Ironwood | Magazine of Santa Barbara Botanic Garden | Issue 37
MAGAZINE OF SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN
Volume 37 | Spring/Summer | 2025
Editor-in-Chief: Jaime Eschette
Editor: Brie Spicer
Designer: Kathleen Kennedy
Staff Contributors: Annie Ayers; Hannah Barton; Michelle Cyr; Jaime Eschette; C. Matt Guilliams, Ph.D.; Denise Knapp, Ph.D.; Jenny McClure; Zach Phillips, Ph.D.; Scot Pipkin; Liz Raffensperger; Stephanie Ranes; Sam Vanderford, Christina Varnava
Guest Contributors: Gudrun Bortman, David Starkey
Ironwood is published biannually by Santa Barbara Botanic Garden®.
As the first botanic garden in the nation to focus exclusively on native plants, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has dedicated nearly a century of work to better understand the relationship between plants and people. Growing from 13 acres (5 hectares) in 1926 to today’s 78 acres (31.5 hectares), the grounds now include more than 6 miles (over 9 kilometers) of walking trails, an herbarium, a seed bank, research labs, a library, and a public native plant nursery. Amid the serene beauty of the Garden, teams of scientists, educators, and horticulturists remain committed to the original spirit of the organization’s founders — to conserve native plants and habitats to ensure they continue to support life on the planet and can be enjoyed for generations to come. Visit SBBotanicGarden.org.
The Garden is a member of the American Public Gardens Association, the American Alliance of Museums, the California Association of Museums, and the American Horticultural Society.
Eric Cárdenas, Director of Impact and Advocacy Jaime Eschette, The Gerry Rubin Director of Marketing and Communications
Jill Freeland, Director of Human Resources Denise Knapp, Ph.D., Director of Conservation and Research Keith Nevison, Director of Horticulture and Operations
Melissa G. Patrino, Director of Development
Scot Pipkin, Director of Education and Engagement
Steve Windhager, Ph.D., Executive Director Diane Wondolowski, Director of Finance
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Letter From the Editor
I’ve always loved nature. It’s where I go to recharge. One of my favorite spots is under a canopy of towering giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum). It just might be the most magical spot on Earth. But while I am a fan, I wasn’t always an advocate for native plants. When I first came to Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in 2021, I didn’t realize they needed one.
In those early days, the Garden welcomed me, and I found my place among gardeners, scientists, horticulturists, and others who had made their love of nature part of their life’s work. From them, I began to understand the threats facing our natural world and the vital role native plants play in supporting our web of life. Their stories gave me hope and inspired a belief that the choices we make today, even in our own backyards, can shape a better future.
In this issue, the voices who’ve gathered speak to this hope. You’ll notice our shared passion for native plants, our communities, and the planet. And through these stories, you’ll be reminded that you have the power, right now, to make a difference.
Grounds Manager Stephanie Ranes gets to the heart of it in “An Ode to Soil,” a reflection on the incredible life found beneath our feet and how healthy soil supports California’s ecosystems. Then Living Collections Curator Christina Varnava challenges the myth that native plants are hard to grow in “The Truth About Growing Native Plants — Climate, Conditions, and Brats.” Her research shows that success lies not in forcing plants to adapt, but in understanding and working with California’s unique climate.
Senior Donor Relations Manager Jenny McClure offers a look into a member’s whimsical and ecologically thoughtful garden in “Rooted in Beauty,” blending English design with California’s native plants. It shows that beauty and sustainability can go hand in hand.
Other stories expand on this belief. In “Small Farms, Big Impact,” Director of Conservation and Research Denise Knapp, Ph.D., shares how Cuyama Valley farmers are restoring native plants and conserving water through an innovative partnership. And in “California’s Ever-Present Relationship with Fire,” Director of Education and Engagement Scot Pipkin reflects on the Garden’s history with wildfire and offers guidance on how we can live with and prepare for this natural force.
We’re also spotlighting some of the behind-the-scenes work done at the Garden. In “From the Archives,” Archivist Hannah Barton explores the care that goes into preserving the Garden’s digital collections. And our feature on the Clifton Smith Herbarium celebrates one of the region’s most important plant data repositories.
And because connection to nature should also bring us joy, Terrestrial Invertebrate Conservation Ecologist Zach Phillips, Ph.D., offers a humorous and heartfelt look at birdwatching and fitness in “Five Ways of Strengthening Your Core While Looking at Birds.” His piece reminds us that caring for ourselves and our planet can (and should) be fun.
Audrey Hepburn once said, “To garden is to believe in tomorrow.” I think that’s such a resonate idea. It speaks to the quiet courage it takes to plant a seed and trust it will grow. With the uncertainty and challenges in our busy lives, the simple act of believing in an unseen future feels more important than ever. In this way, a garden becomes a declaration. A choice to nurture life and pay it forward, making things better for the generations to come.
So as you turn the pages of this issue, I invite you to ponder: What does believing in tomorrow look like? What choice — big or small — can you make today to support the health and well-being of people and the planet?
Thank you for being part of this work and this growing community.
Warmly,
Jaime Eschette Editor, Ironwood
The
Gerry Rubin Director of Marketing
and Communications
An Ode to Soil: My Journey With Dirt
By Stephanie Ranes, Grounds Manager
As a kid, I had the good fortune to spend my free time digging in the dirt. As a naturalist, educator, and gardener, I have spent many days in direct communion with the soils and related plant communities all across California (i.e., digging in the dirt). To me, the sign of time well spent is to go home at the end of the day with dirt stuck under my fingernails. And if I don’t have my hands in the earth, I’m enjoying it in some other way. In all the nights I’ve spent sleeping outside in the deserts, mountains, coasts, and hills of California, I’ve lain on top of a world teeming with life — an ecosystem in the ground which sustains and mirrors the complexity of ecosystems above ground. As Charles E. Kellogg of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, “Essentially, all life depends upon the soil. … There can be no life without soil and no soil without life” (U.S. Department of Agriculture & Kellogg, 1938, 864).
What Is This ‘‘Soil’’?
I’ve delighted in fields of spring wildflowers, shaded oak (Quercus spp.) woodlands, and rare wildlife encounters, but I’ve never really thought about what contributed to this diversity of life I so enjoy. James M. Nardi quotes in his book that soil is “a dynamic natural medium in which plants grow made up of both mineral and organic materials as well as living forms” (Nardi, 2007, XIX). We can find hundreds more definitions or understandings of the term “soil.” For many people it is the same thing as “earth”: An intrinsic and fundamental aspect of life on the planet. The inorganic, mineral component of soil originates with the parent rock, like granite in the Sierra Nevada or sandstone and shale in Santa Barbara. This mineral component will impart soil texture — sand, silt, clay — as well as some macronutrients and micronutrients vital to plant health. In addition to inorganic elements, healthy soil is created by a teeming universe of organisms which have all kinds of life-sustaining functions. For instance, some bacteria called “rhizobia” help fix nitrogen from the air into a form usable by roots. Some fungi are helpful in recovering phosphorus from soil for plants. Decomposers such as earthworms help return nutrients from other organic material back into the soil. James estimates, “The number of creatures on a single acre of land far exceeds the entire human population of the world.” (Nardi, 2007, 26)
Opposite: Loose dirt is removed from the roots of a young manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.). (Photo: Liz Raffensperger)
Mothering Your Dirt
In my lifelong process of becoming a gardener, I’m continually learning that in order to take care of a garden above ground, I need to also take care of it below ground. Some of the best ways to take care of soil are to protect and nurture it with a layer of mulch and compost. A mulch layer helps support biological activity, add nutrients, add organic material, and retain soil moisture — all of which help soil life and therefore plant life. Often the best mulch can be fallen leaves from trees overhead or any kind of organic material found locally. Homemade compost helps recycle food waste and add nutrients and microorganisms back into the garden soil. The continual practice of adding compost and mulch layers greatly benefits any soil just by creating a habitat for soil life to increase. Building healthy soil takes time, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. As Owen Dell, RLA, ASLA, and principal at Owen Dell and Associates says, “Leaves are called leaves for a reason. We’re supposed to leave them where they fall.”
Soil texture tests can help give information about soil conditions when necessary. Soil texture, such as the clay we have in Santa Barbara, can be a challenge for many plants not adapted to growing in a very fine–particle soil. I’ve learned that rather than forcing plants to adapt, choosing plants that can tolerate this soil type creates a healthier, more attractive garden
The proper soil and conditions are essential to help nurture this California buckeye (Aesculus californica) sapling. (Photo: Kaylee Tu)
and less work from the gardener. However, there are also times when it’s fun to experiment with different plants that may not like the soil conditions. In these cases, it is generally recommended to incorporate compost, either to the entire bed or into a specific planting area.
Soil nutrient tests are helpful in identifying any deficiencies or excesses of macronutrients and micronutrients in planting beds. As with soil texture issues, soil nutrient issues are best managed using an organic form of amendment or fertilizer to adjust nutrient levels. At Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, we use an organic feather meal (an organic, natural fertilizer derived from poultry feathers) in conjunction with compost to help add some nutrients to soils where plants appear to be deficient. California’s
native plants generally do not need high levels of nutrients in the soil; therefore, an organic fertilizer, if one is needed at all, is usually the best way to slowly feed and improve deficient soils. While adding elements to soil can improve various deficiencies, sometimes leaving soil alone can also help. As much as possible, we at the Garden try to avoid walking in planting beds, especially when they are wet, to avoid compaction and to help keep soil properly aerated. Soils and the organisms that keep it healthy need to breathe! While tilling may be necessary on an agricultural scale, it can also disrupt soil structure, harm beneficial organisms, and increase erosion.
Dig In!
