Why plant a native garden?

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I love CA native plants. They are beautiful and unique, full of visual appeal for both humans and pollinators alike. Here in Southern California we are fortunate to have access to flora from a diverse and unique mix of ecosystems ranging from desert to mountains, with our own coastal sage scrub community of plants comprising a formidable palette from which to explore.

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With the natives we find ourselves jump-starting life into sites that otherwise suffer from biolimitation and water waste. These sites often take the form of heavily fertilized and overwatered turf lawns and "gravel scaped" or concrete lawn solutions. Not only do these practices limit or eradicate life at the lowest level of the food chain, they waste water that could otherwise be redirected back into the ground, and they greatly increase the amount of reflected heat in the urban environment.

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I cannot describe the joy of watching life move in. Slowly at first, the skippers and the monarchs, the hummingbirds and the bees begin to do their work. The poppies bloom and will again next spring. We live with the seasons. Over time these transformed sites have lives of their own-with beauty becoming spontaneous and wonder a daily occurrence.