This is the second in an ongoing series of interviews with board members serving on the Orange County Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (OCCNPS). Guest feature editor Thea Gavin asked the following questions of Elizabeth Wallace, President of OCCNPS.

Before her election as President, Elizabeth served as OCCNPS Newsletter Editor, Recording Secretary, and as team lead of two campaigns to give away 2,000 buckwheat and 2,000 sage plants to Orange County homeowners. She also writes this blog about gardening with native plants. In her spare time, she creates art about nature. You can see samples of her artwork here.

Can you share a formative native plant memory from your childhood or CNPS/adulthood?

My husband and I left Iowa and moved to an apartment in Santa Ana in 1987. The Iowa landscape was mostly farmland, and the native prairie had been almost eliminated, so I had no experience or knowledge of native plants.

A year after arriving in California, we moved to Portola Hills, a new tract development near the foothills of Trabuco Canyon. I was curious about the trees and vegetation growing nearby.

I asked everyone I met, “What type of trees grow here? Are they deciduous?” But the people I met couldn’t answer my questions.

My curiosity about nature and my desire to help the environment led me to Saddleback College, where I began to study Natural History of Southern California, Biology, Mathematics, and Environmental Science.

Studying natural history, taking field trips with classes, and hours spent hiking in wilderness parks instilled in me a deep love of California native plants.

But I also felt terrible when I watched bulldozers knock down mature oaks as they prepared Portola Hills for more development. I witnessed hillsides full of native plants disappear as the natural lands were graded for Foothill Ranch.

Seeing this inspired me to become a community organizer to try to prevent further harm to the environment.

Can you list a native plant-related-thing that you would like to be remembered for?

My relationships with OCCNPS board members, botanists, and friends gave me the support I needed to reach out to Lauri Burns of The Teen Project and offer to install a native plant garden at the former Boy’s Town site in Trabuco Canyon in 2019.

The Teen Project purchased the abandoned and vandalized 12-acre site in late 2018 to shelter and provide rehabilitation to women who have been trafficked and are subject to homelessness.

I emailed Burns after I read about the purchase of the property in the LA Times. I suggested that it might be healing for the residents to be surrounded by natural plants. She agreed.

While The Teen Project rehabilitated the homes, we rehabilitated the landscape.

Today, Vera’s Gardens is a thriving native botanical garden that surrounds the women as they receive the support they need to get back on their feet. I work with the residents on Wednesday mornings—we created haiku poems about the garden that we displayed on the butterfly garden archway.

What native-plant related ideas/projects are you working on right now?

I continue to work with my Oak Tree Gang of volunteers at Vera’s Gardens to maintain the grounds and make improvements.

I also chair the Portola Hills II HOA landscape committee. The HOA has 790-homes and many acres of common area land. I advise the board regarding the installation of native plants and trees, as well as some horticultural shrubs as appropriate. You can find more information about how you can help your HOA install native plants here.

Drawing attention to invasive plants in our public spaces is another a passion of mine. I recently began to document invasive plants in my city and surrounding neighborhoods with geotagged photos on Calflora, and then notified local Public Works about the invasive plants growing on City (or County land). City and County Public Works departments in Orange County are very responsive and helpful, and will let you know if the land is privately or publicly owned.

You can find more information about how you might help with invasive plants on public land here.

I enjoy designing with native plants in my home landscape. Because I live in an HOA and serve as landscape chair, my front garden must be evergreen and elegant to appeal to people who are unfamiliar with native plants. I love to experiment with native plants in the garden, watching them grow and change, and installing plants that are local to my hot inland garden.

For the past year, I have been fortunate to work together with the support of the OCCNPS board to create a coloring book about California native plants and animals. This beautiful book tells the stories of some of the most interesting native plants and animals in Southern California. The book will be published in the spring of 2025.

What are your goals for our chapter and/or the California native plant community at large?

When I first starting working with the OCCNPS board in 2017, Doug Tallamy’s research about the importance of native plants was just starting to become known. After hearing Tallamy speak, I understood that native plants are the foundation for the well-being of everything living on this earth.

Orange County has more than three million residents. I hope to to increase the public’s understanding of the importance of native plants through communication, relationship-building, and programming. My dream is to see California native plants become mainstream.

Any native plant “heroes” or mentors who shaped your interest in native plants?

Becoming more closely involved with members and friends of OCCNPS has enriched my life by creating connections that helped me expand beyond my own backyard. OCCNPS is filled with knowledgeable, gentle folks who are are scientists, land managers, naturalists, gardeners, designers, teachers, and native plant lovers who give their time to help the environment. I appreciate everyone who brings their skillset and knowledge to our organization.

Any brief tidbits of native plant wisdom you’d like to share?

Gardening with native plants can be a daunting task even for those of us who enjoy working in the garden. That’s why I first became a member of OCCNPS in 2011: I was looking for help and companionship as I experimented with installing native plants in my home and HOA landscapes.

I believe that many people are like me—they love California and the plants that grow here, but they have a difficult time installing and maintaining them in their garden. OCCNPS can’t be native garden designers for everyone, but we can help point people in the right direction.

As a member of OCCNPS, you support valuable scientific surveys, rare plant monitoring and conservation, invasive plant science and education, environmental education in our field trips, garden tours and general meetings, and grants for schools and students.

Being a member of OCCNPS helps make gardening with native plants possible. When you plant even a small percentage of native plants, bumblebees, butterflies, and birds will benefit. Plant it and they will come.