Getting to know and understand the soils we live with is a vital part of growing a beautiful garden, a healthy
Stephanie Ranes scours the dirt, removing weeds at Alice Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s Landscape Transformation
Dirt is sprinkled on top of a potted, low-growing manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.). (Photo: Liz Raffensperger)
wildlife habitat, or a fruitful food forest. Take the time to get dirty: Dig holes and look closely for organisms, feel textures with bare hands, stick fingers into the ground to gauge moisture, and watch what develops just under a couple inches (or centimeters) of mulch. “It is apparent that no lifetime is long enough in which to explore the resources of a few square yards of ground.” (Coats, 1956, IX)
There are great resources available for more in-depth information about soil and how to work with it. Here are two of my favorites:
The California Native Plant Landscaper Certificate Program Student Handbook, built by the Theodore Payne Foundation, is available to all students of the Garden’s California Native Plant Landscaper Certification program. You can find out more by
The book “California Native Plants for the Garden” by Carol Bornstein, David Fross, and Bart O’Brien is a wonderful resource for every gardener and features more than 500 of the best native plants for home gardening. O
CITATIONS
Coats, A. M. (1956). Flowers and Their Histories. Pitman Publishing Corporation. https://archive. org/details/flowerstheirhist0000alic/page/n5/mode/2up
Nardi, J. B. (2007). Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners. The University of Chicago Press. https://dokumen.pub/qdownload/life-in-the-soil-a-guide-for-naturalists-andgardeners-9780226568539.html
U.S. Department of Agriculture & Kellogg, C. E. (1938). Soils & Men: Yearbook of Agriculture 1938. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. https://archive.org/details/yoa1938/page/n3/mode/2up
Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden, which is partner in Transformation Project. (Photo: Samantha Vanderford)
The Truth About Growing Native Plants — Climate, Conditions, and Brats
By Christina Varnava, Living Collections Curator
Typical gardening wisdom is built around the ubiquitous garden-center species. These commonly sold plants hail from all different parts of the world, and the care that works for them is not necessarily what will work for California’s native species.
California’s unique Mediterranean climate is found in only a handful of places on Earth. This climate brings an unusual rainfall pattern where plants are accustomed to hot, dry summers that give way to cool, wet winters. This means, native plants are adapted to experiencing drought every year. However, many commonly cultivated, widely available garden plants are adapted to very different rainfall patterns. In turn, they have very different horticultural needs and considerations that people have adopted as the norm in gardening.
The abundance and divergent requirements of these nonnative plants at garden centers and nurseries leads home gardeners and landscape professionals astray. Subsequently the successful cultivation and establishment of California’s native plants seems mysterious, and they have a reputation as being difficult to care for. Which is frustrating for would-be gardeners because out in the wild they seem to, you know, just grow.
Digging Into Assumptions and Considerations
For an aspiring native-plant newbie in California, it may seem like there are very few answers to seemingly basic questions. For starters, there’s the eternal question of how much water should gardeners use to help establish California’s native plants? It’s a difficult question to answer because a plant’s water usage is dependent on many factors: weather conditions, soil type, and the species of plant. Additionally, the period of establishment is another important query, as the plant adapts to its new soil and microclimate. Then, is the “correct” size of plant to install in the ground a factor? Is buying a larger-sized plant better for rapid growth and healthy plants?
Many growers with experience of the common chaparral-adapted species have recommended that California’s natives should be planted at a smaller size. In the nursery trade, it is generally believed smaller plants are a lot more drought tolerant and resilient once they are established than those that were originally planted at a larger size. The idea behind this is that large plants grow up accustomed
to the regular watering and softer soils in nurseries and are less able to adjust to in-ground conditions (less water, heavy clay soils). These plants are sometimes called “nursery brats,” because they are so used to pampering and optimal conditions that they cannot adjust very well to heat and drought. Further compounding this issue is that very little research has been done to investigate these ideas.
The Perimeters of our Research Parameters
Horticultural research is important to determine the best ways to cultivate California’s native plants, and to start investigating some of the myths that have sprung up around these plants. We created a test plot at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden with a grant from the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust (SmithHT. org) to help gardeners and growers understand how different horticultural practices can affect the establishment of these plants. Our establishment trial were used to plant commonly available and desirable cultivars of five different native chaparraladapted species, with two different pot sizes and three different watering regimes.
The following are the five cultivars used for our trial.
• Little Sur manzanita (Arctostaphylos edmundsii ‘Little Sur’)
• Yankee Point Carmel ceanothus (Ceanothus hyrsiflorus var. griseus ‘Yankee Point’)
We chose species that spanned a good deal of taxonomic diversity to test if the nursery brat idea might apply more to one group of plants than another. Plants were grown with staggered starts to ensure that all the plants were grown to the same degree. Half of the plants in each treatment were originally planted from 4-inch pots and half were planted from 1-gallon pots.
We planted these across three different treatment plots, randomly assigned sloping north to south. After plants were installed, the slope was mulched
Top: This is the high-water experimental plot during planting. (Photo: Christina Varnava). Bottom left: The Jelly Bean Dark Pink monkeyflower (Diplacus Jelly Bean™ ‘Dark Pink’) shown here was a 1-gallon plant originally. (Photo: Christina Varnava). Bottom right: A few months into the experiment, and the plants are growing in. (Photo: Christina Varnava)
with 1 foot (.3 meters) of organic mulch and weeded periodically. Plots were watered using drip irrigation with 1-gallon-per-hour emitters, with high, medium, and low irrigation levels. These irrigation levels were based on the landscape watering calculator at WaterwiseSB.org, the Regional Water Efficiency Program of Santa Barbara County. This calculator is designed for home landscapers and seemed to be a good approximation of where the average home gardener might begin with determining an appropriate watering regime. Along with supplemental water from the drip irrigation, we recorded monthly rainfall totals using the weather station at the Garden. Immediately after installation, and once each month for two years, the growth for each plant was measured. In 2024, the last measurements were taken.
The Winner Is?
There is no one-size-fits-all research project, and there are still a lot of questions to explore, as this study was by no means definitive. But let’s highlight a few tips based on what we noticed and then get into the specifics:
• Consider the environmental conditions where these native species are growing in wild habitats and incorporate that into your home garden.
This may net you more success than following general planting rules.
• Plants that received more water did grow much larger, but then they experienced a lot more dieback when the dry summertime conditions set in. Those seeking to cultivate chaparraladapted native plants may be wise to water less and expect slightly slower but more reliable growth rates.
• There did not appear to be any effect from initial pot size on the growth of the plants in the trial, so the myth of the nursery brat began to unravel.
Let’s examine these points further. It was difficult to draw solid conclusions in this study due to a few confounding factors. First, by complete coincidence the study was conducted in 2022 and 2023, two of the highest rainfall years Southern California has experienced in decades. The rainy season for these years was also a lot longer than a typical one, with rain persisting into May and June in both those years. It would be beneficial to repeat this type of study in a year with more typical levels of rainfall.
Also, results varied between the different plant species used in our trial so looking at the outcomes of
Here’s how things were looking in summer 2022 in the low-water plot. (Photo: Christina Varnava)
Staff measure the height of Canyon Gray sagebrush (Artemisia californica ‘Canyon Gray’) to help determine how much it has grown. (Photo: Christina Varnava)
individual species is perhaps most useful. Growth was significantly different between all plant species in the project with some (e.g., Canyon Gray sagebrush and Bee’s Bliss sage) growing very large and fluctuating in size as the season changed (figure 1). These species were observed to grow very large in the spring, and then began to die back a lot as summer drought conditions set in. This effect was most noticeable in the plot that received the highest irrigation. By comparison, Little Sur manzanita and Yankee Point Carmel ceanothus had much lower overall growth rates but did not suffer as much branch dieback in the summer. The Jelly Bean Dark Pink monkeyflower was the species that experienced the highest mortality rates in our study, which was seen across both 4-inch and 1-gallon plants but occurred mostly in the lowest water treatment plot.
Nursery Brats Concept Likely Not Real
Perhaps most sweepingly, we concluded that the nursery brat is not a real phenomenon. The 4-inch
and 1-gallon plants grew about the same amount, no matter how much supplemental irrigation they received. There seemed to have been an irrigation effect early in the study, but by the end of the trial these differences had flattened out. So, for example, instead of seeing a greater impact on the 1-gallon plants that were in the low-water treatment plot, we saw no difference. The growth results and the mortality rates indicated as such. And by the end of the study, all the plant cultivars used in the trial, except Little Sur manzanita, showed no statistically significant differences between a plant that began as a 4-inch or a 1-gallon. The manzanitas were, in fact, healthier and larger when planted as a 1-gallon.
There’s still so much to learn! The Garden’s work to understand the factors that lead to happy, healthy plants will continue on, so we can continue to support our mission of getting more native plants into California yards and landscapes. O
Figure 1: Here are the results of the two-year study for each of the species in the trial, separated by the initial pot sizes. Plant growth index is a calculated measurement that records the plant growth in inches. High irrigation plots appear in red, while low irrigation plots appear in blue. (Graphics: Katelyn Miller)
Rooted in Beauty: A Native Garden Flourishes in Santa Barbara
By Jenny McClure, Senior Donor Relations Manager
Nestled in the foothills of Santa Barbara, where golden light spills across the landscape and coastal breezes weave through the canyons, lies a garden that feels like a world unto itself — an English garden in spirit but undeniably Californian at heart. It is a space brimming with abundance and lushness, where native plants weave together to create an atmosphere both enchanting and deeply rooted in place. This is the home garden of Ranney Draper and Eric Roinestad, a testament to the transformative power of native plants.
As we sit together, surrounded by an expertly cultivated landscape formed from intention and artistry, I ask Ranney how this garden came to be — how they envisioned a space that would not only be beautiful but also resilient, ecologically rich, and a true extension of Santa Barbara’s natural landscape.
Designing With Nature
“It started with a love of gardens, really,” Ranney tells me. “We knew we wanted something that felt layered and abundant.” Their charming house is an original Moody cottage, one of a handful of storybook-like homes built in Santa Barbara and Montecito by the
Moody sisters in the 1930s and 1940s. The couple wanted their landscape to keep with the architectural style — welcoming, immersive, whimsical, and something you could get lost in. At the same time, they wanted a garden that worked with the natural landscape, using minimal water and without requiring constant intervention.
The solution lay in native plants — species uniquely adapted to the rhythms of this land and able to thrive in the coastal air, the shade of the oaks (Quercus spp.), and the California climate. “We started visiting Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and were able to get a sense of what was possible,” Ranney explained. “We would wander with friends and see just how diverse and beautiful native plants could be.”
With help from their landscape architect, Courtney Jane Miller of CJM::LA, they began designing a garden that borrowed from the structure of traditional English gardens — curving pathways with special nooks and seating areas, varied textures, layered plantings, and pots, lots of pots. “People think you can’t have an English-style garden with natives,” Ranney says with a smile. “But you can. It’s all about
Here’s a view inside the garden before its transformation. (Photo: Caitlin Atkinson)
how you use them, and we kept challenging Courtney to incorporate more and more natives. I’d say we’re about 85% native at this point.”
Why Native Plants?
For Ranney and Eric, the choice to use native plants was both aesthetic and deeply practical. “These plants belong here,” Ranney says simply. “They’ve evolved with this climate, with this soil, with the wildlife. When you plant natives, you’re creating a garden that works with nature rather than against it.”
