilizing the soil and creating channels for the water to soak into

This reduces runoff pollution💖
#GrowNativePlants #PollinatorGarden #TheNativeGuild
December 27, 2025 at 4:12 PM
🌿Many Californians are actively evaluating lawns for water use, maintenance burden, and ecological impact, and choosing native plantings instead

This shift is happening at both the household level and through community restoration projects💖
#GrowNativePlants #PollinatorGarden #TheNativeGuild
December 26, 2025 at 5:04 PM
🌿California is trending toward healthier land - especially where native plants are being restored

It's a vital strategy to combat soil degradation, conserve water, and bolster biodiversity, and it’s increasingly being adopted across the state
#GrowNativePlants #PollinatorGarden #TheNativeGuild
December 25, 2025 at 5:17 PM
🌿California is choosing to go native

💦Homeowners across the state are “ripping out their thirsty grass lawns and replacing them with beautiful native plants that need far less water,” driven by drought, water costs, and environmental awareness💖
#GrowNativePlants #PolliinatorGarden #TheNativeGuild
December 23, 2025 at 5:03 PM
🍒Christmas Berry

☀️For the Chumash, the winter solstice marks the "Day of the New Sun" - when the "Old Sun" is pulled back from the brink of darkness to ensure the return of longer days

🌿Several native plants, shrubs & trees are involved, including Toyon
#Toyon #GrowNativePlants #TheNativeGuild
December 21, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Matilija Poppy - Garden Benefits:

🐝Pollinator Magnet - full of pollen

💦🦌Drought & Dear Resistance

🌿Erosion Control - with aggressive spreading rhizomes

🌼Dramatic Focal Point - 6' to 8' high & wide with spectacular blooms
#MatilijaPoppy #GrowNativePlants #TheNativeGuild #PollinatorGarden
December 18, 2025 at 4:45 PM
🌿Good morning, Bluesky! I just published a new Substack article about a real beauty 💖

These flowers always make me happy 😍

🌼 The Magnificent Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri)
open.substack.com/pub/ginaradu...
#MatilijaPoppy #GrowNativePlants #PollinatorGarden #TheNativeGuild
🌼 The Magnificent Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri)
The Giant Poppy That Almost Became California's State Flower
open.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Project Monarch 💖

This isn’t just a research effort

It’s an URGENT, high-tech intervention to save a species currently proposed for protection under the Endangered Species Act

swmonarchs.org/ProjectMonar...

#ProjectMonarch #HelpSaveMonarchs #MonarchButterfly #GrowNativePlants #TheNativeGuild
December 14, 2025 at 4:47 PM