Seasonal Calendar

San Diego Plant Sales, Workshops & Volunteer Events: Spring 2026

Spring is the best time of year to be a plant person in San Diego. Nurseries are stocked, the weather is cooperative, and there's genuinely a lot happening — free workshops, plant society shows, habitat restoration days, and at least one event in Bonsall that justifies a drive up the 15.

Here's everything to put on your calendar through the end of June.

Nursery Workshops & Events

City Farmers Nursery

3110 Euclid Ave, City Heights · cityfarmersnursery.com/events

City Farmers runs the most active workshop calendar of any nursery in San Diego. All events are free. Here's what's coming up:

April 25 — Behind the Scenes Farm Tour
April 26 — Gardening 101
May 9 — Mom's & Orchids Care
May 10 — Knife & Tool Sharpening
May 10 — Composting 101
May 17 — Citrus Care 101
May 24 — Fun with Flowers: Designing with Local Blooms
May 24 — Bonsai Class
May 24 — Wild Medicine: California Native Plants & Plant Walk
May 30 — Chocolate Tasting Workshop
June 6 — Caring for the Trees You Invest In

The Wild Medicine and Native Plant Walk on May 24 is the standout — it's the kind of thing you'd pay for at a botanical garden. Free, at a nursery in City Heights.

Waterwise Botanicals

32151 Old Hwy 395, Bonsall · waterwisebotanicals.com

Make the trip to North County. Waterwise is 20 acres of succulents, ponds, demonstration gardens, and shaded walkways, and their events are genuinely some of the best free programming in San Diego County.

May 2 — Free Succulent Saturday
Every adult gets a free succulent, every kid gets a craft kit. 30+ artisan vendors and a food truck. 9am–1pm.
June 5–6 — Annual Succulent Celebration
Southern California's largest event dedicated to succulents. Two days of speakers, hands-on workshops, plant vendors, authors, and food trucks. Free admission.
June 6 — Free Succulent Saturday
First Saturday of June runs the same day as the Succulent Celebration — two reasons to make the trip.

Plant Society Shows & Meetings

San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society

Casa del Prado, Room 101, Balboa Park · sdcss.net

Free and open to the public. Monthly meetings on the second Saturday, 1–4pm. Features a speaker, Plant of the Month, free plant exchange table, and member plant sales.

May 9 — Monthly Meeting
June 6–7 — SDCSS Summer Show and Sale
The big one. Hundreds of cacti and succulents for sale from vendors and members. Saturday members-only sale 9–10am, public sale 10am–5pm with judged show. Sunday public sale 10am–4pm, plant auction at 2pm.
June 13 — Monthly Meeting

Palomar Cactus and Succulent Society

Grace Presbyterian Church, 1450 E Vista Way, Vista · palomarcactus.org

North County's cactus and succulent society. Fourth Saturday of each month, 11am–3pm. Free and open to the public with a Brag Table competition, plant exchange, and member sales.

April 25 — Monthly Meeting
May 23 — Spring Festival (replaces regular May meeting)
Plant sales, pottery, books, arts and crafts, and free workshops. Open to the public.
June 27 — Monthly Meeting

Community Volunteer Events

Not just for the altruistic — habitat restoration is one of the best ways to learn San Diego's native plants in their actual habitat. Most of these events require no experience and provide all the tools.

San Diego River Park Foundation

sandiegoriver.org · Active every weekend through June

The River Park Foundation runs one of the most varied volunteer calendars in the county. May 9–17 is San Diego River Days — a week-plus of events all along the river corridor including cleanups, kayak tours, guided hikes, and wildlife monitoring. Standouts include:

April 25 — Creek to Bay Cleanup at Mission Valley Preserve and Otay Valley Regional Park
May 15 — Sunset Gardening at Point Loma Native Plant Garden
May 16 — El Monte Valley Cleanup
May 16 — Imperial Beach Cleanup with Surfrider and Coastkeeper

Full River Days calendar at sandiegoriver.org.

