Local Ecology: Why Native Plants Are Magical For Restoring Ecosystems
Local ecology is about remembering that every place carries its own history of life. It’s the study and care of the relationships that exist right where we stand, including the flora, fauna, and fungi.
So much of our landscapes today has been heavily altered, and the devaluing of traditional ecological knowledge has led us to a dominant culture that undervalues the living world around us. But how can we rebuild that wealth of knowledge by understanding the importance of local plants?
I am proud to release the second season of my independent web series, Teaching Climate Together. It has taken months, but it’s finally here.
I visited Theodore Payne Foundation to learn more about local ecology through the lens of native plants in Southern California. Theodore Payne Foundation (TPF) is a nonprofit organization that inspires and educates Southern Californians about the beauty and ecological benefits of California native plants.
Located on 22 acres of canyon land in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, the TPF headquarters includes a full-service nursery featuring native plants, seeds, and nature-themed books and merchandise. It also offers display gardens, wildland hiking trails, an art gallery, indoor and outdoor educational facilities, and extensive plant production areas.
Here’s what I learned with Amy Greenwood, the Executive Director of TPF. For decades, people have decided to ignore ecological knowledge. Southern California is a unique ecosystem surrounded by deserts, mountains, and oceans. The detriment of Southern California is that you can grow almost any type of plant, but that doesn’t always mean it’s good for the environment long-term. Today, the Southern California region has a variety of non-native plant species, such as the black mustard plant, which is considered invasive and is choking out other native plants.
Educating people on native plant species is key to understanding how we can begin to build a climate-resilient future.
For decades, Californians have chosen to create green spaces for planting non-native species. Amy explained how people have developed plant blindness, a phenomenon where people often overlook their landscape and cannot identify native plants. In fact, if you think of native plants, most people would point out cacti or succulents. As someone who grew up in Southern California, I also have trouble identifying native plant species.
But this isn’t to blame the Americans; instead, it examines the cultural system of how grass lawns were popularized in American homes throughout the 1950s and 1960s as a symbol of uniformity and perfection. Lawns are convenient and they don’t intrude on the human experience; it’s almost like a carpet, but they don’t provide habitat for species. And so much of our culture today is wrapped around making things more convenient, even if it isn’t ecologically sound.
The good thing is that we have solutions ready for us, thanks to the power of Mother Nature. Planting native plants according to your region is essential, and researching what works in your area is important (HERE is a guide from TPF). Native plants are very particular, and with a little bit of research, you can find native plants that work in your area. There are rebates for removing your lawn.
When native plants are getting established, you have to water them, but as they continue to grow and develop, they will require minimal irrigation. So, in theory, while there must be an active effort to take care of the plant, the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term effort.
Following my journey, I spoke with Katie Tilford, Director of Development & Communication at TPF, where I learned some history of Theodore Payne. A naturalist icon was holding the popular fried egg flower (matilija poppy) in the image decades ago, only to find out that during the show, the same plants were blooming!
Theodore Payne was a horticulturist who saw native plants as special gifts. As Los Angeles became heavily developed through urbanization and agriculture from the 1910s to the 1930s, he lamented the loss of beautiful native flowers. He made it his mission to teach Californians to grow native plants in their gardens.
“Be a good Californian; be loyal to your own state and keep your landscape Californian, by planting trees from California.“ — Theodore Payne
After our history lesson, Katie showed me how to build my own native plant garden by giving me a tour of their nursery, where I learned about the variety of plants they sell. One way that the TPF sustains itself is by cultivating and growing saplings and plants to sell to Southern California residents. It’s a win-win situation for people who don't know where to start and for those who support local producers. One of my favorite plants that we saw blooming was the Fairy Lantern. It was hauntingly beautiful!
It wouldn’t be a tour without visiting TPF Seed Lab. There were seeds as old as the 1960s (before I was even born). Today, TPF maintains seeds as historical records, but also of the botanists, naturalists, and conservationists, + people who did this work.
Genevive Arnold, Seed & Conservation Program Manager at TPF, explained to me that the organization has a hybrid seed bank. Noting medium seed storage, which is refrigerated storage, long-term storage, which is frozen storage, and short-term storage, which is ambient room temperature. The seed bank addresses multiple needs, from long-term conservation storage to short-term use for plantings at the nursery.
I was quite surprised to see the abundance of beautiful native plants in the Southern California region. You’ll have to tune in to the full episode to learn more that is covered, but this is just the start of our new season!
I hope you enjoy this new season of Teaching Climate Together Season 2. We are always looking for people to help support these episodes. Supporting independent climate media is so important.
