Forever California
9 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 4 years ago -From the tiniest poppy to the tallest redwood, we're sharing stories on California native plants and the wildlife and people who love them. This is Forever California, the official podcast of California Botanic Garden. Here at California Botanic Garden, we conserve and celebrate the native plants that make our state so special. California is one special place. We are a biodiversity hotspot, a region of astounding botanical treasures, with over 6,000 native species. Over 1/3 of these plants are endemic, found nowhere else on the planet.California native plants are beautiful in a garden, invaluable in our ecosystems, vital in California Native American culture and are amazing organisms with so much to tell us. This podcast endeavors to take you on a botanical journey through our amazing flora, connecting along the way with the fauna that depend on our native plants and the people who conserve, grow and cherish them. We hope this podcast helps bring the Garden and the remarkable world of California native plants to you.
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Episodes
Diversity in the Plant Sciences
August 31, 2020 16:00 - 59 minutes - 40.9 MB#BlackBotanistsWeek, a campaign first organized in July 2020 to "promote, encourage, create a safe space for, and find more Black people (and BIPOC) who love plants!," sparked a nation-wide dialogue on the vital and ongoing need to make the plant sciences more inclusive, accessible and diverse. Black people (and BIPOC) have faced systemic racism in related professions, in addition to plaguing discrimination that haunts people of color outdoors and in the field - such as the incident that hap...
What a Seed Wants, What a Seed Needs: Secrets from Germination Trials
July 11, 2020 01:00 - 30 minutes - 20.8 MBSeeds are incredible. Every towering coast redwood, every ancient oak tree, every golden poppy among millions in a superbloom began life as a seed. Within each seed is a blueprint for a plant’s entire life and the energy to kickstart that plant's unfolding story. In addition, seeds are imbued with an amazing array of adaptations - a bag of botanical tricks - to start life at just the right moment. True masochists, many seeds live by the mantra “no pain, no gain.” To trigger germination, some...
A Squirrelly Saga
May 29, 2020 19:00 - 39 minutes - 27 MBSquirrels are one of the most animated and assured kinds of wildlife visitors will encounter here at California Botanic Garden. These fluffy, scruffy and nutty denizens love our California native plants. There are actually three species that reside here - the western gray squirrel, ground squirrel and eastern fox squirrel. Of the three, the fox squirrel is invasive, a species that was brought to Southern California by human means. Its presence here brings up questions about the future of our...
The Butterfly Connection
May 01, 2020 23:00 - 34 minutes - 23.6 MBThere are many species of native butterflies in California. These winged gems, symbols of beauty, depend on California native plants for survival. We call this the butterfly connection! We are unfortunately unable to open our beloved Butterfly Pavilion this year, an exhibit that showcases native butterflies and their favorite host and nectar plants, but we are excited to share the wonders of these remarkable organisms with you virtually. Join us in conversation with Butterfly Pavilion volun...
Hidden Lake Bluecurls
April 24, 2020 19:00 - 39 minutes - 27.5 MBA hidden lake, a sky island, an incredibly rare plant: these may sound like the makings of a fantasy novel, but they are parts of an amazing conservation success story. Hidden Lake bluecurls (Trichostema austromontanum ssp. compactum) live only along the shoreline of Mt San Jacinto's only lake, one that appears and disappears like a mirage depending upon annual precipitation. This adorable plant — tiny, aromatic and purple-flowered — was once considered so threatened that it was federally li...
Native Plants Next Door
April 17, 2020 19:00 - 54 minutes - 37.6 MBApril 11-19 is Native Plant Week! We are celebrating a bit differently during these challenging times by taking a moment each day to appreciate the fabulous native plants that live right next door. On this week's episode, Native Plants Next Door, we're partnering with the fabulous California Native Plant Society to discuss the local plants that live in our communities and the actions we can take to care for these botanical neighbors. Across California, our communities are associated with d...
Chaparral Ferns in the SoCal Sun
April 10, 2020 22:00 - 29 minutes - 20.7 MBThe majority of ferns used in California landscapes are non-native and water-loving; low-water-use alternatives are rarely available. We're working to introduce five native, low-water-use fern species to the nursery trade that are uniquely adapted to California's Mediterranean climate. Join us in conversation with Ashlee Armstrong, CalBG's Grounds Manager and leader of the Chaparral Fern Project supported by the Saratoga Horticultural Research Endowment. We'll discuss this multi-year proje...
Native Gardening 10FUN
April 04, 2020 01:00 - 39 minutes - 27.5 MBCalifornia native plants are the perfect choice for home gardeners in California! They can be exquisitely beautiful, are often quintessentially water-wise, support a vibrant web of life and speak to an aesthetic unique to California. In today's episode, we're going to learn some foolproof native plants to consider in your home garden or landscape. In conversation with Peter Evans, Director of Horticulture at California Botanic Garden, we'll discuss some hardy species and cultivars to consi...
Lo & Behold
March 26, 2020 19:00 - 38 minutes - 26.2 MBOn our very first episode, we are taking flight, well nearly with Lo & Behold. That's his full name, but we tend to call him Lo, or little owl. Lo is a ridiculously cute great horned owlet who has quite an owldessy. He has fallen out of his nest not once, but twice, and to keep things light in these very challenging times, I'm going to fastforward and say he is safe now and cuddled up with mom in a Cadillac of owl's nests. Thanks to the amazing work and intervention of my colleagues at Calif...