For the past couple of months, the billionaire father-son duo of Larry and David Ellison have been making deals involving major media brands. Having acquired Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, they appointed Bari Weiss – an outspoken supporter of Israel – as the network’s editor-in-chief. The moves by the Ellisons are not just about growing their media empire, but about shaping the narrative around Israel in the US, where public support continues to decline.
Contributors: David Klion – Columnist, The Nation Danielle Moodie – Host, The Danielle Moodie Show Ryan Grim – Reporter, Drop Site News
On our radar:
Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire, ending two years of genocide. It’s a moment that brought relief to Palestinians in Gaza. But for Donald Trump, it was an opportunity for self-congratulation – with both he and his allies emphasising how pivotal he was in making things happen. Tariq Nafi has been following the story.
In Portugal, the far-right party Chega, once on the fringes, is leading the polls, and its leader, Andre Ventura, has become one of the country’s most recognisable political figures. Ventura’s rise has been spurred by his television background and carefully crafted media persona. The onetime football pundit has become a political showman. And he’s been amplified by the country’s mainstream media, who have been chasing ratings over accountability. Ryan Kohls reports.
Featuring: Miguel Carvalho – Journalist Ines Narciso – Disinformation researcher, Iscte-Iul Anabela Neves – Journalist, CNN Portugal
Paramount has acquired The Free Press, a four-year-old digital news platform, and will make its co-founder Bari Weiss editor-in-chief of CBS News, the company announced Monday.
The official announcement came after months of speculation on the deal and Weiss’ high profile role within the news division. Weiss, 41, will report to Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison, who personally courted the former New York Times journalist.
“We are thrilled to welcome Bari and The Free Press to Paramount and CBS News. Bari is a proven champion of independent, principled journalism, and I am confident her entrepreneurial drive and editorial vision will invigorate CBS News,” Ellison said in a statement. “This move is part of Paramount’s bigger vision to modernize content and the way it connects — directly and passionately — to audiences around the world.”
Paramount said Weiss will “shape editorial policies, champion core values across platforms and lead innovation in how the organization reports and delivers the news.”
The union of The Free Press and CBS News will be one of the most closely watched lab experiments in the modern media era. Weiss has no experience in television or running an editorial operation on the scale of CBS News, which has more than 1,000 employees.
Paramount is paying around $150 million in cash and stock for The Free Press, a feisty, upstart operation that generated attention through opinion pieces and podcasts with a strong point of view. Its favorite targets are the excesses of progressive left and purveyors of so-called “woke” policies.
CBS News is a traditional mass appeal network TV operation with a proud legacy of journalistic excellence and the home of popular franchises “60 Minutes” and “CBS Sunday Morning.” But the division has struggled to deal with the shifts in audience habits brought about by streaming video and social media.
Weiss is a provocateur who famously resigned from her high profile role in the opinion section of the New York Times in 2020, citing bullying by her colleagues and a hostile work environment as the reasons.
Weiss acknowledged the division’s legacy in a note sent to CBS News staffers after her appointment was announced.
“Growing up, CBS was a deep family tradition,” Weiss said. “Whenever i hear the tick, tick, tick or that trumpet fanfare, it sends me right back to our den in Pittsburgh. The opportunity to build on that legacy — and to renew it in an era that so desperately needs it — is an extraordinary privilege.”
Weiss also ascends at a time when Trump has threatened news operations with lawsuits and regulatory action, such as pulling station TV licenses over what he believes is unfair criticism of him and his administration. Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle a Trump lawsuit making the dubious claim that a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris was deceptively edited to aid her 2024 presidential election campaign against him.
CBS News has never had an executive with the title editor-in-chief before naming Weiss to the role. It still has a president — Tom Cibrowski — a former ABC News executive hired earlier this year who will remain in his role and continue to report to to Paramount TV Media President George Cheeks.
In her note, Weiss told her staffers her goal in the coming weeks is to learn “what’s working and what isn’t, and your thoughts on how we can make CBS News the most trusted news organization in America and the world. I’ll approach it the way any reporter would — with an open mind, a fresh notebook, and an urgent deadline.”
