Fall Plant Sale Is on the Way!
Species list with links to pictures.
"Landscaping in the Desert," a presentation by Emma Lynch, Natural Resources Specialist at BLM Ridgecrest Field Office.
Map of the Desert Empire Fairgrounds and plant pick-up location.
Mark your calendars: The 2023 Eastern Kern County Resource Conservation District (EKCRCD) drought tolerant – plant sale is coming soon!
This year EKCRCD has purchased a new roster of native plants, grown for them by the Antelope Valley RCD (AVRCD). All of the AVRCD plants, which are all in one-gallon pots, are Mojave Desert natives grown from seed collected in the Mojave Desert. Native plants this year include California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), white tidy tips (Layia glandulosa), desert broom (Baccharis sarothroides), and four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens).
EKCRCD will again be ordering drought-tolerant plants from Mountain States Wholesale Nursery (MSWN). Last year MSWN sold the nursery to its employees. The sale resulted in a transformation for the nursery: They consolidated their operations to Cochise, AZ, and decided to concentrate on their most popular plants, many of which are dramatic accent plants that you can buy nowhere else, like their trademarked hesperaloes. These include ivory swan hesperaloe, which is a creamy white, and the desert dusk hesperaloe, which is a rich burgundy. The ever-popular Lynn’s Legacy Texas ranger will also be offered. The Texas rangers are the purple shrubs you see blooming around Ridgecrest during the spring through fall months. If irrigated, Lynn’s Legacy, with its profuse lavender flowers, will bloom nearly throughout this period.
Because MSWN inventory is constantly changing and they will offer fewer species of plants this year, it’s possible that the exact species you order in September will not be available at plant pick-up time in late October. Therefore there will be a check-box next to each item on your order form. Checking the box will indicate that you will accept a substitute species. Each substitute will be matched as nearly as possible for size, color, function in the landscape, and care requirements.
Plant pick-up will take place from 9:30 AM- 1:00 PM on Saturday, October 28, 2023, at the Desert Empire Fairgrounds (520 S. Richmond Rd., Ridgecrest). "Extra" plants will be sold from 1:00-2:00 PM on the same day. If you are unable to make the pick-up time, please email ekcrcd@gmail.com to arrange an alternate pick-up time and location.
Order forms, which will be available at the presentation, must be returned to EKCRCD by Monday, October 2, 2023. You may return them at the plant presentation, email them to ekcrcd@gmail.com (be sure to include quantities), or snail mail or them to EKCRCD, 300 S. Richmond Rd., Ridgecrest, CA 93555.
The plant list (with links to plant pictures) and order form will be also be available online after the talk on August 26, at www.ekcrcd.org (see carousel). (Mountain States Wholesale Nursery’s plant catalog is always available to peruse, at https://mswn.com/.) After Monday, August 31, you may also pick up order forms at the Maturango Museum, IWVWD, and Ridgecrest BLM field office.
Still have questions? Email us at ekcrcd@gmail.com.