Container Gardening with Native Plants

📅 Saturday, November 15, 2025 | 🕙 10:00–11:30 AM
📍 Environmental Nature Center, Newport Beach

Want to add beauty, biodiversity, and resilience to your outdoor space—even if you only have a patio, balcony, or small yard? Join horticulturist Hugo Sopeña for a hands-on class exploring the art and science of container gardening with California native plants.

Participants will learn how to choose the right containers, soil mixes, and plant species to thrive in contained environments while supporting pollinators and creating habitat in unexpected places. Hugo will share practical tips for plant selection, watering, and care, along with design ideas to make your container garden both functional and beautiful.

As part of this workshop, attendees will have the opportunity to plant their own native container garden. We’ll provide a 6” clay pot and soil to anyone who wishes to participate—simply select and purchase your plants during the event from our Fall Native Plant Sale, featuring a wide variety of locally grown species curated for success in containers.

Instructor Bio:
Hugo Sopeña is a horticulturist with many years of experience working with native plants and the former Horticulture Manager at the Environmental Nature Center. He holds a B.S. in Biology with a concentration in Ecology and Environmental Biology from CSU Dominguez Hills. Hugo is passionate about native plants and community-based ecology and enjoys sharing his knowledge to help others foster connections between people and the natural world.