Beyond their resilience, native plants bring an ecological richness that extends beyond the garden’s borders. If you plant native buckwheats (Eriogonum spp.) you will start to see pollinators visiting every day; put in a toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) and months later you’ll see birds feasting on its bright red berries. And they certainly did. “We started noticing more birds, more butterflies, more bees,” Ranney says.
Native Plants We Love To Love
When asked if he has favorites, Ranney can’t pick just one. “I love the Catalina cherry (Prunus ilicifolia ssp. lyonia),” he says. “It’s got this rich, deep green foliage, and it gives such a wonderful structure to the garden and is great for screening. And then there are native grasses and ferns, coffeeberry (Frangula spp.), hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea), and the dudleyas’ (Dudleya spp.) silver-green leaves — the whole garden is themed in variations of green and white.”
A Garden With Meaning
More than just a beautiful space, this garden has become a place of refuge and connection. “It’s a retreat,” Ranney says. “During very stressful times, it’s a relief to be able to walk through a garden and feel at peace and feel soothed by looking at the plants — just watching the plants grow is rewarding.”
This is an early sketch of the dream California cottage garden for Ranney Draper and Eric Roinestad. (Sketch: CJM::LA)
Eric finds inspiration for his work as a ceramic artist from the garden. Explains Ranney, “He is the more active one; he wanders around the garden every morning with snips and clippers. Eric wants to have his studio practice on-site because taking breaks to walk through the garden helps him center himself and sparks new ideas. It’s a crucial part of his process, helping him stay grounded and inspired.”
The couple’s shared love for nature extends to their animals, too. “We brought all our animals with us after the Altadena Fire and at first, we were concerned about how they’d adapt to the new space,” Ranney recalls. “But the cats love it here. They feel protected, and they lie out in the sun and wander and climb the rocks. It’s been such a joy to watch them interact with the garden. They’re so happy here.”
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s Influence
Each visit to Santa Barbara Botanic Garden brings new inspiration. “It’s such an incredible resource — not just as a place to visit but as a living classroom,”
says Ranney, a retired teacher who understands the value of education.
Over the years, they’ve experimented with different plantings. “You start to understand how these plants behave — how they establish, how they respond to water, how they change with the seasons,” he explains. “And that knowledge makes all the difference when you’re designing a garden.”
Ranney also appreciates the Garden’s broader mission. “It’s not just about gardens — it’s about conservation, about restoring and protecting native habitats. Our garden is a small part of that larger effort.”
Lessons From the Land
As we wander through the garden, Ranney shares some wisdom gained through experience. “With natives, patience is key,” he says. “They take time to establish. The first year, they sleep. The second year, they creep. And the third year, they leap. You have to trust the process.”
Throughout the garden are several wild, informal, meandering, and immersive spaces inviting guests to slow down and enjoy the landscape. (Photo: Caitlin Atkinson)
By adding habitat-providing native species throughout, this garden is both beautiful and beneficial. (Photo: Caitlin Atkinson)
But the reward, he assures me, is worth it. “Once they take off, they become so resilient” and they give back tenfold — not just in beauty but also in supporting the ecosystem around them.
There’s also the importance of restraint. “Overwatering is the biggest mistake people make with native plants,” he notes. “These plants don’t want constant moisture — they’re designed to survive dry summers. If you irrigate them like you would a traditional garden, they struggle.”
A Model for the Future
Ranney and Eric’s garden is more than a personal passion project; it’s a model for what’s possible in your own backyard. It challenges the notion that native plant gardens must be sparse or rugged. Instead, it
proves that with creativity and thoughtfulness, they can be lush, abundant, and deeply enchanting. Ranney notes, “We’re in our second season here and it’s been wonderful to see the garden fill in and take shape.”
As we wrap up our conversation, Ranney reflects on what he hopes people take away from their garden. “I want people to see that you don’t have to sacrifice beauty for sustainability,” he says. “You can have both. And when you do, you create something that not only nurtures you but also nurtures the land around you.”
Looking out at this decidedly English garden — sunlight filtering through oak branches and dainty white heuchera (Heuchera spp.) flowers dancing in the breeze — it’s impossible not to feel inspired by native plants. Here, in this quiet corner of Santa Barbara, beauty and resilience have found perfect harmony. O
The garden surrounding the existing cottage uses primarily native species intermixed with flowering perennials and bulbs. (Photo: Caitlin Atkinson)
To ensure no native plant goes extinct on our watch, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has built a conservation program that is up to the challenge. One that not only understands California’s native plants from genes to ecosystems but also knows how to protect and restore them.
With your support for nearly a century, the Garden has achieved some impressive milestones. While we celebrate these wins, we can’t slow down. Now more than ever, we must do our part — from the tiniest seeds to sprawling landscapes — to harness the power of native plants to ensure biodiversity thrives across California’s central coast, and beyond. Will you join us?
800,000+
Seeds
Over the past six years, the Garden has bulked seeds from our Conservation Seed Bank and freshly made wild collections to support ongoing restoration efforts with island partners.
4 Landscape Transformations
Through partnerships impacting Elings Park, Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens, Shalawa (Hammond’s Meadow), and the Cuyama Valley, we’re busy growing vital habitat and making our communities more resilient.
737+ Checkouts
Through a partnership with our public libraries, free Garden admission has helped more community members experience the beauty of native plants and get inspired to join our efforts to conserve them.
85,000+
Images & More
For nearly a century, the Garden has preserved and catalogued our work through physical artifacts, publications, art, and images, which we’ve digitized and will make publicly available through a web-based digital portal.
315 Active Volunteers
Whether they’re students, retired professionals, families, or experts, the Garden’s ever-growing volunteer community is appreciated. Join us!
4-Part Miniseries
In January 2024, the Garden launched its first video series showcasing the power of native plants as seen through our Elings Park Landscape Transformation project. To watch the series, visit https://bit.ly/4lFm7K4.
30% Native Plant Coverage
Join us in our goal of transforming 30% of the spaces where we live, work, and play into native plant habitats. Reaching this crucial milestone helps protect the health and well-being of people and the planet for generations to come.
30 + Biodiversity Partners
Through a shared biodiversity framework, we’re growing a network of organizations who are committed to protecting biodiversity alongside the Garden.
1,339
Taxa
More than 20% of California’s native taxa have found refuge in our Conservation and Living Collection Seed Banks.
220,000
+
Specimens
The Herbarium and Lichenarium collections have been used for countless studies and are the starting point for many critical resources, like “A Flora of Santa Catalina Island,” releasing soon.
>340 Registrants
We’re teaching more and more people how to add and care for California’s native plants through our public horticulture classes, providing life-supporting habitat across the region.
100 + Grads & Growing
As residents and businesses reimagine landscapes across the central coast, the Garden’s California Native Plant Landscaper Certification program graduates are ready to serve. A list of certified landscapers is available at SBBotanicGarden.org.
200 Native Trees Planted
At the Garden, we’ve planted wildfire-resilient coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) as part of a study on alternatives to clearcut fuel breaks to improve our strategies for managing fire.
Five Ways of Strengthening Your Core While Looking at Birds
By Zach Phillips, Ph.D., Terrestrial Invertebrate Conservation Ecologist
Some people reach an intersection in life and choose a direction. Not me. I reach an intersection, and I lie down right there in the middle, traffic be damned. This happened recently when I was forced to choose between birdwatching (herein, “birding”) and doing core exercises. I decided not to choose, and out of that decisive non-choice this guide was born: The first guide in history to bring together birding and core exercises.
Who Is This Guide For?
It’s for anyone looking to expand their bird consciousness and strengthen their core. Which means everybody. That said, this guide is clearly for the birds.
What Inspired This Guide?
Before I hurt my back last year, I wasn’t aware of the scheduling conflict I’d face between birding and core
exercises. In fact, I didn’t even know that “the core” existed. Sure, I’d heard rumors about a mysterious group of muscles that resided somewhere beneath my belly, but they were just rumors. Where was the evidence? Wasn’t “the core” just another Big Fitness conspiracy, as fake as “glutes” and “lats” and “biceps”? My physical therapist convinced me otherwise. He prescribed a series of core-strengthening exercises to help with my back recovery, and for whatever reason the exercises were most effective when I did them in the morning.
Unfortunately, morning is also the best time to survey birds, when many are at their most vocal and active. Nearly all of the bird surveys I conduct for research get me out of the house by 6 a.m., before I have time to finish strengthening my core. For the sake of my work and well-being, I had to find a way to fit both activities into my morning routine. Here was the intersection, and I needed to lie down in the middle of it. Eventually, I saw that there was only one solution: doing core exercises while birding (herein, “bird-core exercises”).
What Is in This Guide?
Birds aren’t easy to typecast — there are many reasons and ways to watch them. This guide describes five of those ways, from the standard to the weird. Our focus is therefore on modes and methods of bird observation, not species identification.
Each entry includes the following:
• A description of a mode of bird observation, supported by examples pulled from research, recreation, literature, and other sources.
• One corresponding bird-core exercise, ranked as “Easy,” “Difficult,” or “Super Difficult.”
• An artist’s detailed rendering of the exercise, or an aspect of the exercise, in action.
Do Not Attempt Any of the Following Bird-Core Exercises Without First Consulting a Medical Expert and a Bird Expert*
*Note: Consulting a veterinarian who specializes in the care of birds is not acceptable.
1. Point Count
The point count is a commonly used survey method for quantifying bird diversity. It does not involve pointing at birds, which is considered rude. An observer remains at a fixed point and identifies every bird they see or hear over a given period, often identifying more birds by their calls and songs than by visual cues. By using repeated point counts, you can estimate bird diversity and compare communities across space and time. For example, at Elings Park, Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden, and other sites where Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is conducting restoration, I’ve used repeated 15-minute point counts to compare bird communities in areas with restored native plant communities to those without.
Core Exercise (Difficult): Do a 15-minute point count from the plank position, one minute on, one minute off (but constantly birding). As a plank, you’ll be staring at the ground, which will not only test your core strength but will also test your ability to identify birds by sound.
2. Focal Follow
Point counts assess communities of birds, while focal follows spotlight individuals. The focal follower is like a private eye, tracking the movements and behavior of one bird, trying to see without being seen, and gathering as much dirt (i.e., data) on a bird as possible. What does the bird eat? Who does it interact with? Where and when does it sing? Is it having an affair?
Focal follows provide important, nuanced information about a bird’s activities. This information can flesh out life history accounts of species, contribute to building food webs and other ecosystem interaction networks, and help design effective management and conservation plans. At Elings Park, I conduct 10-minute focal follows to gather data on bird behavior in the Garden’s Landscape Transformation site, including on what plants birds interact with and the nature of those interactions, e.g., foraging in a coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) versus perching on a coyote bush.
