Seed and Cutting Exchange
We periodically hold Native Plant Seed and Cutting Exchanges at the Peninsula Conservation Center in Palo Alto. This free event provides an opportunity to share and receive both seeds and cuttings of native plants. Browse the diverse offerings, ranging from easy-to-grow to hard-to-find, and go home with seeds and cuttings of new native plants! We will provide coin envelopes for seeds but bring containers to carry cuttings home.
If you have native plant material from your own garden to share, please bring some. Label your cuttings to make them easy to browse – some gardeners attach helpful hints about growing; others display photos of plants in bloom. You may find it convenient to use calscape.org for this – there is a link on each plant’s information page to make a printable sign for most native species and cultivars.
If you bring cuttings, keep them cool and moist in a bucket of water. Don’t have native plant material to share? No problem, as there is usually enough for all.
Check our calendar for the date of the next Exchange. This event is organized by the CNPS SCV Wildflower Ambassadors, and they are always there to answer questions and distribute free packets of prepackaged wildflower seeds.
Location: Peninsula Conservation Center, 3921 East Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94303
Propagation Resources
- California Native Plant Propagation, a talk by Ann Finney: Learn about easy and effective propagation best practices for California native plants, both from cuttings as well as seeds. The talk includes show-and-tell demos.
- Propagating Native Plants at Home, a talk by Stanley Gu, This talk shares a methods used to propagate plants at the Grassroots Ecology nursery for their restoration projects as well as ways to adapt these techniques for your home. Includes great examples of home propagation setups. The recording is missing some sections of the talk. Slides available here.
- California Native Plant Propagation, an informative article on collecting and propagating native plants from seeds on cnps.org
- California Native Plant Propagation Calendar for San Mateo & San Francisco Counties, from San Mateo UC Master Gardeners
- Native Plant Propagation Methods: Cuttings, article from the from San Mateo UC Master Gardeners
- Seed Propagation of Native California Plants, Dara E. Emery, 2021. The most complete resource for the propagation of California native plants by seed. Available from the CNPS SCV online store.
- Propagation Protocol Database, from the USDA Forest Service. The Native Plant Network is devoted to the sharing of information on how to propagate native plants of North America (US, Canada, Mexico and the Pacific Islands). Excellent searchable database.
- San Diego Chapter's Seed Germination tips, a collection of informative articles on germinating a variety of plants from seeds written by members of the San Diego chapter.
Native Plant Week:April 13 - 20, 2024
Did you know that California has more native plant species than any other state in the nation? To honor California’s incredible plant life, the California State Legislature designated the third week of April to be California Native Plant Week. Celebrate with our Chapter at one of the many activities we've scheduled during this special week.
April 19: Photography Group Photo Sharing Meeting
April 20: Vernal Pool Tour (CNPS Members Only), Lake Cunningham Native Garden Habitat Restoration
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50th Anniversary Celebration & Fall Plant Sale
October 8, 2022, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Dana Center at Hidden Villa
26870 Moody Road Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
Join us for a celebration of our Chapter's 50th Anniversary and a Fall Plant Sale. This free family–friendly event will have activities for all. No tickets required for entry to the event, but free parking for the event (does not include access to Hidden Villa's hiking trails and farm animals) must be reserved in advance. No free parking without an advance reservation -- parking on the day of the event is $10 and includes access to Hidden Villa's hiking trails and farm animals. Current Chapter members will receive a free commemorative pin at the event.
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2024 Fall Plant Sale
October 19, 2024, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm: Pick up online purchased plants
at the Dana Center at Hidden Villa, 26870 Moody Road Los Altos Hills. You'll have an opportunity to buy a limited selection of plants from both our nursery and the Grassroots Ecology Nursery as well as participate in other fun activities.
CNPS SCV Nursery
Shop online from October 11 to 14: https://california-native-plant-society-santa-clara-valley-chapter.square.site/ and schedule a time to pick your plants up on October 19. Only select plants (manzanitas and ceanothus along with some others) will be available for purchase outside the nursery during the event. The CNPS SCV Nursery will not be open for sales during the event.
Grassroots Ecology Nursery
The Grassroots Ecology Nursery will bring plants for in-person shopping at the event (no preorders). A list of available plants will be posted on their website at https://www.grassrootsecology.org/nursery-sales a few days before October
19.
and much more...
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2025 Fall Plant Sale
Shop Online:
October 18, 2025, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm:
- Pick up online purchased plants.
- Shop for plants! Both the CNPS SCV Nursery and the Grassroots Ecology Nursery will offer a variety of plants for in-person shopping at the event. Come early for the best selection.
- Coyote Brush Studios will be there with plenty of wildflower themed items.
- Participate in other fun activities.
at the Dana Center at Hidden Villa, 26870 Moody Road Los Altos Hills. The CNPS SCV Nursery will not be open during the event.
Grassroots Ecology Nursery: An inventory of available plants will be posted at their website at https://www.grassrootsecology.org/nursery-sales by October 4th.
Talk, Demo and more
- 11:00 am: Planting demonstration by Krzysztof Kozminski in the Nursery Demo Garden
- 1:00 pm: Talk: Success with Native Plants for Beginners
- Gardening Advice Table (all day): Discuss your native plants and garden with our experts and receive plant selection advice and resources. This is not the place to have your whole garden designed.
Enjoy fun activities
- Seed Exchange & CNPS SCV Wildflower Ambassadors: Free native plant seeds! If you have some to share, please bring them, but there should be plenty to choose from for everyone! Wildflower Ambassadors will also be available to provide information about habitat gardening
- Partner booths: Santa Clara Valley Audubon, Sequoia Audubon, Hidden Villa. Open Space Authority
- Membership table - stop by and sign a new member up and receive a free gift (while supplies last)
Shopping
- Coyote Brush Studios - Stickers, prints, greeting cards, zipper pouches, temporary tattoos, and more!
- Emily Chin's lovely pressed floral art
- Books, t-shirts and more from our chapter
New Membership Special
You can join CNPS for 40% off the regular cost of an annual membership -- only $30! And that's not all - new members will also receive a reusuable water bottle and chapter pin (while supplies last). New member packages may also be purchased as a gift (make sure you have the recipient's address and email to complete the signup). This offer is only available for new members. You can sign up in advance at: https://bit.ly/NPLOVER. Just bring a copy of your receipt to our membership table at the sale to receive your water bottle and pin.
The event and parking are all free to the public.
Volunteer
This event depends on volunteers, and we could use help. We have a wide variety of volunteer options, so if you have some time to help out, please consider signing up.
Next Seed & Cutting Exchange: September 20, 2025 11am - 1pm