The Free Press, which has around 170,000 paid subscribers, will continue as its own independent brand, with its own podcasts and live events business.
CBS News will learn a lot about its future next week when Bari Weiss, founder of the upstart news site the Free Press, is expected to enter the hallowed halls where Walter Cronkite and Mike Wallace once roamed.
Weiss, 41, is joining CBS News in a new role of editor in chief, according to people familiar with the discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly. The appointment could be announced as soon as Monday.
David Ellison, 42, chairman and chief executive of CBS-owner Paramount, approached Weiss months ago, part of his campaign to shake things up. She will report to Ellison and work alongside CBS News President Tom Cibrowski, who joined the network in February.
Under the deal, Paramount has agreed to buy Weiss’ four-year-old digital media business, which offers newsletters, reported pieces, podcasts, and what it calls “sense-making columns,” for around $150 million in cash and stock. For months, her anticipated arrival at CBS News, an aging pillar of the press establishment, has been a hot topic in the news business.
The rapid rise of Weiss — a former newspaper opinion page staff editor — to a major role in shaping the coverage of a TV news organization with no previous experience in the medium is an extraordinary move that is likely to be highly scrutinized.
Will she remold the news division — which has been beset by management turnover and sustained pressure from President Trump — in her image? There will also be questions as to whether the founder of a relatively lean digital operation such as the Free Press will have a leadership role at a legacy TV news organization with more than 1,000 employees.
A shake-up is clearly on the agenda of new Paramount owner Skydance Media. When the company went through regulatory approval to complete its $8-billion merger, Federal Communications Chairman Brendan Carr said he welcomes Skydance’’s “commitment to make significant changes to the once storied CBS broadcast network.”
In order to clear a path for the deal, Paramount paid $16 million to settle Trump’s $20-billion lawsuit — deemed by legal experts to be spurious — over an interview he claimed was edited to help then-Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent in the 2024 election. He has left the network alone ever since.
Skydance and the Free Press did not comment on the expected appointment of Weiss. When asked in August about her joining the network, Ellison — son of Oracle co-founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison — focused on how he wants the news division to speak to what he views as the 70% of Americans who consider themselves center left or center right politically.
In a crowded sea of political and cultural pundits, Weiss found her own lane as a gay Jewish woman who attacked what she called the excesses of the political left, often saying it was intolerant of opposing viewpoints. She called herself “a diversity hire” at the New York Times’ reliably liberal opinion section and gained a following through her appearances on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher.”
When she quit the New York Times in 2020, she accused her former employer of failing to protect her from internal criticism by her colleagues. Her public resignation letter was shared on social media by Donald Trump Jr. and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who used it to advance their case of institutional liberal bias in the media.
Described as a confident and skilled communicator, Weiss used her notoriety to attract investors for the Free Press, a digital media business offering newsletters, reported stories, opinion pieces and podcasts. Launched in 2021, it now ranks as the No. 1 best-selling politics platform on Substack.
The Free Press has made itself heard in the national conversation. A treatise on the left-wing leanings of NPR, written by a longtime editor at the radio service, generated massive attention and likely helped set the stage for eliminating federal funding to public media.
Last year, the Free Press also broke the story over the internal CBS News controversy surrounding “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil‘s aggressive questioning of author Ta-Nehisi Coates, who compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank to the Jim Crow era of segregation in the U.S.
Dokoupil said Coates’ book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.” After some staffers complained, Dokoupil was admonished by CBS News leadership on an editorial call that the Free Press posted online.
Weiss is extremely popular among corporate executives disdainful of high taxes and big government. Finance and private equity executives rave about Free Press missives against purportedly “woke” attitudes and DEI initiatives that they believe have made it more difficult to do business.
Newsrooms are typically suspicious of outsiders and change has never come easy at CBS News, which has a culture steeped in its storied past.
“A place like CBS News is so rooted in its traditions and in what it believes in,” said Tom Bettag, a veteran network news producer who is a lecturer for the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. “It’s got its own theology and an outsider has to win the confidence of the people inside.”
Even like-minded conservative commentators such as Megyn Kelly suggested that Weiss might face challenges in navigating such an entrenched institution.