Beyond data, focal follows provide observers with a deeper appreciation for and connection to their subjects. A classic book that illustrates such a
connection between birder and bird is J. A. Baker’s “The Peregrine.” The book is essentially a series of long focal follows conducted by the author, who obsessively tracks a couple of Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) across their hunting grounds in East Anglia, England. Many of J. A.’s observations represent interesting behavioral data, but they also indicate his growing, almost mystical, connection to the birds: “When mobbed, the peregrine beats its wings deeply and rhythmically. They bounce from the air, with silent slaps, like a lapwing’s. This deliberate pulse of evasion is beautiful to watch; one breathes in time to it; the effect is hypnotic” (Baker, 2005, 49).
Core Exercise (Easy): Find a lazy bird. I won’t name names, common or Latin, but you’ll know it when you see it. Locate a flat area near the bird, preferably with tall grass to conceal yourself, and lie down. Do three sets of 25 crunches while following it.
3. Be the Bird
Birds are vulnerable to “pishing” scams, which should not be confused with “phishing” scams. The latter is a human-to-human scam, with impostors sending out false information to trick their marks, while the former is a human-to-bird scam, with birders sending out false information to attract birds.
"Pishing” describes the birder behavior of making “pshh pshhhhh pshhh” noises — a ruse to draw birds closer for observation and identification. The “pish” noises apparently resemble alarm and begging calls, causing some birds to approach and join a “mob” to scare off the would-be predator. Of the modes of bird observation presented here, “pishing” is the most gonzo and participatory, with birders inserting themselves into the bird community through vocalizations.
Core Exercise (Difficult): Embarrassment is a very effective core strengthening emotion. To induce this feeling, find a public place crowded with people and trees. While staring into the canopy, loudly “pish” for one hour, experimenting with pitch, tone, and rhythm.
4. Wildlife Camera
These days, you can obsessively track a Peregrine Falcon from the comfort of your own home. Many universities and public institutions have set up “Falcon cams,” cameras that are focused on Peregrine Falcon nests, providing online video feeds that can be viewed 24/7. For about a decade, an incredible Anacapa Peregrine Falcon Cam has tracked a family of nesting Peregrines in their natural habitat (https://explore. org/livecams/falcons/peregrine-falcon-anacapa). If J. A. Baker were still around, would he be watching? Would he post poetic, insightful comments on the Falcon Cam comment board? Or would he mostly complain about glitches in the live feed?
For research, wildlife camera traps are especially useful for recording bird behaviors and interactions over extended periods of time. For example, cameras trained on nests can record a variety of parentnestling interactions, including feeding interactions (e.g., what insects do parents feed nestlings?), which would otherwise be extremely difficult to observe. Camera traps, along with autonomous recording units (ARUs), that are used to record sound, can also be used to survey inconspicuous bird communities (e.g., nocturnal communities), and can record for periods that last much longer than a typical pointcount interval.
Core Exercise (Difficult): Go to Planet Fitness at 4:30 a.m. Ask a staff member if you can connect the Falcon Cam feed to the TV monitor that’s currently screening “Young Sheldon” reruns. If they say yes, watch the feed and do 10 squats while holding a 5-pound (2.3 kilograms) medicine ball. If they say no, pretend young Sheldon is some kind of bird, maybe a fledgling sparrow, and do 10 squats while holding a 5-pound (2.3 kilograms) medicine ball.
5. Birding at the Movies
Watching a movie can be treated like a two-hour point count. While remaining in your fixed position (i.e., your couch), conduct a bird survey. What birds do you hear and see on the screen? Often, the answer is “the wrong birds.” The sound design of a movie doesn’t usually prioritize geographically accurate bird calls and songs. Even the birds that make it on-screen are frequently misplaced, sometimes ending up on the wrong continent. A famous example are the Robins in “Mary Poppins,” a movie set in England. The Robins in the film are American Robins (Turdus migratorius), like we have here in the U.S., while they should probably be European Robins (Erithacus rubecula), a distantly related species (Hipperson, 2012).
Core Exercise (Super Difficult): Get into a doctorate program that will let you write your thesis on birds in movies. Over the course of five to eight years, research and write a three-chapter dissertation on the cinematic history and symbolism of the American Robin and European Robin. Write chapter one about the European Robin that appears in “Gladiator,” a bird that General Maximus patiently observes in the film’s opening sequence. Explain how this scene
establishes General Maximus as a birder of Rome first and a soldier of Rome second. Title this chapter, “Crowe meets Robin.” In chapter two, compare the symbolism of the three following American Robins: the artificial Robin in David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet,” the decaying Robin corpse in Stan Brakhage’s “Burial Path,” and the crime-fighting Robin depicted by Chris O’Donnell in “Batman Forever.” Title this chapter, “Batman and Robin and Robin and Robin.” Chapter three can be about whatever you want, but it better be good, and it better be about Robins. Graduate summa cum laude. Publish your dissertation as a leather-bound tome that weighs approximately 5 pounds (2.3 kilograms). Go to Planet Fitness at 4:30 in the morning. While holding your dissertation, do 10 squats. O
Acknowledgment: Thank you to my physical therapist, Jacob, for helping me believe in the core.
CITATIONS
Baker, J. A. (2005). The Peregrine. New York Review Books. Hipperson, S. G. (2012, June 13). The Robin (and Mary Poppins). Stephen G Hipperson: My photography and other stuff. https://stephenhip.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/the-robinand-mary-poppins/
This herbarium sample of the Hartweg’s yellow pine iris ( Iris hartwegii ssp. pinetorum ) was collected in the northern Sierra Nevada in 2022 and is preserved in the Clifton Smith Herbarium.
An Insider’s Look: The Clifton Smith Herbarium
By Annie Ayers, Herbarium Collections Manager; Isabella Salangsang, Herbarium Technician; Jessica Spaw, Herbarium Technician; and C. Matt Guilliams, Ph.D., The Ken and Shirley Tucker Plant Systematist and Curator of the Clifton Smith Herbarim
An herbarium is a natural history museum that houses dried, preserved plant specimens. This simple function belies the critical and enduring importance of herbaria as active repositories of biodiversity knowledge and hubs for conservation activity worldwide. Specimens in herbaria are the basis for understanding Earth’s plant biodiversity. Each of the world’s named plant species can be traced back to the study of specimens in herbaria, and herbaria worldwide contain specimens representing species yet to be described. Plant conservation too relies upon specimens and their associated data as the gold standard for scientific evidence, informing planning and decision-making in all levels of society. It is impossible to overstate the historical, present day, and future value of herbaria.
The Clifton Smith Herbarium at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden was established in 1939, but it contains a record of local plant diversity that stretches back to Santa Barbara’s earliest days as a town. The Garden’s oldest specimen was collected by William Brewer in 1861 during the span of the first California State Geological Survey. The Herbarium has grown considerably since its founding, expanding to a bustling, modern collection of over 160,000 pressed plants. Our specimens have been used for countless studies and are the starting point for many critical resources, one of which is the book “A Flora of Santa Catalina Island,” currently in its publication phase.
permits are required to collect plants and other kinds of biological samples. Additionally, when plants are protected as rare or endangered, we must obtain permits through state and federal agencies to ensure these special plants don’t go extinct.
plant presses, tools to remove plants, newspaper to store and press each plant, as well as field notebooks and writing utensils to record information. We focus on collecting flowers,
fruits, seeds, and leaves to ensure that the specimen has all informative plant parts for later study. We press the specimen between sheets of newspaper.
3. Recording field notes
In our field notes, information about the specimen is recorded. This includes the date of collection, the geographic location, and habitat information. We additionally include descriptions of the specimen itself (which may be lost in the drying process) such as flower color, height, overall plant architecture, etc.
4. Drying specimens
Assuring the plant material is thoroughly dried is vital to the collection process; dehydrating the plant material prevents decomposition, consequently preserving much of its color and form. This allows us to mount the plant for storage for as long as possible with as many of its original features preserved as possible.
who they are first, or in scientific terms, to which taxa they belong. Certain structures, such as seeds, need to be examined under a microscope for accurate identification. This process is also referred to as “keying,” as a botanical key is necessary for accurate plant identification.
6. Transcribing field notes
Once the field notes are scanned, transcribers pore through the handwritten notes and parse the information into their appropriate fields in the Consortium of California Herbaria Portal 2 (CCH2) — the main database of herbaria in California. Each individual plant collected gets their own record of occurrence in the database, containing all the important observations pertaining to that specimen made by the collector in the field.
an herbarium specimen label. After a rigorous proofreading process, labels are then printed onto archival paper, manually cut to size with our sharpest paper cutter, and united with the specimen they describe.
We make sure important plant structures are intentionally displayed for future examination, optimizing the display of flowers, fruits, leaves, and other important features. Mounting specimens is like creating artistic masterpieces with scientific merit.
Isabella
Janis & Isabella
9. Freezing
Before newly mounted specimens may enter the Clifton Smith Herbarium, they must be frozen to minimize hungry pests that may hitchhike into our collection and cause damage, similar to how moths munch your clothes or weevils eat your baking flour. Our prime pest suspect is the cigarette beetle ( Lasioderma serricorne), so named for its history of eating the tobacco out of cigarettes.
11a. Reflecting our Herbarium in the digital realm
While the physical specimens live in our Herbarium, their complimentary digital records live online on CCH2. This gives worldwide access to our specimens via the internet.
safe! The Herbarium is located underground to protect the museum from natural disasters. In addition, the double-door entry system allows for an extra layer of safety from fire, pests, and moisture.
Globally, organizations have begun digitizing biodiversity collections for posterity, redundancy, accessibility, and improved data analysis. With over 160,000 specimens already in the Clifton Smith Herbarium alone, and hundreds more flowing in each month, digitizing each historic and incoming specimen is a big job. Luckily, we have a fleet of dedicated volunteers who help.
Jessica
Annie
11b. Databasing
For specimens not in CCH2, a databaser will transcribe label data into a new CCH2 record. This meticulous and precise task involves interpreting label data and typing the corresponding information into the appropriate CCH2 fields.
given a unique Santa Barbara Botanic Garden barcode sticker, which acts as our museum catalog number. Much like the barcode on your groceries, each sticker is easily read by a camera or handheld scanner, saving time and reducing human error. Once a barcode sticker is applied to a specimen, the number is scanned into the corresponding CCH2 record, linking the physical to the digital and allowing us to track our collection with ease.
