Grow for it!

California native plants

Do the bright green leaves of buckeye bring stirrings of spring?

Do lupine blossoms remind you of hiking your favorite trails?

Did you get to see your favorite wildflower during this year’s super bloom? What a unique experience it is to live in California — the state with more plant species than any other state. California is considered a biodiversity hotspot, which means that many of the animal and plant species found here are not found anywhere else on Earth (conservation.org/priorities/ biodiversity-hotspots). California’s native plants offer many benefits to the home gardener.

Benefit No. 1: Native plants provide a sense of place.

Whether it’s the sound and surprise of California poppy seeds bursting from the pod, the smell of California sagebrush or the memory of sitting under your favorite blue oak — native plants often provide a sense of place. This sense of place, according to Tim Cresswell, human geographer and poet, “may provide feelings of meaning, purpose, connection and stewardship.” The home gardener can creatively and deliberately use California native plants to establish their own unique sense of place.

Benefit No. 2: Native plants are already adapted.

California native plants are adapted to our soils and to the hot dry summers. As we continue to face wildfires, drought conditions and climate change, California native plants are more likely to have deeper, more substantial root systems that can regenerate; require less water; help with erosion control and do well without the use of fertilizers. You can learn more about this at the Monterey Bay Master Gardeners website (ucanr.edu/sites/ MontereyBayMasterGardeners/ files/306816.pdf).

Benefit No. 3: Native plants support native wildlife.

Since California native plants coevolved with native wildlife species, local plants provide nesting materials, shelter, pollen, nectar and other food sources for wildlife. As the n See Gardener, page B5