Bring Mom over to Goin Native and clip her a personal bouquet from the garden. Grab a Mason jar
and fill'er up with roses, yarrow, ferns, lavender, iris's and more. Tie it up with raffia and viola' your
Mother day bouquet complete. Now that's a sweet deal!!!!

Mother’s Day, Sunday May 13.  Open All Day from 10am to 4pm.  Cost is $10 a jar

Learn about everything you need to know about succulents. They are EASY as 1-2-3! Marianne will
demonstrate a succulent garden mixed with native plants, roses, perennials and feather grass. You'll be
able to start your new garden that day using beautiful drought tolerant plants which will save you lots
of money in precious resources, water your time and labor. 

Plants  sale from 9:00am-4:00pm. Check with your City about the rebate program on reducing the lawn with dr ought tolerant plants.

Class is FREE on Saturday May 19 and June 16:  Time is 10am - 11am and 1pm - 2pm

Goin Native Presents:  “Chester the Caterpillar & Butterfly Friends”

A Video, Slide Show & Book Signing by Susie Vanderlip for Kids and Adults, too!
Saturday April 14, Video Show Time: 11am & 1pm, Booksigning 11:30-12:30 & 1:30-3:30                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        For more info: 714-542-2823 or Goin’ Native Marianne 949-606-6386

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER featured The Story of Chester author Susie Vanderlip on the frontpage of the Orange County
Register on Sat, Jan. 14, 2012. Article ONLINE!  http://www.ocregister.com/articles/vanderlip-335598-chester-life.html

Come for a visit and meander through the oldest residential street in California, the Los Rios
Historical District.Enjoy the  variety of natural drought tolerant gardens and edible landscaping
created by the local neighbors. Learn how to incorporate our crop share program in your
neighborhood while reducing your lawn and water bill. The tour begins at the Montanez Adobe
in  the Los Rios Park and continues throughout the charming neighborhood. Plants /Seeds/Garden
items for sale at various locations ]]> 2012-02-16T01:20:02+00:00 http://goinnative.net/blog/post/youth-group-garden-volunteer-program http://goinnative.net/blog/post/youth-group-garden-volunteer-program#When:00:23:21Z

Need Community Service hours for school or club? Join a growing group of teens (13-17) help
maintain the Los Rios Rios Park in Historic Los Rios Street. Learn to garden, meet new friends,
get fresh air & exercise  while acquiring service hours . We meet the FIRST Saturday of the
month during the school year. NO experience necessary, just a smile, and willingness to make
a difference in the community. Bring your gloves,hat, water  and meet us at the Montanez Adobe
inside the park.

Must fill out Volunteer Parent/Guardian consent form. Online: www.goinnative.net

Dates:  March 3, April 7, May 5, June 2. For more info call Marianne at Goin Native at 949-606-6386

Like to garden? Want to learn? Become a Garden Angel at the Los Rios Park. No experience necessary, just a passion for making a difference. Meet new friends, get fresh air, and exercise. We meet at the Montanez Adobe in the park on specific Thursday's of the month from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM.  You must fill out volunteer consent form online and bring form in with you.

I had the pleasure of speaking to the members of Sherman Library & Gardens, a 2.2 acre horticultural retreat in Corona Del Mar.  These beautiful gardens feature a cactus and succulent garden, a tropical conseravtory, rose, herb, and japanese gardens.  I spoke about the importance of  landscaping with drought tolerant plants, such as natives and succulents.  I shared with the members that the biggest garden challenge is water.  The challenge being is that water has become an expensive commodity that we cannot waste on extremely thirsty lawns. As California residents it is important to reduce our lawns and replace them with drought tolerant plants.   Here are a few suggestions to add into your landscape:  Manzanita, "Point Reyes", Monkey Flower, Deer Grass, California Iris, and Tecate Pine to name a few. The day ended in the "coastal garden" cuisine at Cafe Jardin against the backdrop of radiant Iceland Poppies.

Sherman Library & Gardens: 2647 East Pacific Coast Hwy, Corona Del Mar, 92625  

(949) 673 - 2261

Join Goin Native on the porch and around the fire pit to celebrate the season. Festivities begin at 6:30 P.M.  Enjoy our Capistrano Christmas with home made tacos, hot cider ,cookies & cocoa along with your favorite old time holiday music. Come shop the many "green gifts "that are available for sale. Can't join the fun? Shop the GN website for your Hoilday gift giving.

Goin native retail hours for Dec 3 10:00am-3:00pm.

Goin Native Open house festivities begin (approx 6:30pm) after the annual SJC Tree Lighting ceremony in Historic Town Center Park.

Whether you want a CA Native, Succulent, or Vegetable Garden, Marianne will help you design and budget a garden that fits your life style and wallet. For over 30 years self taught gardener Marianne has been playing in the dirt, designing gardens. If your’e looking for a natural garden that reduces water and that attracts Hummingbirds and Butterflies, give Marianne a call today for a free consultation.

This doesn’t surprise me at all…it’s about time we start listening to our inner self and trust we can make responsible choices in our own garden. So often we think the experts have THE answer and know what’s best for our garden. Ok, I’ll concede with hardscape and irrigation systems you gotta call in the pros, but when it comes to plant selection, color, and design, start in a small area and give it a go. This is how I started my garden, the amateur that I am, 31 years ago in Huntington Beach.

I started small with exterior window boxes and color bowls for my front steps. I regularly changed the annuals four times a year to reflect the seasons and spent tons of money at Nurseryland keeping up with the seasonal color. As a few more years passed, gardening this way became costly. I decided to try something creative and *gulp*…removed some of my lawn. Seems no big deal now since it’s quite the trend to plant drought tolerant landscapes with CA Natives and succulents, but this was back in 1984 with manicured green lawns scattered with colorful, thriving, water loving plants.

What’s a girl to do but to jump in the dirt and dig out my grass. I must say I created a stir in the neighborhood back then and the neighbors thought I was crazy to be digging up my lawn. I decided I wanted to see color – bright color – as I was driving up to my house.

I acted boldly and planted  sunset orange and sunrise yellow Gazania’s in a 30′ x 3′ area around my drive way. These colorful plants, unbeknownst to me, were drought tolerant plants and grew well in enriched or unamended soil (mine was the latter.) Thus, they bloomed all year round. When I was all done, I was completely proud of my artist abilities in the garden. I was greeted each day by the rows of sunny Gaznia’s year round.

Taking this huge garden risk without advice from anyone was a real gamble. I just listened to my instincts and ran with it. The front yard turned out beautifully, giving me annual color without costing me more in water or additional plants. After this project I was ready to concur any garden project. My advice to you..take a risk…look at magazines, check out website, go to Nursery’s…just get out there and try something new…you might just be starting the next new trend!