Photographing thousands of specimens efficiently is made possible by hours of volunteer time and a barcode system, custom light box, and camera rig.
Marcia
Kristi
Nancy & Brian
• “Continental-scale empirical evidence for relationships between fire response strategies and fire frequency” from researchers in Australia
By capturing specimen data and putting it into worldwide data repositories, the Garden’s herbarium serves a global audience.
The power of herbaria is utilized in many ways. Its primary use is in the science of classifying and naming organisms, known as the practice of taxonomy and systematics. The taxonomic journey can take years — decades even. Often, new plant species are sitting in herbarium cabinets waiting for experts to look closely and “discover” their uniqueness. In fact, 84% of new plant species are described from specimens that are over 50 years old (Bebber et al., 2010, 22169-22171). The specimen acts as a nomenclatural standard or “type” — a legally official and scientist-verified example of the species.
How Are These Meticulously Preserved Plants Used?
While processing is completed after a specimen is filed, the journey doesn’t stop there. Specimens are regularly used by biologists, geneticists, and conservationists around the world. Between 2021 and 2025, the Clifton Smith Herbarium has been cited in over 570 scientific papers. Some recent papers include the following:
• “Global availability of plant DNA barcodes as genomic resources to support basic and policyrelevant biodiversity research” from researchers in Rhode Island
• “Herbivory and climate as drivers of plant population and range dynamics” from researchers in British Columbia
• “Potential effects of climate change on cacti distribution and conservation in North American drylands” from researchers in Brazil coded, and imaged, they are filed into our state-of-the-art storage cabinets for centuries to come.
The physical samples of material in herbaria serve other functions. By sampling leaf tissue from specimens, we can explore the genetic code of the plants and construct family trees to understand how plants are related to each other. Over the last 20 years, technological advancements have greatly improved our ability to construct these family trees. We do this across plant families, across genera, or even across populations. While this is helpful in the quest to understand biodiversity in a general sense, these techniques can also be applied locally, for example, to help us answer questions about how plants on the Channel Islands are related to each other. Our organizational partners such as The Nature Conservancy or the National Park Service use herbaria samples to manage the ecosystems in their care.
In addition to harboring yet-to-be-known plants and housing genetic material, herbaria act as reference libraries for our local flora. Many plants are cryptic. Having an imaged reference library allows communities to better understand how to differentiate closely related species.
Sharing information among herbaria and other natural history collections has become critically important as biologists and conservationists meet the challenges of our time. For example, global data sharing can help us understand the distribution of life on Earth by compiling observations from many hundreds of museum collections. By aggregating these data, we can start to see patterns of range and distribution, which in turn inform conservation
Ron
efforts such as replanting after forest fires or identifying region-specific native plants for restoration. Also, this documentation is valuable when tracking the spread of invasive species, or the contracted ranges of endangered ones.
Herbarium specimens additionally act as vouchers and backups for other critically important work that is being done at the Garden. When our rare plant biologists collect seeds for the Garden’s Conservation Seed Bank, an important part of their work includes associating the seeds to the physical specimens in our Clifton Smith Herbarium. Although loose seeds by themselves may lose some of their botanical context, herbarium samples collected at the same time can continue to be referenced, dissected, and studied.
Even disciplines outside of botany — including anthropology, agronomy, forestry, and biomedical research — leverage herbaria. Climatologists use specimens to better understand the change in weather patterns over time. Due to the limited conditions in which plants can grow, we can better understand how climate has changed when we compare what plants occur in a specific area
over time (Zhu et al., 2024, 2252–2264). Beyond looking at where plants are, climatologists also use the change in flowering time from year to year to understand large-scale weather patterns (Calinger et al., 2013, 1037-1044). This is why continuing to collect species that are already in an herbarium is necessary as well. The changes in plant communities over time show us patterns happening beyond the short-term changes of weather.
Herbarium specimens are important for so many reasons. Over the last 200 years, botanists who collected specimens could not have envisioned the many novel ways that their specimens would be utilized to better understand the world around us. Of course, today we have a better sense that our specimens will persist in perpetuity, continuing to inform scientific breakthroughs that will in turn result in new paths of scientific inquiry. During the next 200 years, many of the steps forward in biology, conservation, or ecology will in part have a foundation in the study of preserved specimens. The contributions we make today lay the foundation for
WeDigBio Volunteers
Paige, J., Pennington, T. D., Robson, N. K. B., & Scotland, R. W. (2010, December 6). Herbaria are a major frontier for species discovery. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 107(51), 22169-22171. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1011841108
Calinger, K. M., Queenborough, S., & Curtis, P. S. (2013, June 21). Herbarium specimens reveal the footprint of climate change on flowering trends across north-central North America. Ecology Letters, 16(8), 1037-1044. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12135
Zhu, K., Song, Y., Lesage, J. C., Luong, J. C., Bartolome, J. W., Chiariello, N. R., Dudney, J., Field, C. B., Hallett, L. M., Hammond, M., Harrison, S. P., Hayes, G. F., Hobbs, R. J., Holl, K. D., Hopkinson, P., Larios, L., Loik, M. E., & Prugh, L. R. (2024, October 16). Rapid shifts in grassland communities driven by climate change. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 8, 2252–2264. https://doi. org/10.1038/s41559-024-02552-z
Small Farms, Big Impact: Bringing California’s Native Plants Back to Cuyama
By Denise Knapp, Ph.D., Director of Conservation and Research
Farmers in California are essential and resourceful. We all benefit from what they grow. But sometimes their methods aren’t sustainable. Being a small farmer, however, requires an extra special mix of conviction and ingenuity, with an eye on sustainability. Fortunately there is just such a mix in the Cuyama Valley, where Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and our collaborators at Quail Springs permaculture farm are partnering with three small farms as part of a large project to demonstrate and spread the benefits of native plants.
Let’s Meet Our Farmers
David Lewis is one of our intrepid small farmers who runs River-side Ranch Lavender. He is a civil engineer during the week and a farmer on the weekends, so he doesn’t get a lot of rest. On his farm, he is a champion for sustainability in several ways — for example, he stopped tilling to control the weeds between the
trees because that reduces carbon storage. Also, to be sure he’s contributing to the community, he hires local individuals to help on the farm and with sales, while the big farms bring in outside help. And then he deals with the water restrictions. David’s farm is one of those hardest hit, since his land was fallow for most of the historic period when water allocations were assigned. Because of this, he is already very conscious of water conservation, using drip irrigation and watching closely for leaks. Keep in mind his 38 acres (15 hectares) of pistachio trees and 2 acres (.8 hectares) of lavender already require less water than many local crops. Still, he planted his trees just nine years ago, and they only recently became mature enough to harvest. He welcomes all the sustainable ways to conserve water. Although he doesn’t have time to think too much about native plants, when we asked if we could install a native demonstration garden to help, he agreed because he likes what we’re working to achieve.
Opposite: Yellow mock aster (Eastwoodia elegans) was one of the species from which Santa Barbara Botanic Garden collected seed in Cuyama to grow and plant on our partner farms. (Photo: Denise Knapp, Ph.D.)
At River-side Ranch Lavender, farmer David Lewis uses drip irrigation to most efficiently use his limited water supply. (Photo: Denise Knapp, Ph.D.)
Jean Gaillard and Meg Brown run the aptly named Cuyama Homegrown. They have degrees in rural engineering and agricultural economics and a lifetime of experience in sustainable agriculture, having worked around the world from Africa to Southeast Asia to Central America for organizations like the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). They know that diversity provides resilience to annual variation, so they produce a multitude of products, from different fruits and vegetables to honey and eggs to jams and pickled beets. For greater resilience, Jean has invented special growing tunnels that provide protection to the crops from the temperature swings that are inherent to Cuyama. But climate change is adding ever more unpredictability, and they also worry that they don’t have the pollinators anymore that many of their crops need. They can no longer grow some of the crops that used to do well there, like tomatoes and eggplants. It may not be a coincidence that those two crops do best with special “buzz pollination” from insects like bumblebees, which have been declining along with others nationwide. Jean and Meg agreed right away to be part of this project because they are deeply devoted to their community and hoping that native habitat will bring these pollinators back to their farm.
Following a wetter year in 2023, Jean Gaillard at Cuyama Homegrown shows off the wildflower habitat surrounding their farm operation. (Photo: Denise Knapp, Ph.D.)
Quail Spring’s Watershed Stewardship and Advocacy Director Brenton Kelly collects seeds of thistle sage (Salvia carduacea) at Cuyama Homegrown. (Photo: Denise Knapp, Ph.D.)
Stephen Gliessman, Ph.D., and Roberta (Robbie)
Jaffe run Condor’s Hope, named for the iconic bird species that was released near their farm in 1992 after captive breeding brought it back from the brink of extinction. They grow organic wine grapes and olives using the age-old practice of dry farming. Here’s how it works: After winter rains fill the soil spaces and a cover crop has added fertility, they till the soil to create what is called a “dust mulch.” This prevents water from moving up through capillaries in the soil, creating a barrier to evaporation. It also trains their young plants to grow deeper roots, reaching for deeper groundwater. Using special heirloom varieties, which require less water, also helps. The results of these choices are that they do not need to provide any additional irrigation. These two know what they are doing. Steve is professor emeritus of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he founded the agroecology
program, while Robbie founded Life Lab, a nonprofit organization that develops school garden curriculum, programs, and trainings. They understand that native plants can support beneficial pest-control insects, and hope that the habitat we install will help with the leafhopper insects that have overtaken their farm with the demise of beneficial ladybug predators.
Customizing Their Native Habitat Buffers
For native habitat buffers to be adopted as a sustainable practice, they have to meet each farmer’s needs, so we’re customizing the project to our partner farms. At Cuyama Homegrown, we’re working in a weedy area, so we started by controlling the weed seed bank via tarping with black plastic through the searing heat of the summer and fall. Now, we’re planting with both seed and container stock, using plants that support pollinators, to see what techniques and which species work best there.
The vineyard at Condor’s Hope uses a “dust mulch” tilling method between the vines, a technique used to save water and suppress weeds. (Photo: Denise Knapp, Ph.D.).
