Floral Faceoff: You Can Vote to Choose San Diego’s New Official Flower

The San Diego Bird Alliance Monday ventured away from its usual fauna, instead picking up the mantle for flora, launching an advocacy campaign to select a native flower to represent San Diego.

The “Your City, Your Flower” campaign will feature three rounds of bracket-style voting before an eventual winner is selected and presented before the San Diego City Council.

“This initiative aims to replace the current non-native carnation with a flower that truly represents our local ecosystems and supports our native wildlife,” said Savannah Stallings, conservation advocacy coordinator for San Diego Bird Alliance.

The eight finalists — Black Sage, Bladderpod, Blue Elderberry, Blue-eyed Grass, Bush Sunflower, California Buckwheat, California Rose and Cleveland Sage — were selected based on environmental benefits, Kumeyaay cultural significance, drought resistance, native status, conservation concerns and artistic potential, officials said.

Following the voting, the San Diego Bird Alliance will bring the final flower before the City Council to coincide with Earth Day in April.

“San Diego County is the most biodiverse county in the nation, and this initiative aligns with the city’s existing environmental commitments, including its designation as a Bee City and the Mayor’s Monarch pledge,” said SDBA Wildfire Resiliency Fellow, Hailey Matthews.

The three rounds of voting will be as follows: the “Elite Inflorescence” runs March 17-25, the “Final Flora” from March 29-April 7 and the “Corolla Championship” from April 9-14.

Vote at sandiegobirdalliance.org/what-we-do/advocacy.

City News Service contributed to this article.