Napa Master Gardeners Detail Monarch Habitat and El Niño Terracing

NAPA & SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Native pollinator habitat restoration, hillside rainwater capture ahead of winter El Niño storms, and community botanical education took center stage on Wednesday, November 4, as UC Master Gardeners of Napa County contributors Cindy Watter and Melanie Marshall published seasonal horticulture guidance alongside profiles of Bay Area plant educator Inayah Baaqee and certified herbalist Colin Robinson.

UC Master Gardeners Cindy Watter and Melanie Marshall Share Monarch and El Niño Hillside Strategies

In the weekly Green Wednesday column published by Napa Valley Features, UC Master Gardeners of Napa County horticulturists Cindy Watter and Melanie Marshall detailed practical autumn strategies for Napa Valley home gardens:

• Native Milkweed & Monarch Butterflies: In her essay "Milkweed, a Little Neglect and a Summer Full of Monarchs," Cindy Watter described how 12 (a dozen) California milkweed plants, a large ceanothus, and a Mexican sunflower attracted more monarch butterflies to her backyard this summer than usual with minimal intervention, noting that autumn is the optimal season to plant native milkweed seeds.
• Hillside Terracing for El Niño: Melanie Marshall detailed how she terraced her steep Napa Valley hillside using recycled-plastic planting beds, compost, and drip irrigation to make the slope safer to walk on while capturing more winter rainwater ahead of expected El Niño storms.

Inayah Baaqee ("Vibrant Plant Mama") and Herbalist Colin Robinson Highlight Urban Horticulture

In a pair of interviews conducted by journalist JR Valrey for the San Francisco Bay View and a companion feature in the San Francisco Bay View, two Bay Area practitioners discussed urban plant care and traditional herbalism:

• Inayah Baaqee ("Vibrant Plant Mama"): Maintaining a personal collection of over 100 plants, Inayah Baaqee uses social media platforms to demystify plant collecting, teach plant identification, buying, and repotting, and represent Black women in the horticultural community.
• Certified Herbalist Colin Robinson: Drawing on ancestral plant knowledge, functional medicine, and volunteer work at Bay Area farms, certified herbalist Colin Robinson discussed formulating herbal teas with ginger, orange peel, and dandelion root to address digestive issues, eczema, and migraines.