“I’m worried they’re going to eat her alive, because CBS is among the worst when it comes to being insular,” Kelly said on her Sirius XM podcast last month. “Like you have to be raised by CBS to be respected by CBS people.”
A number of veterans inside CBS News who were not authorized to speak publicly said they have a wait-and-see attitude over the pending Weiss appointment, as they are uncertain on what her role will entail. They don’t believe Weiss will want to deal with day-to-day news coverage decisions such as how many correspondents and technical crews to send to cover a natural disaster.
David Ellison, Paramount Skydance chief executive officer
(Paramount/Skydance)
Having an opinion journalist in a leadership role may not sit well among a number of staffers. But with layoffs sweeping through the TV news business, an employee exodus predicted in some reports appears unlikely, according to one former CBS News executive.
One possible source of tension may be in international coverage, primarily the war in Gaza, which has been the subject of internal debate in many newsrooms.
Weiss, who once belonged to the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh that was the site of a shooting massacre in 2018, is a staunch Israel supporter. She’s joining a company that, led by its new management, was the only studio to push back against a campaign gathering steam among Hollywood progressives to boycott Israeli film festivals and organizations.
But ideological newsroom flare-ups that spill into public view are rare. Managing a network TV news division largely consists of keeping an eye on costs, ratings and maintaining a pipeline of stories for dozens of hours of scheduled programming each week.
Despite its well-documented troubles, CBS still has two of the most successful news programs on television in “60 Minutes” and “CBS Sunday Morning.”
Even after the gauntlet “60 Minutes” went through earlier this year, viewers showed up when it returned for its 58th season Sunday with a season premiere that drew 10 million viewers, making it the most-watched non-sports show of the week, according to Nielsen data.
Bettag noted that even though former Paramount majority shareholder Shari Redstone was updated on “60 Minutes” stories amid the legal battle earlier this year, he believes the program retained its editorial rigor and independence.
“If anything, it stiffened spines,” Bettag said.
“CBS Sunday Morning” remains the most watched weekend morning program and increased its share of the TV audience last season, averaging close to 5 million viewers weekly.
While those two programs still attract large, loyal audiences, CBS News is faced with declining ratings and revenue, as viewers continue to move away from traditional TV to digital video offerings. CBS News has long operated a 24-hour streaming channel, but it doesn’t attract the same audience levels or ad rates as the network.
The CBS Broadcast Center in New York City on April 20, 2023.
(Ted Shaffrey / Associated Press)
CBS News also has to regain the trust of the audience that has listened to right-wing pundits pound away at the credibility of mainstream press.
It’s hardly a new development as conservative North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms tried to lead a takeover CBS in the mid-1980s so he could “become Dan Rather’s boss.” But social media have amplified those bias allegations, driving MAGA-supporting viewers to Fox News and other conservative-leaning outlets.
Bettag believes CBS News has to do a better job of getting the public to understand the editorial process and how it strives for accuracy and fairness to counter the right-wing narrative of media bias.
“If Bari Weiss can come in and explain what they’re doing and why they’re doing it then I think she can be successful,” he said.
Veteran TV news executives warn that any overt attempt to woo disaffected conservatives risks alienating the millions of viewers who are still watching CBS News programs. CNN’s attempt to try to cater to right-leaning consumers — at the behest of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery — led to a decline in audience that has not bounced back.
One idea circulating at Paramount is having the Free Press remain as an independent entity within the company, providing contributors and commentators to its special coverage, the Sunday round table program “Face the Nation” and streaming channel.
While the Free Press has been embraced by conservatives, Weiss has been fluid in her political leanings, at least in the voting booth. Her recent votes for president were Mitt Romney in 2012, Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.
In a video posted last fall, Weiss said the Free Press staff was split three ways between Trump, Harris and undecided in their 2024 vote. She called it a reflection of the nation.
Weiss is pro abortion rights and favors pro-gun control and LGBTQ rights (Weiss is married to Nellie Bowles, a former New York Times journalist who also works at the Free Press).
She has said she was among the many who cried at their desks when Trump was first elected in 2016. But she told Fox News in early 2024 that her view of the president had moderated since, as she approved of his handling of Israel and the economy during his first term.
