Arboretum Will Host Native Plant Festival

Green thumbs can get their fill of plants indigenous to California at the Native Plant Festival this weekend.

The Saturday festival at the UCI Arboretum in Irvine includes tours of the arboretum’s natives collection and marsh, along with a native-plant sale.

California natives, naturally adapted to the region’s climate and soils, are ideal for drought-tolerant or low-maintenance landscapes.

The sale will be just in time for the fall planting season--the best time to grow natives, according to organizers. All plants for sale are professionally grown, and most are not commonly available in retail nurseries.

The Orange County Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, organized in 1980, aims to increase public awareness of, and work for, the conservation of native plants. The group is co-sponsoring the festival with the UCI Arboretum and the San Joaquin Marsh Reserve.

The free event will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the arboretum, Campus Drive and Jamboree Road.

Information: (949) 824-5833.