Marin CNPS is delighted to announce that this year’s Eco-Friendly Garden Tour will feature five gardens owned or hosted by chapter members. The tour is free, but you must register at
Eco-Friendly Garden Tour to receive a list of addresses for all gardens on the tour.
For full descriptions of each garden see the April – Marin CNPS Newsletter.
CA Native Plant Pollinator Garden – Bay Model Visitor Center, 2100 Bridgeway, Sausalito
For the spring Eco-Friendly Garden Tour, our chapter will be hosts at the new Native Plant Pollinator Garden we’ve been creating at the Bay Model Visitor Center over the last year. The garden is over 100 feet long, planted with different wildlife habitats for songbirds, hummingbirds, and butterflies plus a monarch butterfly way station. Native bees make use of it all. Each section of the garden focuses on the plants favored by that specific type of pollinator. There are currently over 75 native species in the garden. Water is provided by a solar-powered birdbath, a misting fountain for the hummingbirds and small puddles in boulders. Our purpose was to create a safe haven for these essential creatures, and we are grateful that the US Army Corps of Engineers enthusiastically embraced the idea. Members from CNPS will be on hand all day to answer questions. We’ll be joined by volunteers from organizations that specialize in these pollinators: Marin Audubon, Urban Bee Lab, Xerces Society, plus Marin Municipal Water District and SPAWN, who helped us plant the garden. We have a companion brochure available for garden visitors that lists the plants in the garden, grouped by pollinator type. Register here
Suzi’s Wild-is-Beautiful Native Garden and Orchard 
The garden is densely planted with flowering annuals and perennials that support pollinators year-round with a succession of bloom.
Point Reyes Prairie/Green Roof Design
Ashley Dumbra’s Point Reyes Prairie garden abuts open space along Tomales Bay. The neighboring open space has inspired a restoration coastal prairie in the back of the garden.
California Native Hillside Garden
David and Carolyn Long’s unique, nearly 100% California native hillside garden is sectioned into distinct plant communities, including riparian woodland, coastal scrub, dry meadow, sedge transition meadow, hedgerow, and chaparral.
Charlotte T’s Habitat Garden
This is a naturalist’s garden, where life itself creates conditions conducive to still more life! As such, the garden is ever-changing, and the gardener simply assumes the role of a skilled editor.