“I’m the first to admit that I was a sufferer of what conservatives at the time would have called TDS, Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Weiss said.
But the Free Press does not give Trump a free pass as other right-wing outlets have. One of the current lead stories on the site is a highly critical take on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s speech on warrior ethos given to military leadership on Tuesday.
Staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.
The second anniversary of the L.A. Times Plants newsletter is upon us. It started with roughly 3,000 readers back in July 2023 and now has more than 12,000 subscribers, strong evidence that Southern Californians care deeply about plants, gardening and our region’s changing landscapes.
Many thanks for your continued interest and support!
Per usual, this issue includes a list of plant-related events and activities below, but first I’d like to revisit a story from the first Plants newsletter with the happy news that while the wheels of progress often move slowly (or sometimes even backward) progress can happen, if the players just hang on.
A crow takes a drink from the small creek that runs through the Westwood Greenway between Overland Avenue and Westwood Boulevard in Los Angeles, along the Exposition rail line.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Two years ago, this newsletter’s inaugural story was about the “lovely but puzzling” Paul Koretz Westwood Greenway, an oasis of fragrant native plants and a burbling stream along a wide, curvy trail between Overland Avenue and Westwood Boulevard next to the Metro E line.
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“The project was a triumph for the Rancho Park community members who lobbied hard against early plans to build a 170-space parking lot on the site to serve Metro riders,” I wrote in 2023. “They envisioned an inviting green space for the neighborhood and an eco-friendly showcase for turning unused nuggets of city land into lush native plant habitats for birds, pollinators and other local critters.”
That vision was realized when the project was completed in October 2020, except for one thing: The public couldn’t get in.
The greenway wasn’t meant to be a park, the builders said. It was designed to capture water running through neighborhood gutters and clean out the nasties it collects along the way, such as road dirt and dog urine, before it reaches the ocean. The cleaning is done by exposing the water to sunlight and filtering it through native plants like cattails before it returns to storm drains and, eventually, the Santa Monica Bay.
But advocates in the community support group Westwood Greenway Inc. noted that the space was also supposed to be a demonstration garden of sorts, to encourage similar projects around L.A. Members of the nonprofit group had a key to let them enter the space for volunteer weeding parties or monthly tours, but otherwise the site was kept behind glass (or, in this case, an ugly chain-link fence) much to the frustration of longtime advocate Jonathan Weiss, president of Westwood Greenway Inc., and Annette Mercer, the board’s chair.
Orange spires of apricot mallow frame the work of Alexis Wieland, a former board member for Westwood Greenway Inc. as he pulls weeds near the Metro E train line in June 2023.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
“The point was to educate the public,” Weiss said, “but how do we do that if it’s behind a damn fence?”
But two years later, I’m happy to report that the wheels kept moving, albeit “very, very, very slowly,” Mercer said. When Phase 2 of the project is completed this summer, the public will finally have daily access to the greenway via gates that automatically unlock at 8 a.m. and lock up again at 6 p.m.
Phase 2 was supposed to be completed on June 30 Weiss said, but a week before, he was notified that the finish date had been pushed to Aug. 1. The delay is disappointing, he said, “but this is just a hiccup. After five years, I’m extremely excited it will be open to the public. It’s finally coming, so I’m not going to sweat an extra month.”
The L.A. Sanitation project includes installing taller fences at the east and west edges of the greenway, building an ADA ramp from the Metro stop near Overland Avenue to the greenway trail, and repairing the decomposed granite (DG) path that was damaged by trucks coming into the area, said Leo Daube, communications director for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, whose Council District 5 oversees the area.
And that’s not the only good news. Westwood Greenway Inc. and the Nature Nexus Institute, a nonprofit focused on nature education, got a $100,842 grant from the Measure W-funded Safe Clean Water Program in May. The grant will help pay for a Nature Nexus Institute-trained employee to develop an education program about the greenway’s purpose and history and bring in visitors for tours, Weiss said. The grant will also pay for a small trailer at the west end of the greenway so the employee has a place to work, and a porta-potty at the site (although right now it’s not certain anyone besides the employee will be able to use the toilet. The community group has asked the city council to install public modular restrooms for the visiting public).
