By KITTY CONNALLY
Each year when spring arrives in the County, it is a signal to botanical fanatics and those who simply enjoy beauty that the Cambria Wildflower Show is coming. This year’s show will be held on Saturday, April 27, from 12 to 5 p.m., and Sunday, April 28, from 10 a.m.to 4 p.m., at the Veterans Memorial Hall, 1000 Main Street. Admission for this floral spectacle is $5. Students of all ages are free.
Now in its 16th iteration, Cambria’s Wildflower Show is among the largest of its kind in California with between 370 and 565 species and varieties on display. A team of two dozen or so trained collectors spreads out across the Northern County from the Monterey County line to the Morro Bay Estuary, and from the ridge of the Santa Lucia Mountains down to the coastal bluffs, aiming to collect as many of the 840 species as they can find growing in the wild. Strictly garden plants are not included in the show.
D.R. Miller and David Krause updated all the plant names and identifying cards based on Vascular Plants of San Luis Obispo County, California, by Keil and Hoover, 2022, 2nd Edition. The reformatted cards identify plant family, scientific and common names, notes about habitat, and guides to which plants are rare, non-native, invasive, edible, medicinal, and poisonous.
In addition to the sights and smells of hundreds of fresh-cut flowers, visitors to the show will be tempted to stop for tasty treats at the “Wildflower Café,” and shop at booths featuring items representative of Friends of the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve and the California Native Plant Society, San Luis Obispo Chapter. A free brochure includes reference sources for those who want to learn more. A detailed list of all the plants will be available for sale. Proceeds support Friends of the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve, sponsors of this event.
