The Healdsburg City Council took a brief break from weightier business last week—new in-lieu fees, the Eel-Russian River project—to decide something more symbolic: the city’s first official plant.
The idea originated with Garden Club member Mary Kelley, who proposed the designation during the council’s 2024–25 goal-setting session. The Healdsburg Garden Club’s Theresa Wistrom eventually proposed six native plants at a May City Council meeting: three local wildflowers, Blue-eyed grass, the California native grape and a non-specific oak were all nominated.
An online public survey conducted from June 11 to July 9 drew about 180 responses. Oaks received more than 34% of the vote, outpacing the California native grape at 24%, the Douglas lily at 18.5%, Blue-eyed grass at 12%, and two other wildflowers under 10%. While multiple oak species are common in the region, including the Blue oak and the Live oak, the council designated the Valley oak as the representative species…