Bright purple blooms of native Cleveland sage highlight spiky copper-colored clumps of deergrass and bright green coyote brush inside the Paul Koretz Westwood Greenway, which will be open to the public later this summer.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
There are still concerns, Weiss said. The greenway has two sections that run north and south of the Metro E Line and bike trail. The weeds have returned with vigor since construction began on the north side because volunteers can’t get in until the work is completed, Mercer said. And the area to the south, where stormwater runs through more native plant filters before returning to the drains, will remain fenced off to visitors even after Phase 2 is complete.
But the grant is getting them much closer to their goals. Weiss hopes the council will allow them to install signs along the bike trail to help passersby understand they’re not just looking at pretty flowers behind that chain-link fence but California native plants that can save water and create habitats for threatened pollinators and wildlife.
His disappointment about the delay suddenly vanishes as he lays out the possibilities. “What an opportunity to educate people!” he exclaimed, his enthusiasm still evident — and inspiring — despite his many years of lobbying and waiting. And that, folks, — that sometimes annoyed, sometimes frustrated but always unrelenting passion — may be the secret sauce to getting things done.
Speaking of slow-but-sweet success stories: Here’s another about rhubarb, a tangy garden staple that grows like a weed in colder climes but is rarely seen in SoCal gardens because it prefers freezing winters. Thanks to the tenacity of the West L.A Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers, varieties nurtured in Australia are growing with gusto around L.A. and available for you to buy for planting through the chapter’s annual Rhubarb Rodeo.
This rhubarb variety, named Success, has deep red stalks — the only edible part of the plant — and a sweeter flavor than most. Just avoid the leaves, which are high in toxic oxalic acid.
(Ronni Kern)
It all started in 2020 when chapter President Ronni Kern, a Rhode Island native now living in Santa Monica, got a hankering for the rhubarb she loved as a child. She learned the great plant breeder Luther Burbank successfully developed varieties from New Zealand to grow in Southern California in the late 1800s, but those strains disappeared after Burbank died in 1926. After a long search, she discovered tasty, heat-resistant varieties developed by Australian farmers Colin and Tina Clayton of French Harvest and bought several types of their rhubarb seeds for chapter members to grow.
The results were spectacular, she said, so successful that in 2022 the chapter began selling rhubarb plants as a fundraiser. They are offering four varieties this year — including Success (the tastiest and deepest red of all, according to Kern) and Tina’s Noble, hands down the easiest to grow, she said. Prices are $10 for plants in 5-inch pots or $20 or $25 for gallon pots, but no mail order; you must drive to Culver City or Santa Monica to pick them up.
This rhubarb variety, named Tina’s Noble, has paler stalks than Success, but it has good flavor and grows well. Just be sure to only eat the stalks since the leaves are high in toxic oxalic acid.
(Ronni Kern)
Rhubarb is a vegetable that grows in tall reddish stalks topped by big broad leaves. The plant is so rare in Southern California that people sometimes confuse it with chard, “but you must never eat rhubarb leaves,” Kern said, because they contain high levels of toxic oxalic acid. Just snap off the leaves and eat the reddish celery-shaped stalks, which add a nice, tart bite to sweet desserts or can even be roasted.
You can buy rhubarb at local farmers markets, Kern said, from people who grow the plants as annuals, but she believes their flavor and pale color are far inferior to the plants she and other chapter members are growing from the Aussie seed. A last note about growing rhubarb in SoCal: the plants don’t require lots of water — Kern just uses drip irrigation twice a week — but they do prefer cooler temps. So the hotter your area, she said, the more shade the plants will require, whether from a tree or 90% shade cloth strung up on supports.
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Jeanette Marantos gives you a roundup of upcoming plant-related activities and events in Southern California, along with our latest plant stories.