Inset: Owners Steve Gliessman, Ph.D., and Roberta (Robbie) Jaffe bring together their love of farming, the environment, and community on their farm, Condor’s Hope. (Courtesy of Condor’s Hope)
At Condor’s Hope, there are remnant natives mixed in with the weeds, so we’re working around them by hand weeding. We’re fitting in the new native habitat between two open areas that will become olive rows, and we’re alternating seeded and container plantings in different mixes to see which species are most successful at the higher elevation that they occupy. Lastly, at River-side Ranch Lavender the area we’re working in is dry and compacted, so we’re sheet mulching with layers of cardboard and wood mulch, which will hold in moisture and add organic matter while keeping weeds at bay. We can’t seed through the mulch, so we’re focusing on just container plantings there. By planting selected species in groupings, we’ll support bees for the lavender plants and make it easy for Dave to collect seed from these plants should he choose to market them as an additional crop. On all of these farms, we’re using local seed we’ve collected over the past year from multiple locations and 54 different species, chosen for their versatility and ability to survive the hot and dry valley floor. We are also building in some extra science experiments so that we can continue to learn which techniques and
species work best while monitoring the responses of the insects to the habitat installation.
Supporting Local Farms Supports Native Plants
Diverse and water-wise farms that incorporate native habitat have always been a good idea, but now with the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, these practices are more important than ever. Our partners say that the hardest part of small, sustainable farming is finding a suitable market for their products, which understandably cost a bit more. It’s hard to compete with large corporations that have the economy of scale on their side. But you can see why it’s important. Supporting these farms and sustainable farming techniques is just like supporting the Garden and our mission to grow native plants. So spread the word and shop at the farmers’ market when you can! And say hi and thanks to our superstar farmers — David, Jean, Meg, Stephen, and Robbie — when you’re there.
The Garden Nursery
Visit our Garden Nursery, open daily to members and the public. Explore the largest selection of California’s native plants on the central coast, with hundreds of varieties to choose from.
Garden members receive 10% off every purchase! Nursery Hours
Scan to shop.
10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Thank You
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California’s Ever-Present Relationship with Fire — And How To Deal
By Scot Pipkin, Director of Education and Engagement
When I was five years old, my family moved to a neighborhood that borders a large open space in San Diego. Our cul-de-sac was the last street in the development, and we were all pleased with the mountainside views from the front door. We had only been living in the new house for a few months when we were evacuated due to wildfire.
It was Labor Day weekend, and the neighborhood kids had all been swimming in one of the backyard pools. Suddenly, the smell of smoke filled the air, and
we rushed out of the pool. I remember standing in the front yard of our new home and seeing flames rise over the ridge. We packed quickly, leaving lunch half prepared on the counter as we evacuated. Upon returning to our home, the sandwiches were still sitting on the kitchen counter, the bread toasted from the heat of the blaze, and a fine layer of ash coated all interior surfaces.
By California standards this Assist 78 fire (any fire along state Route 78) was tiny. At 935 acres (378
Fires Near Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Layer
COYOTE FIRE (September, 1964)
COYOTE (SYCAMORE) FIRE (July, 1977)
JESUSITA FIRE (May, 2009)
TEA FIRE (November, 2008)
THOMAS Fire (December, 2017)
Bureau of Land Management, Esri, HERE, Garmin, USGS, NGA, EPA, USDA, NPS
Esri, HERE, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, EPA, NPS
This map shows fire activity surrounding Santa Barbara Botanic Garden over the last half century. Despite several close calls, only one fire (Jesusita, 2009) has actually burned the Garden grounds.
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department regularly monitors the fuel moisture level of plants to determine fire risk. Here, we can see how different these moisture levels can be from year to year. In 2024, the chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) being monitored had good fuel moisture for most of the year due to high rainfall. This year (2025), the fuel moisture is trending below average, suggesting more severe fuel conditions throughout the year. (Source: Santa Barbara County Fire Department, Wildfire Predictive Services)
hectares), it pales in comparison to recent and historic fires of tens or even hundreds of thousands of acres. Fifteen years later, while I was away at college, my parents were once again evacuated by wildfire as the 270,000-acre (109,265-hectare) Cedar Fire threatened their neighborhood.
Our Shared History With Fire
After fire has once again viscerally affected the Southern California consciousness, I find myself reflecting on my family’s experiences with wildfire and the reality of fire throughout California. I’ve been lucky in that my childhood home and neighborhood in San Diego have sustained minimal fire damage. Relatively speaking, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has also been fortunate. Though the Jesusita Fire of 2009 burned 80% of the Garden and much of Mission Canyon, most buildings were saved and many plants have bounced back. There’s also been the Tea Fire, the Coyote Fire, the Sycamore Fire, and the Thomas Fire that have destroyed so much just outside the Garden’s boundaries. As fire looms large for many of us, one wonders how we can protect our homes and neighborhoods in the face of something that seems probable, if not inevitable.
Wildfire is an important part of the ecological equation throughout California and the West. Our plants are adapted to respond to fire, either by resprouting from specialized roots (lignotubers) or as a trigger for seed germination. California’s native plants present a resilient choice for landscaping in our region. We also know that humans play a critical role in fire ignition.
Historically, in California and throughout the globe, humans have used fire as a tool for engineering landscapes that favor useful and culturally significant plants and as a tool for renewal. Today, fire is still very much a part of the human relationship with the natural world.
Plant Physiology and Whiplash
If you’ve ever tried to start a campfire with wet or “green” wood, you know how difficult it can be to ignite moisture-laden material. Fire is, of course, most devastating when it encounters dry “fuel.” California’s Mediterranean-type climate with dry summers ensures that soils have limited moisture by September to October each year. Sunny, warm conditions during the summertime months mean that plants are photosynthesizing. As a result, the plants’ leaves will have open stomata releasing water vapor into the dry air. In response to water loss during photosynthesis, plant roots will attempt to draw whatever moisture they can from the ground. In very dry conditions, this puts a lot of stress on the plant, leading to the need for specialized adaptations including deep roots that can access ground water, leathery (sclerophyllous) leaves that reduce water loss during photosynthesis, and summer dormancy (drought deciduousness) in many of California’s native plants. Even with these adaptations, by the end of a hot, dry summer, plants across Southern California have seriously low levels of water in their tissues. This is when our plants are the most susceptible to fire, hence the concept of a “fire season” associated with post–dry season
conditions that often happen to coincide with high winds that originate in hot deserts and valleys.
Over the last few years, California has experienced a phenomenon described in the literature as “hydroclimate volatility,” referring to the seesaw patterns in rainfall we’ve experienced. Another more colorful term that is being used to describe this concept is “whiplash” (Swain et al., 2025, 3550). In 2023 and early 2024, California experienced tremendous precipitation years, but by the summer of 2024, the rain spigot seemed to turn off. This past June through December 2024 were extremely hot and dry, and the abundant growth resulting from two wet years suddenly dried up (Madakumbura et al., 2025).
This phenomenon seems partly driven by the fact that warm air has a higher capacity for holding moisture than cooler air. As our climate warms, the atmospheric “sponge” can hold, and eventually release greater quantities of precipitation. The result is that California and other locations worldwide are likely going to experience unpredictable periods of extreme wet, followed by extreme heat and dryness. In these times, we can expect our fire seasons to be commensurately mild or extreme, depending on which part of the seesaw we are experiencing (Swain et al., 2025, 1-4).
As if this uncertainty and instability weren’t enough, the steady march of habitat conversion due to
resource extraction and development has changed both fire frequency and impacts in our region. According to Denise Knapp, Ph.D., director of conservation and research at the Garden, “In much of Southern California, humans have increased the fire frequency beyond natural levels, and this can lead to a complete conversion to invasive, nonnative grasses, which has terrible consequences for the web of life.
Home Hardening
So, where do we go from here? As fire sits top of mind and many of us are beginning to prepare for another year of native plant gardening in California, what are the steps we should take to ensure biodiversity, create a sense of place, and proactively protect our communities?
Evidence from the last several decades suggests that there are some key steps homeowners can take to minimize the potential for catastrophe in the event of a wildfire. This begins with an approach that starts from the home (or other structure) and works outward. The concept of home “hardening,” or resistance to fire, is one we should all consider immediately. And it starts with an understanding of how our homes might catch fire to begin with. Contrary to the common image of a sea of flames engulfing our homes during a wildfire, most houses will ignite from embers carried by the wind. Those embers may land in a compromised part of the structure and start a blaze from that point of weakness.
California’s native plants are adapted to fire and are likely to recover vigorously if burned. Here, we see a time series of how an area on the Pritchett Trail in Santa Barbara
2009 (Photo: John Wardlaw)
2011 (Photo: Archives)
According to Matthew Caliguire from Allen Construction — a local builder in Santa Barbara who has employed fire-wise design for both new construction and rebuilds after wildfire — these are the most important things homeowners can do right now:
1. Check your roof, gutters, and vents
a. Install or inspect vent covers (1/8-inch [3 millimeter] metal mesh) to prevent embers from entering attics and crawl spaces
b. Ensure your roof is made of fire-resistant materials (metal, tile, asphalt shingles rated Class A)
c. Clear debris: Clean gutters and roof valleys of leaves and pine needles
d. Install gutter guards: Prevent debris build-up with metal guards
2. Inspect for and seal gaps
a. Siding, decking, and eaves are the common locations where embers can get stuck
b. Use fire-resistant caulk, paint, or weatherstripping to seal openings
3. Have an emergency plan
a. Keep a fire extinguisher accessible and verify it is fully charged
b. Check hoses are long enough to reach all parts of the property
c. Review your emergency evacuation plan and have important items ready
As we think about how our landscapes might impact fire behavior on our properties, it’s useful to consider the defensible space zones that are outlined by state and county ordinances. In areas mapped as “high fire risk,” the county fire department will perform inspections annually. But regardless of your fire-risk designation (found on your county fire department’s website), it’s not a bad idea to consider these zones:
Zone 0
The first zone outward from a structure is Zone 0, which extends 0 to 5 feet (1.5 meters) from the structure. Here, the recommendation is to limit plant materials and eliminate plant-based mulches to suppress potential for materials to catch fire and send embers into the structure. Mineral soil, gravel, and other nonflammable substrates are the recommended treatment here. If the thought of not having plants within 5 feet (1.5 meters) of your house is unbearable, you could consider container plantings of succulents (Dudleya spp., Sedum spp., or members of the Family Cactaceae), annual wildflowers, or small herbaceous perennials.
Zone 1
Past 5 feet (1.5 meters), Zone 1 begins, extending to about 30 feet (9 meters) from the structure. In Zone 1, plants are welcome, but their size and spacing become critical factors to consider. The recommendation is to keep it “lean, mean, and green” (Defensible Space | CAL FIRE, n.d.).
Barbara Botanic Garden has recovered after the Jesusita Fire of 2009.
2018 (Photo: Scot Pipkin)
2025 (Photo: Scot Pipkin)
Zones 2 through 4
Zone 2 is the next defensible space zone, at 30 to 100 feet (9 to 30.5 meters) from the home. Zone 3 is the “access zone,” a space that is maintained to give emergency responders clear access to your property. Some references also talk about Zone 4, community areas and rights-of-way.
