We think native San Diego species are the most under-appreciated plants in town and we want to share our love for them and our passion for planting! San Diego Wild Ones is dedicated to helping our local communities plant native flora that support native fauna. We provide planting and gleaning workshops, gardening advice, and free seeds and seedlings for all! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to find our free seed events and email us with any questions you may have about how to get wild with native plants. Or use the link above to become a member and join us! We All have the ability to help restore nature in our yards, schools, and parks, to encourage biodiversity, and to enjoy the benefits of a Wild Life 🙂 

Wild Ones chapters are a space where community members gather to support each other in learning about landscaping with native plants and to share knowledge. Chapters are where change happens! We are excited to offer local residents the opportunity to expand their impact in the natural landscaping movement and help promote native plants. Check out the events calendar for the next time we meet up, and join us in making change happen. We look forward to seeing you soon!

VISION

We envision functional ecosystems where people and native plants thrive together in San Diego County.

MISSION

We are a regional conservation collective that educates and promotes natural landscaping through community stewardship to foster an appreciation of the ecosystem services and natural beauty provided by native plants.

Email us at: [email protected]

Results of our Native Spirit Bee Quiz!

We are proud to announce a new addition to the Wild Ones San Diego family! Did you know there are over 700 types of native bees in San Diego County and  honey bees are not one of them? We filled out Bee San Diego’s Spirit Bee quiz and were assigned a real cutie: the Blueberry Mason Bee (Osmia ribifloris). Read up on her below straight from Kemi, our favorite ecologically minded beekeeper who wants everyone to support their local bee populations.

She is a mason and she is particular. She seeks out manzanita and its kin — the native heath family plants of California chaparral — and will visit little else when they are blooming. She is iridescent blue-green, small and precise, and she nests in hollow stems or pre-existing cavities, constructing and sealing each brood cell with mud and plant material as if what she builds now determines what survives into the next season — because it does. She is a specialist who has made a clear choice about what matters. She shows up for it every late winter when the manzanita opens and most other bees are still underground. Check out the campaign!

Osmia ribifloris is a solitary cavity-nesting mason bee documented throughout California including San Diego County, active in late winter and early spring. In the wild,  her preferred host plants are manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.) and other native Ericaceae — the chaparral plants she evolved alongside. Her common name “Blueberry Mason Bee” comes from her use as a commercial pollinator of cultivated blueberries in agricultural settings; in San Diego County she is here because of manzanita, not blueberries. She nests in hollow stems or small pre-existing cavities, sealing individual brood cells with mud and plant material. Iridescent blue-green, she is one of the more visually striking early-season native bees in the county and a strong argument for why manzanita belongs in every San Diego native garden. Read more on iNaturalist →