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Upcoming events
Through July 15 Applications for Conejo Valley Audubon Society Lawns to Habitat & Ashes to Habitat Grants; successful applicants will receive $250 worth of bird-friendly native plants (roughly 40 to 50 plants at wholesale prices) for their new residential landscapes. Applicants must live in Agoura Hills, unincorporated Agoura, Oak Park, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park or Camarillo and certify they have no outdoor cats with access to the property. Ashes to Habitat applicants must also show proof that the project property was within a neighborhood affected by fires from 2018 to present, but successful applicants will also receive a higher financial grant and extended time for ordering and planting. Full details available online. wp.conejovalleyaudubon.org
Through August 6 Apply for free Xerces Society Southern California Residential Habitat Kits, for residential properties, schoolyards, community gardens and urban gardens in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. The kits include 22 plants from 10 different species, sufficient to cover about 150 to 200 square feet, designed to support threatened insects such as monarch butterflies and native bumblebees. The kits must be picked up Dec. 9-13 in (no deliveries or special orders) and planted within the month after pickup. Recipients will be required to email photographic evidence of the kit being planted and pledge not to use pesticides. xerces.org
July 5 & 6 Introduction to Wild Buckwheats (Eriogonum) of California, a two-day class starting in a classroom at 9 a.m. until noon at the California Botanic Garden in Claremont on July 5. The next day, participants will meet at Big Bear Lake from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to observe the many varieties of buckwheat in the wild. Participants must provide their own transportation. Register online, $125 ($110 for members of California Botanic Garden). calbg.org
July 5, 12 South Bay Parkland Conservancy El Segundo Blue butterfly walks at 10:30 a.m or 12:30 p.m., both days near Miramar Park in Redondo Beach. The free guided walks will be led by conservancy board members Ann Dakley, Esplanade Bluff Restoration Project biologist, and Mary Simun. Registration is required. southbayparks.org
July 5 Wizarding World of Plants Family Hike Night and Adult Night Hike, 5:30-7 p.m. for the family hike night and 7:30 to 9 p.m. for the adult night hike at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia. Learn the secrets behind wands, wishing trees and other plant folklore and myths. Tickets are $20 ($15 for members) for the family hike night and $25 ($20 members) for the adult night hike. arboretum.org
July 6, 20, Aug. 1, 10, 17 Twilight Estate Tours at the Huntington, a 90-minute docent-led walking tour of the gardens explaining how Henry E. and Arabella Huntington turned their San Marino Ranch into the famous gardens, library and museums. Tours are offered at 5 and 5:30 p.m. each day. Advance registration required. Tickets are $49 adults, $39 children 4-11. huntington.org
July 8, 15 & 22 Three-part California Native Garden Design taught by Phil Davis, principal designer of Green House landscape design, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each day at the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley. Learn how to evaluate your existing garden, convert existing irrigation systems and consider different design approaches for a garden of California native plants. The foundation’s online course Right Plant, Right Place ($39.19 or $28.52 for members) is a prerequisite and should be taken in tandem with the design course. Register online for the design course, $348.65 ($295.29 for members) or $412.67 for couples working on one project ($359.32 for members). eventbrite.com
July 10-11, Aug. 14-15, Sept. 25-26 and Oct. 23-24 Southern California Garden Club 27th Gardening School, a series of four ten-hour courses offered by National Garden Clubs since 1958. “Courses are designed to stimulate interest in all phases of landscape design and to develop greater appreciation, pride and knowledge about residential, public and historic gardens.” Each 10-hour course is $85 ($70 for members), or $300 ($240 for members) for all four. The classes will run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day at the Sepulveda Center in Encino. Register online. socalgardenclub.org
July 12 BioBlitz at California State University, Northridge, G.A.R.D.E.N. to learn about creating habitat for pollinators from 9 to 11 a.m. on the half-acre campus site managed by the Institute for Sustainability. The free event will be led by two Xerces Society endangered-species conservation biologists, monarch overwintering specialist Sara Cuadra-Vargas and pollinator habitat specialist Giovanni Di Franco who helped develop the society’s habitat kit program. The event is free but registration is required. xerces.org