Defensible space literature is abundant and growing. There is neither room in this article or in the author’s brain to effectively convey the extensive literature on the subject. However, some recommended reading can be found at the Santa Barbara County Fire website, through the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council, and in the California Chaparral Institute’s “From the House Outward” document. The book “Firescaping: Protecting Your Home With a Fire-Resistant Landscape” by Douglas Kent is also a handy reference.
Emerging Research in Plant Flammability
Max Moritz is a regional fire specialist with University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources; adjunct professor at University of California, Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management; and board member at the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council. For the last couple of years, he and his lab have been conducting experiments to better understand how fire impacts California’s native plants. Some of these experiments involve clipping living branches off plants from
multiple sites (including specimens from the Garden) and burning them in an experimental chamber.
The researchers then measure time to ignition, duration of flames, flame height, etc., which can be compared to plant characteristics such as hydration level, leaf density, and amount of volatile organic compounds. While it’s easy to romanticize how this research might soon lead to guidelines for landscaping and gardening in fire country, Max was quick to tell me, “It’s still quite difficult (and risky) to generalize.” That said, it does appear that some patterns are emerging. For one, it seems that plants with deeper roots might have access to moisture during the driest times, making them less susceptible to ignition than shallow-rooted plants. One example of a deeperrooted plant is lemonade berry (Rhus integrifolia). This is not a panacea or “silver bullet” plant, but lemonade berry does exhibit some promising characteristics of a more fire-resistant plant.
In terms of plants to absolutely avoid, Max says, “Some key [species] such as Italian cypress and many palms, are probably good to avoid in nearly all circumstances.” Since most of those are nonnative plants, the Garden wouldn’t recommend them anyway. So, if you have Italian cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) or palms, including the native California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera) on your property, you might want to assess those choices.
While the Eaton Fire was still burning, crews worked to remove hazardous material surrounding homes they were working to protect. With thoughtful design and maintenance, around their homes, allowing firefighters to focus resources on containing active fire zones. (Source: Pacific Southwest Region of U.S. Forest Service)
As this research continues and Max’s lab tests the flammability of more plants, we will glean even more information about the characteristics that contribute to a plant’s flammability. Organizations like the Garden will be working with research teams to identify native plants and horticultural varieties to test so we can have more accurate information for concerned residents.
Fire-Wise Maintenance
“Gardening is a relationship.” This is a refrain I have frequently been discussing with Alejandro Lemus, horticultural educator at the Garden. Regarding wildfire, the relationship you have with your landscape can be crucial. As noted above, considering the location spacing of plants is important for managing embers flying toward your home. How you maintain your plants can be equally important. Supplemental watering during a dry fall/winter could bolster your plants through the dry season. Additionally, plants with less interior dead material and more open shapes due to pruning may also reduce the potential ember production near a home. Bear in mind that denuding your plants will diminish their value for bird nesting and other ecological benefits, so exercise judgement when maintaining your landscape and favorite plants. When gardening for fire safety, the most important tasks are to use the defensible space guidelines, space your plants appropriately, and maintain your plants to keep them hydrated and largely free of dead material or overly dense growth.
As always, thinking about the seasonality of your garden is going to be a big part of your relationship with the plants. Consider whether you are able to install plants whose seasonality aligns with maintenance for fire safety. Plants such as bush sunflower (Encelia californica), Coulter’s Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri), elderberry (Sambucus spp.), and deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens) can all be pruned back significantly in late summer as soil moisture decreases and plants get more stressed and susceptible to ignition.
Beyond building a relationship with our own gardens, there are plenty of things we can do to advocate for more fire-wise planning in our communities. As Eric Cárdenas, the Garden’s director of impact and advocacy, says, “We should all be working with our elected officials to find ways to incentivize or subsidize the implementation of [fire-wise] practices. When fire prevention strategies are designed to displace native plant ecosystems, including the chaparral ecosystems that dominate much of Southern California, we are using up precious financial resources that detrimentally impact native habitat while simultaneously throwing money at a ‘solution’ that really doesn’t work.”
Ever Grateful, Ever Vigilant
As I sit in Mission Canyon, typing these words, I’m keenly aware that my lucky streak with fire might not last forever. The right (or wrong) combination of weather and human activity could turn everything upside down. Moreover, it’s tough to stomach that a wind-driven fire could still have devastating effects, despite my best efforts to be fire-wise. While the weight of that reality is certainly unnerving, it’s also galvanizing to know that I’m in a community that takes wildfire seriously and that there are simple steps I can take today which might save me from catastrophe in the future. Now, onward to check my home’s eaves and do some maintenance on Zones 0 and 1. O
CITATIONS
Defensible Space | CAL FIRE. (n.d.). Cal Fire. Retrieved April 22, 2025, from https://www.fire. ca.gov/dspacehttps://www.fire.ca.gov/dspace
Madakumbura, G., Thackeray, C., Hall, A., Williams, P., Norris, J., & Sukhdeo, R. (2025, January 13). Climate Change a Factor in Unprecedented LA Fires. UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge. https://sustainablela.ucla.edu/2025lawildfires
Swain, D. L., Abatzoglou, J. T., Albano, C. M., Brunner, M. I., Diffenbaugh, N. A., Kolden, C., Prein, A. F., Singh, D., Skinner, C. B., Swetnam, T. W., & Touma, D. (2025). Increasing Hydroclimatic Whiplash Can Amplify Wildfire Risk in a Warming Climate. Global Change Biology, 31(2), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70075
Swain, D. L., Prein, A. F., Abatzoglou, J. T., Albano, C. M., Brunner, M., Diffenbaugh, N. S., Singh, D., Skinner, C. B., & Touma, D. (2025, January). Hydroclimate Volatility on a Warming Earth. Nature Reviews: Earth & Environment, 6, 35-50. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-024-00624-z
maintenance, homeowners can reduce the amount of hazardous vegetation
From the Archives: The Hidden Work Behind the Garden
By Hannah Barton, Archivist
As a member or visitor at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, you are likely very familiar with our grounds and the tremendous care that goes into maintaining this living museum. But did you know we also have a wealth of behind-the-scenes digital assets, such as photos and plant records? The Garden staff manage and curate these assets to aid in the important work we do on and off the grounds.
There is an incredible amount of time and effort that goes into maintaining these digital collections, and much of this work would not have been possible without federal funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
Empowering Growth Through Federal Funding
The IMLS was founded in 1996 as an independent federal agency with the mission to support and empower museums and libraries across the country. Through grant-making, the IMLS supplies funding on an annual basis to institutions like the Garden that demonstrate a need to advance collections development and access, as well as champion lifelong learning and strengthen community engagement.
The IMLS has been, up until recently, the primary source of federal funding of education and access programs for museums and libraries across the country. The Garden has been the lucky recipient of several grants from the IMLS over the last 20 years, which have been instrumental in developing educational programs, safeguarding our collections, and maintaining our plant records database.
The Garden’s History of IMLS Support
2005: The Garden received a $139,762 grant to fund educational materials and teacher training for the Lake Casitas Watershed Education Program, educating children in grades four through six about the importance of watershed ecology, the productive nature of watersheds, and associated crucial environmental issues.
2008 to 2011: In August 2008, the Garden, in partnership with the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, was awarded a two-year grant of nearly $150,000 from the IMLS. Recognizing that the Library’s important collection of historic photographs was vulnerable to loss or damage, insufficiently cataloged, and un-
derused, the IMLS supported our endeavor to digitize the collection and create a custom online database and gallery to properly catalog and efficiently access the images.
During the grant period, Garden staff and volunteers digitized tens of thousands of slides, pho tographs, and negatives, as well as processed a growing collection of born-digital photography, and continued to expand the database as the years went on.
2010: The Garden was awarded a two-year grant from the IMLS of nearly $150,000 to map the trees and shrubs in living collections using GIS technology. Before this project, planting locations were recorded only as being within a 50x50 foot (15x15 meter) grid, which made individual plants difficult to locate.
2021 to 2023: The IMLS funding helped us to hire for the role of living collections curator and modernize our plant records database.
Building Our New Digital Archive
Most recently, in August 2024, the Garden was awarded a three-year grant from the IMLS to develop a new digital asset management system with the aim of making our educational and archival resources available on demand and free of charge to everyone. This tool will provide public access to the Garden’s extensive archive of tens of thousands of native plant photos, 20 oral histories of the Garden and its surroundings, and Garden publications, such as Dara E. Emery’s “Seed Propagation of Native California Plants” and past issues of Ironwood. Receiving such an award from the IMLS is an incredible honor and will further the Garden’s mission by connecting the public with 100 years of botanical expertise through this new web-based interface. Unfortunately, a wrench has been thrown into the works. The Garden has just received a termination of award letter, due to the current administration’s recent dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
For the last eight months, the Garden staff have been working internally and with partners to develop the infrastructure to support our new Digital Archive. At the time of this writing, we have almost completed our website and backend systems development. However, the loss of funding to this project means that we may not be able to maintain any updates to the existing framework, jeopardizing the public accessibility of the system and its contents. The Garden is fortunate to have a committed team of staff, Board of Trustees, and supporters like you who will help us weather this challenging period. Now more than ever, your support of small, mission-driven nonprofits that align with your values means that projects like ours can have a lasting impact on our community now and into the future. If you are looking for other ways to get involved, it is vital that we raise awareness about how decisions made at the federal level are affecting local organizations’ abilities to meet their missions, and we encourage you to contact your elected officials if you are concerned with these activities. O
Clock-wise from top left: Map from “Guide to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden,” 1939; Elisabeth Moore Hallowell Saunders, “Hedge Hog Cactus,” watercolor, circa 1900; Santa Barbara Botanic Garden postcard, 1975
The Giving Guide
At Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, everyone has different priorities and different ways they choose to give back to their community, which is why we have a variety of opportunities for you to make an impact.
Beyond traditional cash donations, here are a few popular giving options to consider that are mutually beneficial. This means by choosing one of these giving methods, you can make your gift go even further than with cash alone. We encourage you to consult with your financial advisor or tax professional to better understand the benefits specific to your circumstances.
Gifts of Stocks or Appreciated Assets:
If you own securities or other assets that have appreciated in value, gifting these to the Garden can provide significant tax advantages. When you transfer stocks or assets, you may avoid capital gains taxes and receive a charitable deduction for the full, fair market value of your gift.
