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Ghost Pine Native Plant Nursery

News & Updates

August 2025 | Issue 2

Upcoming Events

Plant Talk: Rainwater Harvesting Basics


Water is a critical natural resource. We will discuss the basics of rainwater harvesting, concentrating on rain gardens, berms and swales, dry creek beds, terraces, and rainwater catchment storage. The goal is to keep rainwater on your property and apply it to your home landscape.



Turtle Bay Nursery

Saturday, August 16th, 10 AM to Noon


Summer Is For Planning

Deborah Halfpenny’s insightful article, “Gardening with Natives”, caught my attention in the Summer 2023 Newsletter of the Mount Lassen Chapter, California Native Plant Society. 


Deborah notes, “Before midsummer, I usually have a nice list of plants and seeds that I want to have on hand come fall. If I travel around the state during the summer, I watch for these plants and buy them as I find them. Keeping native plants happy in their containers through our hot, dry summers is a somewhat-challenging gardening job, but is easier, in my opinion, than searching, often unsuccessfully, to find those plants at the nurseries in the fall when stock is low and I’m ready to plant.”


It is discouraging when desired climate-adapted species are so hard to find in nurseries and may not be propagated anytime soon. Recently, I came across an uncommon plant perfect for a specific area in our garden. I will heed Deborah's excellent point and go back to the nursery, purchase it, and keep it happy in the pot until I plant it at the end of summer or beginning of fall when the ground is still warm and the rains are not too far away😊

What is on your mind? Zone 0 (0-5 ft)?


In response to the increased frequency and intensity of wildfires in California over the last decade, the Legislature passed AB 3074 (2020) and SB 504 (2024), making changes to Public Resource Code 4291. These changes require the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) to establish an ember-resistant defensible zone the first 5 feet around a structure, referred to as Zone 0. Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-18-25 requires that the Board complete rulemaking for Zone 0 no later than December 31, 2025.


The Zone 0 Regulation Advisory Committee discussed the draft rule text at a public workshop on Monday, June 16, 2025. The Board invites comments on all provisions of the draft rule text.


Zone 0 is an extremely contentious issue, especially among the native plant community. Stay tuned.


Feel free to contact us about anything you would like to learn more about in future GPNPN newsletters and blog posts.

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Planting Your Native Plant (Repeated here in case you missed it in the last newsletter)


How to plant your new native plant will help you succeed on your garden journey. Your garden will not only provide vital wildlife habitat, but you can also create an aesthetically pleasing landscape that requires fewer resources. 


Although maintaining native plants is in general less, thoughtful care of these plants is critical for success. Future newsletter posts will shed light on this important but often overlooked aspect of gardening.

Plant of the Month

Hollyleaf Cherry, Prunus ilicifolia

Prunus ilicifolia_Copyright 2019 keith wayne garcia CC-BY-NC 4.0



Assets: Wildlife habitat, evergreen, tough, and adaptable.


Prunus is one of the top keystone species for supporting a vast array of wildlife. 


Theodore Payne's 1941 catalog: "Of all our native shrubs, there is none more beautiful than this wild cherry with its rich, deep green holly-like foliage and sprays of white flowers.”