Efficient Watering for Fruit Trees and Vegetable Gardens, a free workshop by the Chino Basin Water Conservation District, 9 a.m. to noon at the Waterwise Community Center in Montclair. Scott Kleinrock, the district’s conservation programs manager, will demonstrate two approaches to irrigating fruit trees and how to build and run drip irrigation systems for vegetable gardens. Registration online. cbwcd.org
Santa Rita Hills Lavender Farm’s 2nd Lavender Festival from noon to 5 p.m. in Lompoc. The event includes an artisan’s market, pony rides for children, classes in making lavender wreaths and distilling lavender oil, lavender-flavored food and drink and, of course, blooming fields of lavender. Tickets are $12 if purchased in advance or $20 at the gate. santaritahillslavender.com
Irrigation Basics for Native Plants, a walk-and-talk class led by Erik Blank, horticulture educator at the Theodore Payne Foundation from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the foundation nursery in Sun Valley. Learn about a variety of irrigation methods for native gardens during the dry months. Register online, $39.19 ($28.52 members) eventbrite.com
California Native Plant Cyanotype Printing, a class photographing native plants using one of the earliest photographic printing methods taught by multimedia artist and naturalist Hannah Perez, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley. All materials provided. Register online, $60.54 ($49.87 members). eventbrite.com
Reptiles of Theodore Payne: A walk-and-talk course with Diego Blanco, a research assistant at the Occidential College Lab of Ornithology and reptile fan, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley. Learn about the various lizards and snakes of Southern California’s mountains and chaparrals. Participants are encouraged to wear closed-toe shoes, long pants and sun protection, and bring binoculars for easier viewing from a distance. Register online, $39.19 ($28.52 members). eventbrite.com
Bind Your Own Nature Sketch Book, noon to 4 p.m. at California Botanic Garden in Claremont. Create a handmade sketchbook with natural papers and “nature-themed embellishments” in a class taught by mixed-media artist Christina Frausto of Rotten Apple Studio. All materials provided. Register online, $70 ($60 members). calbg.org
July 16 Propagatng California Native Plants from Seed with Ella Andersson, chief botanical technician for the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Each student will take home the seeds they have sown from 10 species of native seeds. All materials provided. Register online, $92.55 ($81.88 members). eventbrite.com
July 18-19 11th Plumeria Festival at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia from 4 to 8 p.m. on July 18 and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on July 19. The festival includes talks by experts and more than 20 vendors selling plumeria, staghorn ferns, epiphyllums, hibiscus, succulents and other plants, as well as garden art and supplies. arboretum.org
Planning and Caring for a Southern California Rain Garden, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at California Botanic Garden in Claremont. The garden’s senior horticulturist, Jennifer Chebahtah, explains the importance of creating rain gardens in urban and residential areas, along with tips for how to make them. Register online, $38 ($28 members). calbg.org
Guided Family Nature Walk at White Point Nature Preserve in San Pedro at 10:30 a.m. with naturalists from the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy to discover the wildlife, plants and beautiful ocean views in the coastal sage scrub habitat. Meet in front of the Nature Center. The walk is free. Reservations are not required. pvplc.org
July 26 Intro to Waterwise Home Landscape Renovation and Turf Replacement Rebates, a free workshop by the Chino Basin Water Conservation District, 9 a.m. to noon at the Waterwise Community Center in Montclair. Jacob Jones, the district’s conservation and sprinkler evaluation specialist, will discuss the benefits and basics of turf-removal rebate projects and converting to a low-water landscape. Register online. cbwcd.org
Where have all the gardeners gone? Immigration raids are worrying Southern California’s undocumented gardeners, the workers so prevalent in suburban neighborhoods that the sound of weed whackers and leaf blowers can feel like ambient noise. “People are afraid,” one gardener said, “but they still have to work.”
The second, final and most complicated stage of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing starts this month. The project won’t be completed before the end of 2026, but already the first non-insect wildlife has been spotted on the structure that currently leads to nowhere — a Western fence lizard that somehow climbed 75 feet up to the top.
This year’s jacaranda bloom in L.A. was short a few trees following the January wildfires, but experts say many burned trees will recover. Just give them water and time, arborists say.
Are these community gardens or playgrounds for the rich? Santa Monica officials are set to approve 200% price hikes on community garden plots, with the largest plots going for $600 a year.
