Tracey Daschbach, member-at-large of the California Native Plant Society Orange County Chapter (OCCNPS), is featured in today’s article compiled by Thea Gavin.

A person of many talents (software engineer, full-time parent, Braille Institute librarian, UCI Herbarium volunteer, nature-inspired textile artist), Tracey shares her skills with our chapter in many areas: E-newsletter lead, plant sales, A Sage in Every Garden campaign, membership administration, outreach, garden tour support, technology assistance, and promotional materials creator to name a few. 

Here are some of Tracey’s insights into her past, present, and future with California native plants:

Past

How did you get interested in plants in general, native plants in particular?

I grew up in La Mirada, California, where my parents moved from Minnesota after WWII. They both grew up with a lot of nature around them: mother in the woods around Lake Superior, father on a farm south of the Twin Cities.

Our La Mirada home was on an acre and surrounded by open fields. This is where I learned of the beauty of outdoor exploring, playing, working the soil, and general good hard work and fun. 

Early on I decided to plant a vegetable garden in an area that had been a horse corral. It was a lot of work since those majestic creatures were very successful at compacting the soil, but I succeeded! 

I also learned to just look. We had a small bamboo hut where I would spend hours just looking out at the world. It was a magical time and a childhood place that I wish all could experience.

Besides La Habra, I have lived in Fremont and currently in Costa Mesa. In all of these places I have tried to develop a yard of my own, with many successful vegetable crops, but very few successes with general landscaping. Finally, I figured out the problem: watering was something that I had a difficult time with. I knew it was a waste of an important resource to just have a lawn or water-loving plants, so as you can guess, my plants would eventually die.

About that time I discovered the Theodore Payne Foundation’s garden tour and decided to look into this new-to-me world of California native plants. I spent a beautiful day seeing some gorgeous gardens. In 2014, I took a three-week course at Theodore Payne with Andreas Hessing. Andreas was an amazing teacher. One key idea of his was to spend time sitting and looking at your location to imagine what it could become. 

It took a year (of both imagining and hard work), but I was able to convert my front yard to mainly local native plants and have since converted the back yard as well. I love all times in my yard, but I believe mornings are the best. All is new as the plants, creatures, and I are waking up to another wonderful day.

As far as CNPS goes . . . I first went to an Orange County chapter meeting about 15 years ago. I don’t remember the subject, but it seemed way over my head. Even though I was overwhelmed, I did join at that time, but then let my membership lapse. After converting my yard to natives, I finally attended another meeting around six years ago. I’m sure I missed a lot, but now I’m so happy I have reengaged with OCCNPS. I just wish I had accepted my feelings of being overwhelmed at the beginning and kept going back after that original meeting.

Present

What native plant projects have been especially dear to your heart? 

For me, one of the most important native plant projects has been the transformation of my yard from a large lawn that was constantly dying (because I did not want to waste water on it) to a California native paradise!

I am also grateful for the day I put up my hand at a meeting to volunteer to help Rebecca Crowe in the UCI herbarium. That raised hand started me on a wonderful journey with OCCNPS— it has taken me to helping with plant sales/giveaways and membership, creating the eNews, and jumping into new projects such as creating postcards from our plethora of images.

The UCI herbarium is a special place, and being there is almost as calming as being outside in nature. Organizing and documenting the plants is very meditative, but I mostly love mounting the plant vouchers. It’s an amazing process to open up the folds of an old newspaper and find a beautiful plant inside—a plant that someone took great care to arrange so that it could safely make the long trip from the ground to the table in front of me. I can’t help but greet each plant with a “Oh, hello there little one,” or “My, my what am I going to do with you?” as I unfold the newspaper protecting each specimen.

Do you have any native plant “heroes” or mentors who shaped your interest in native plants?

There are so many heroes—I’m continually amazed at the knowledge of so many, their sharing of that knowledge, and their acceptance of the lack of knowledge of people like me. I’m lucky to be able to be associated with such positive people who share a passion for native plants.

What OCCNPS activities do you enjoy (and would encourage others to try)?

At plant sales, although I often default to others with more plant knowledge, I try to talk about how important native plant “way stations” are for biodiversity. At meetings I am no longer overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge, and now I just enjoy listening. Very often, later, a light will go off—“Oh, that is what [the expert] was talking about.”

During chapter hikes, I love that we often take a couple of hours to walk only a mile because people are pointing out the smallest things as they share experiences, knowledge, and laughter. One of my favorite memories was when someone on a hike was trying to point out a small frog and said, “There it is, in the shadow of my finger.” I loved that term so much that I now use the “shadow of my finger” to point things out when I can’t touch them.

Any other favorite native plant activities?

I like to play with various forms of textile art and get inspiration from my yard and nature. My family gets a great kick from me squatting in front of tiny plants to take a look and a photograph, and then forgetting to take photos of the people that I’m with. I think they just need to go on some hikes with OCCNPS.

What is one thing you have learned about native plants that you didn’t know when you started this journey?

I never realized just how much nature I can bring into my yard. My mornings of solitude in my yard are magical as I watch Chunky, a fat fence lizard, basking on a rock; spiders taking flies to their nest; hummingbirds on their territorial fly-bys; and Cooper’s hawks screeching (especially when the baby is out of the nest but still wants a parent to feed it!).

Future

Goals and future plans?

I would love to see our OC chapter continue to grow. There are so many wonderful people that are supporting our world in so many ways – research, teaching, financial support, advocacy. 

Although my Costa Mesa yard is now mostly native, I will be moving and look forward to learning about the native plants of Colorado and how to garden in a different climate.

Any final words?

Ask questions, take chances. I had been trying to grow manzanita in my front yard, but two of them died. Then I planted Salvia clevelandii and it is thriving. Also, just enjoy the sounds and scents of sitting and being in your location with the birds, bugs, lizards, and insects . . . in time they will consider you part of their world and will start to scurry, fly, and buzz by you.