Grants from Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs):
If you have a DAF, you can recommend a grant to the Garden. This allows you to receive an immediate tax deduction when you contribute to the DAF and then grant funds to the Garden over time. This is an efficient, sustained way to both manage your giving and support the Garden’s mission to conserve native plants and habitats.
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs):
If you are 70½ years old or older, you can give up to $100,000 from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) directly to a qualified charity such as the Garden without paying income taxes on the contribution. This method, also known as a QCD, can satisfy your required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year.
Every gift, be it big or small, supports the Garden’s ongoing conservation, education, and horticulture programs. With your support, we’re creating a world where nature thrives and our children and grandchildren can revel in the wonders of a rich and diverse ecosystem.
As a cherished member of the Garden community, we are grateful for your generosity in whatever form it takes. Thank you for considering the Garden in your planned annual giving.
Please hold on to this as a guide for your future giving. For more details on how you can help further our mission, please visit us at SBBotanicGarden.org/support.
Welcome, Seniors
We invite those 60 and better to enjoy a day in the Garden — for free — thanks to our generous sponsor.
Join us on one of our upcoming dates. Reservations are required.
June 25 | August 13 | October 8 | December 10
Sponsored By
The Budding Botanist: Get To Know the Soil at Your Site
By Michelle Cyr, Youth and Family Programs Manager
Sand, Silt, Clay — Oh My!
Soils, like plants, are complex, with no single way to treat them. Getting to know your soil is one of the first steps to better understand how to grow a native garden that’s ideal for your space. Soils can be made up of three types of particles, each with different effects on a soil’s properties.
Sandy Soils: Larger particles that allow water to easily drain. Gritty. Good aeration. Generally low ability to hold nutrients.
Clay Soils: Small particles that retain water and nutrients. Sticky when wet. Easily compacted.
Silty Soils: Medium particles that are in between sandy and clay soils for water drainage and aeration. Smooth when wet.
Soil Texture Test
The amount of sand, silt, and clay your site has can dramatically impact the types of plants that will thrive in your garden. Follow these steps to perform a simple soil texture test for your garden:
Materials
• Clear jar with lid
• Dish soap
• Water
• Ruler
Steps
1. Collect Soil Sample: Fill roughly one-third of jar with soil, being sure to collect from underneath leaf litter or mulch and to remove or sift out large debris
2. Add Water and Soap: Fill the rest of the jar with water and add a few drops of dish soap
3. Shake Well: Close the jar tightly and shake vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes
4. Let Settle: Let jar sit undisturbed for 24 hours
5. Check Layers: After settling, you should see three distinct layers, with clay composing the topmost layer, silt in the middle, and sand at the bottom
6. Measure Particles: Use a ruler to measure the height of each layer, and then calculate the percentage of sand, silt, and clay
Understanding your soil is one of many ways you can enhance your gardening skills to best determine the right plants for your place.
To learn other ways to better understand your soil and site, check out Stephanie Ranes’ article “An Ode to Soil: My Journey With Dirt” on page 3 or visit the Garden’s “Get Horticulture’d” playlist on YouTube at https://bit.ly/42Y4cHg. O
Above: Here’s a test of soil textures at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. (Photo: Michelle Cyr)
Opposite: Volunteer or join a class to learn more about your soil type and the best native plants for it. (Photo: Greg Trainor)
Field Notes: Poetry Inspired by the Garden
By David Starkey, Founding Director of Santa Barbara City College’s Creative Writing Program and Gudrun Bortman, Garden Designer, Artist, and Poet
As a frequent guest of Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, I have spent many afternoons on a bench with my notebook. I listen to the birds, watch lizards or other wildlife scurry across the trails, enjoy the laughter of families strolling by, or just sit in awe of the resplendence of the landscapes. The Garden is a special place for so many. That’s why I wanted to help showcase native plants through the art of poetry. Since 2021, I’ve had the pleasure of highlighting in each Ironwood issue one poet who, like me, also finds inspiration in nature and around the Garden.
RefugeThe meadow greets me, tugs to hold me spellbound
In her poppy gold, burst of Bee’s Bliss sage— but today I search for the modest dwellers: that single Blue Eyed Grass lifting its head into the oak’s speckled shade.
Autumn Glow Manzanita’s tiny white bells, pink-frosted berries, St. Catherine’s Lace, rivaling fog.
Out here in this offgarden the main trodden path they share their shy beauty and scent, soothe my mind, oasis in this most turbulent time. — Gudrun Bortman
In this issue, I’m excited to introduce Gudrun Bortman. Finding her way to the U.S. from Germany in her 20s, Gudrun’s appreciation of language and reading led to her love of poetry. Her poems have been published in various journals and anthologies, including Sukoon literary journal, San Pedro River Review, and Gunpowder Press. She currently lives in Santa Barbara, and when she is not writing, she is a garden designer and artist. Her poem, “Refuge,” is a tribute to California’s native plants and the beauty so many of us find in the Garden — a special place of refuge. I hope you enjoy. O
In one of her favorite spots in Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Gudrun Bortman stops to show us around the Manzanita Section.
(Photo: Greg Trainor)
You can catch the tiny blooms of blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) throughout Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
(Photo: Dieter Wilken)
The Book Nook
“Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners”
James B. Nardi
“Life in the Soil” is an eyeopening book about the incredible biodiversity of an ecosystem we often overlook — our soils. As the title says, this is a great guidebook for gardeners and anyone interested in the natural world. Author James B. Nardi strikes a good balance between presenting technical information and storytelling, which makes the book approachable and interesting. The illustrations and graphics are helpful by illuminating the smallest organisms that I never knew existed. This book changed my whole understanding of soil and expanded my knowledge of the wonderful complexity of the natural world.
Recommended by Stephanie Ranes, Grounds Manager O
“The Life Impossible”
Matt Haig
“Walk Through Walls: A Memoir”
Marina Abramović
Seamlessly weaving mystery, magic, and self-discovery, retired math teacher Grace Winters leaves her quiet life in England for an unknown future in Ibiza after a surprise inheritance. From the moment she arrives, she discovers the people and places around her aren’t what they seem and neither is she. As her journey unfolds, her story teaches about new beginnings, resilience, and hope. As Grace connects with others along her journey, she discovers that resilience often grows through the support and new connections she creates. Uplifting and evocative, “The Life Impossible” is a gentle reminder that nature and human connection can guide us — even when we think it’s too late — toward purpose and peace.
Recommended by Jaime Eschette, The Gerry Rubin Director of Marketing and Communications O
Marina Abramović’s autobiography is a raw, immersive journey — from her childhood in post-war Yugoslavia to her compelling Museum of Modern Art performance (with over 750,000 people lining up to witness it). A pioneer of performance art, Marina invites audiences to slow down, embrace discomfort, and engage deeply with the present moment. That same kind of attentiveness is what nature — and especially plants — quietly asks of us. To stop. To observe. To be still. Her work reminds us that transformation often comes through patience and presence, a lesson that mirrors the way we can connect more deeply with the natural world. “Walk Through Walls” is a memoir you never want to put down. It is a catalyst for changing the way you view not only art but also day-to-day life.
Recommended by Sam Vanderford, Events and Marketing Associate O
“Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark”
Leigh Ann Henion
Throughout this book, Leigh Ann Henion takes readers into the quiet and often overlooked world of nighttime. With thoughtful writing and a curious mind, she explores how darkness can change the way we see nature — and ourselves. Leigh Ann shares moments from firefly-filled woods to peaceful, starlit skies, showing how night can be both calming and surprising. Her mix of personal stories and natural observations makes the book feel reflective and open. Rather than fearing the dark, Leigh Ann encourages us to see it as meaningful and full of life. “Night Magic” offers a gentle push to slow down, look up, and find value in the hours after sunset.
Recommended by Liz Raffensperger, Events and Marketing Project Manager O
Make Protecting Your Habitat a Habit
Become a member today to support the Garden’s mission to conserve native plants and habitats throughout California.
Membership Benefits
– Digital membership card to expedite check-in at the Garden and for reserved parking.
– Two one-time-use guest passes.
– Reciprocal benefits to over 345 gardens and arboreta nationwide.
– Advance registration and reduced fees on classes, field trips, lectures, and special events.
– 10% discount at the Garden Nursery and Shop, as well as at other participating local nurseries.
– Mailed subscription to the Garden’s biannual Ironwood magazine and monthly Garden Gazette e-newsletter.
BECOME A GARDEN ADVOCATE
Membership
Individual: $95
Includes year-round admission for one individual.
Dual: $125
Includes year-round admission for two adults.
Family: $155
Includes year-round admission for two adults and up to five named dependent children or grandchildren under 18.
ADD-ONS FOR MEMBERSHIPS
Add Plus One: $30
Includes admission for one individual (not named) on each visit in addition to named members.
Add Dog Friendly: $30
Additional donation to support a dog-friendly Garden and includes a branded doggie bandana.
For $35 a year you can help support the Garden and stay up-to-date on events and research. Includes mailed biannual Ironwood magazine and monthly Garden Gazette e-newsletter.
Does not include admission to the Garden or other benefits listed above.
Scan to become a member.
Philanthropic Tiers
GUILD
Wildflower: $250
Includes all of the benefits of a membership, plus admission for one guest each visit. Also get six one-time-use guest passes, branded Garden tote bag, and free 1-gallon native plant from our Nursery.
Ironwood: $500
Includes the benefits listed under Wildflower, plus eight one-time-use guest passes and one free education class for two.
CIRCLE Manzanita: $1,000
Includes all benefits listed above, plus 10 one-time-use guest passes, two free guests per visit, physical cards sent in the mail, and invitations to Circle exclusive events.
Sycamore: $2,500
Includes all benefits listed above, plus 15 one-time-use guest passes.
Redwood: $5,000
Includes all benefits listed above, plus 20 one-time-use guest passes.
CORPORATE
Spending time in nature improves productivity and promotes improved mental health — even a few minutes a day can make a big difference.
Give your employees access to the Garden while supporting the conservation of native plants and habitats. We have several tiers of corporate membership available starting at $2,500. For more information, please email our membership office at membership@SBBotanicGarden.org.
Give Today
Whether you are a home gardener, hiker, teacher, or busy professional, the Garden’s programs help deepen connections to nature, ultimately ensuring its protection for the future. Will you join us in championing a better future for us all?
Leave a Legacy
Connect with us to learn how to include the Garden in your will and explore more resources to help you and your family plan for the future.
Make a Tribute or Memorial Gift
Honor a loved one with a plant tribute or memorial bench.
Volunteer
Whatever your motivation, we welcome your talent and enthusiasm.
