Napa Master Gardeners Prep for Monarchs and El Niño Hillside Rain

NAPA & OAKLAND, Calif. — Seasonal horticultural strategies for Napa Valley gardens and community wellness education across the Bay Area took center stage on Wednesday, November 4, as UC Master Gardeners of Napa County Cindy Watter and Melanie Marshall detailed fall California milkweed planting for monarch butterflies and do-it-yourself hillside terracing ahead of winter El Niño storms, while East Bay herbalist Colin Robinson and horticultural educator Inayah Baaqee shared insights on ancestral plant remedies and indoor gardening.

Cindy Watter Details Fall California Milkweed Planting for Monarch Butterflies

Writing in Napa Valley Features, UC Master Gardener of Napa County Cindy Watter explained how planting 12 (a dozen) native California milkweed (Asclepias californica) plants in front of Mexican marigold and "Hot Lips" salvias—paired with nectar-rich ceanothus, Mexican sunflower, passionflower vines, allium, monkeyflower, and goldenrod—attracted an unusual abundance of monarch butterflies to her backyard this summer. Milkweed seeds typically take 2 years to flower (or 1 to 2 years from seedlings), reaching about 3 feet tall with pinkish-lilac blooms that split into seed pods in early fall.

While the World Wildlife Fund reported in March that the eastern monarch population rose 64% last year, western monarch numbers tracked by the Xerces Society and the California Native Plant Society remain low, making autumn the ideal season to scatter native milkweed seeds into moistened, pesticide-free compost and mulch. The UC Master Gardeners of Napa County and Napa Public Library will host a free Zoom workshop, "Tips, Tricks and Tools: Advice From UC Master Gardeners," on Thursday, November 5 (Nov. 5), from 7 to 8 p.m., alongside in-person Help Desk hours on Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the UC Cooperative Extension Office, 1710 Soscol Ave., Suite 4, in Napa.

Melanie Marshall Engineers a 30-Degree Napa Hillside for El Niño Storms

In the same Napa Valley Features edition, UC Master Gardener Melanie Marshall detailed how she prepared her steep 30-degree clay-and-rock slope after the federal Climate Prediction Center forecast on October 8 (Oct. 8) that a strong to very strong El Niño is likely to persist through March.

To capture rainwater and create safe walking steps without washing loose soil toward her foundation during atmospheric rivers, Marshall installed level 100% recycled HDPE UV-resistant plastic terracing beds ("lockers"), each holding 1 cubic foot of compost-enriched soil and anchored with 16-inch-long, half-inch-diameter (0.5-inch) rebar topped with micro bark mulch. For irrigation at 5 a.m.—which the Environmental Protection Agency notes uses 20% to 50% (20 to 50%) less water than sprinklers—she installed hydrozoned drip lines governed by a 40-psi pressure-reducing regulator, attaching 1-gallon-per-hour pressure-compensating emitters directly to flexible supply tubing before running spaghetti lines to individual plants, and ringing trees with Techline inline emitters rated at 0.9 gallons per hour spaced 12 inches apart (from available 6, 12, 18, or 24-inch spacings).

East Bay Herbalist Colin Robinson and "Vibrant Plant Mama" Inayah Baaqee Share Plant Wisdom

In San Francisco Bay View interviews conducted by Editor-in-Chief JR Valrey, two Bay Area plant educators highlighted the physical and mental health benefits of working with plants:

• Certified Herbalist Colin Robinson (Sun Roots Collective): As profiled by San Francisco Bay View, Colin Robinson—who earned his certificate at the Berkeley Herbal Center after overcoming severe eczema, irritable bowel syndrome, and reactions to triamcinolone and prednisone through acupuncture, fasting, and alkaline herbalism—crafts teas blending 6 to 10 (six to 10) herbs, including ginger, antioxidant-rich orange peel, dandelion root, U.S.-native blueberry, cinnamon (from Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and China), and Northern African mullein. His Sun Roots Collective offers 4 signature blends (Family Batch, Presence of Rose, Wake Up Brew, and Copacetic Calm) alongside high-omega-3 (omega-3) walnut butter (inspired by Dr. Sebi), while volunteering 100% hands-on weeding and seeding at 4 local farms: Alemany Farm, Planting Justice, CoCo San Sustainable Farm, and Acta Non Verba.
• Inayah Baaqee ("Vibrant Plant Mama"): In a companion interview in San Francisco Bay View, community horticulturalist Inayah Baaqee (@vibrantplantmama) described how she grew her indoor collection from about 30 houseplants in her first post-college apartment to more than 100 (100+) plants after welcoming her daughter nearly 2 (two) years ago, using plant care to overcome postpartum anxiety, represent Black women in horticulture, and share tutorials 4 or 5 times per week on Instagram and TikTok and 2 times (twice) weekly on YouTube.