Mission Trails Regional Park

mtrp.org · Three monthly crews

One of the largest urban parks in the country runs three recurring volunteer crews. No experience required.

2nd Saturday — Habitat Restoration Crew, 9am–12pm
RSVP: SBlankenship@sandiego.gov
3rd Saturday — Kumeyaay Lake Campground Crew
RSVP: BBotticelli@sandiego.gov
4th Saturday — Park Beautification Crew
RSVP: EDelgado@sandiego.gov

Upcoming dates: May 9, 16, 23 · June 13, 20, 27

Earth Discovery Institute

earthdiscovery.org · Every Tuesday

Weekly Tuesday habitat restoration at Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve and El Monte Ecological Preserve in East County. 8–11am. Projects include invasive species removal, native planting, and seed collection. Email info@earthdiscovery.org to join.

San Diego Bird Alliance

sandiegobirdalliance.org · First Saturday monthly

April 26 — Kendall-Frost Marsh BioBlitz Work Party, Mission Bay
Document species for City Nature Challenge while restoring wetland habitat. Bring your phone for iNaturalist.
May 2 — Monthly Volunteer Work Party (location varies — check calendar)
June 6 — Monthly Volunteer Work Party

Friends of Famosa Slough

famosaslough.org · Second Saturday monthly

Wetland restoration at one of San Diego's last remaining urban estuary fragments in Point Loma. 4285 W Point Loma Blvd. All ages welcome.

May 9 · June 13

Friends of Rose Creek

saverosecreek.org · Second Saturday monthly

Native plant garden work parties in Pacific Beach behind Rose Creek Cottage. 9–11am. Good for community service hours.

May 9 · June 13

Mount Helix Park Foundation

mthelixpark.org · First Saturday monthly

Native plant maintenance and invasive species removal at the 1,400-foot hilltop park in La Mesa. 9am–12pm. Views are a bonus.

May 2 · June 6

San Diego Canyonlands

sdcanyonlands.org · Every Saturday

San Diego's most consistent urban canyon restoration program. Every Saturday, Canyonlands runs volunteer crews removing invasive plants and replanting native species across dozens of canyon sites throughout the city — many in Southeast San Diego, City Heights, and Mid-City neighborhoods. No experience required. Check sdcanyonlands.org for the current Saturday location near you.

Groundwork San Diego — Chollas Creek

groundworksandiego.org

The leading nonprofit for the Chollas Creek watershed, serving Oak Park, City Heights, Encanto, Chollas View, and surrounding Southeast San Diego communities. Groundwork runs volunteer days at EarthLab Climate Action Park — a 4-acre native and waterwise garden in the heart of the watershed — plus community tree planting events, pollinator garden workdays, and creek restoration projects. Their Spring Tree Planting program is currently open for volunteer sign-ups. Contact them through groundworksandiego.org to get involved.

San Diego Coastkeeper

sdcoastkeeper.org

April 22 — Earth Day Clean-Up at Old Man's Pond
June 6 — World Oceans Day Cleanup at South Mission Beach

I Love A Clean San Diego

cleansd.org

April 25 — Creek to Bay Cleanup at Mission Valley Preserve and Otay Valley Regional Park
May 15 — Lakeside River Cleanup at Cactus County Park

Tree San Diego

treesandiego.org

April 24 — Arbor Day Tree Planting at Gompers Park (City of San Diego official event)
April 25 — Arbor Day Tree Planting at Poinsettia Community Park, Carlsbad

A Few Tips Before You Go

For nursery workshops — most City Farmers events fill up. Check cityfarmersnursery.com/events and register early. Free doesn't mean unlimited seats.
For volunteer events — wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty, bring water, and show up a few minutes early. Most sites have gloves and tools but bringing your own isn't a bad idea.
For the SDCSS Summer Show — the members-only sale runs 9–10am on Saturday and the good stuff goes fast. If you're not a member, arriving right at 10am is your best move. Membership is $30/year and pays for itself immediately.

Bookmark this page — we update the events calendar every season. You can also browse all upcoming events at PlantedSD's full events calendar.