Laura Lovett – a Powerhouse and an Inspiration; Her Contributions to CNPS Marin Chapter & Beyond
By Kristin Jakob and Caroline Christman
Laura Weeding in the Bay Model Pollinator Garden Photo by Caroline Christman
On April 25, 2026 the Marin Chapter of CNPS lost one of its most talented and stalwart board members, Laura Lovett, just one week after she ably oversaw the Chapter’s spring plant sale. As an avid native plant gardener and communications expert, Laura contributed to nearly every facet of our organization’s activities and governance. Her conscientiousness and attention to detail were extraordinary, as was her drive to educate and inspire an appreciation of native plants in Marin and throughout California.
Communications and Publications
Upon joining the board in late 2016, Laura created and filled the Communications position. She brought her talents as a professional graphic designer to this role, organizing and publicizing a series of activities to celebrate Native Plant Week, designing a chapter business card and membership brochure, and designing the Point Reyes wildflowers booklet and plant checklist. Through its Communications Group meetings, Laura stayed in touch with CNPS statewide organization and publicized Marin Chapter projects in the state-wide Flora magazine.
Laura’s book-designing skills shone when she was hired to design the beautiful, award-winning coffee table book Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change, co-published by CNPS and the Winter-Badger Press in 2020. Laura also coordinated the reception for an inaugural exhibition of photos from the book.
Laura helped to manage a photo archive of images to facilitate easy native plant photo-sharing in the Chapter. On the Chapter’s website committee, Laura was integral in the design of the Chapter’s new website. Her ideas included eye-catching graphics and user-friendly formats.
Gardening with Natives
Though not coming to CNPS from a gardening background, Laura rapidly learned all that she could about the subject and became a champion for the increased and informed use of California natives. This work included private gardens, but she especially focused in public spaces where native plant benefits could be broadcast to a wider audience.
Bay Model Pollinator Garden
by Laura Lovett
She worked with other CNPS members to increase natives in many public spaces in Marin. In 2017, with the support of Charlotte Torgovitsky, Laura developed a native plant demonstration garden in an arc of raised beds near the entrance to the Bay Model in Sausalito. She designed signage and interpretive materials for this garden and oversaw its maintenance, actively recruiting volunteers to join in regular weeding and planting days. In her hometown of Larkspur, Laura spearheaded California native pollinator plantings in median beds, parking islands, and in front of the local police station as part of the Larkspur Habitat Corridor. She worked with the nonprofit, Refugia Marin to promote a large all-California native plant habitat garden for the new Larkspur Library. She persuaded CNPS Marin to contribute funds needed to purchase plants. Refugia Marin will continue planting and maintaining this and many of Laura’s other gardens. The relationship Laura forged between CNPS and Refugia Marin will continue to benefit both groups and native plant gardens throughout Marin.
Laura also became active in native plant policy, representing the Marin Chapter at quarterly State CNPS horticulture and urban horticulture meetings. She was working with CNPS staff on ways to address AB1572, which requires replacement of decorative turf in upcoming years, with the hope that this could inspire transitions from lawn to native plants in the future. She advocated that CNPS provide sample garden plans that people could implement and encourage nurseries to provide more native plants in the coming years. This is work we will have to carry on without her. Locally, Laura reviewed developers’ plans, suggesting landscaping changes, and proposed improved wording of city resolutions and general plans as they came up for consideration.
To augment the chapter’s existing scholarships program, Laura initiated a Chapter program to provide grants to small, publicly accessible native plant projects that might otherwise have difficulty obtaining funding. These grants were targeted toward other nonprofits and agencies that were working to include native plants in landscaping or improving native plant habitat in Marin. This was one more way that Laura helped encourage native plant use in the region.
Laura was active with the Chapter’s Marin Native Gardening Group, planning visits to nurseries, garden tours, and other events. Their annual fall seed exchange was a welcome gathering, with refreshments augmented by Laura, who loved to bake.
Laura continually refreshed horticulture content on the Chapter website, writing articles and developing informative handouts. She created the Plant Replacement List, an illustrated publication, also available online, that steers readers towards California native alternatives to fire prone or invasive nonnative garden plants.
Chapter 50th Anniversary Gala
Events
Laura recognized the importance of in-person events to form a strong, motivated community. To this end, she planned several annual “meet and greets” where members could mingle, volunteers could be thanked, and accomplishments could be celebrated. For the occasion of the Marin Chapter’s 50th anniversary, Laura launched several activities to inspire members’ participation (such as the 50 Acts of Caring Instagram site) and led a committee that organized a wonderful celebratory dinner with speakers.
Laura Lovett at spring 2026 plant sale, keeping us on track. Photo by Renee Fittinghoff
Plant Sales
Starting in fall 2020, Laura co-chaired the Chapter’s beloved spring and fall native plant sales. Laura handled a wide range of tasks: selecting the plants to be offered, getting the details into the online store, publicity (including writing engaging articles on featured plants), overseeing the online sale, and supervising order packing and pickup. At the 2026 spring plant sale, though she couldn’t stand for long, Laura was on hand to make sure every detail of set-up was carried out perfectly. On that Saturday, Laura could be seen on the sidelines (a place she rarely was), smiling and watching as gardeners engaged in lively discussions on which plants to use.
Her Challenge for Us
Laura Lovett constantly sought ways to promote California native plants in every medium, knowing that this would inspire new CNPS members and would-be native-plant lovers to get involved. We hope to continue the important work that Laura initiated and maintain her legacy.