Native Gardener’s Corner-Member’s Tips, Tricks, and Techniques

Dan Songster, former president of the Orange County Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (OCCNPS), asked chapter members and local experts a question inspired by an interview by Fran Sorin with Ron Vanderhoff in her blog, Gardening Gone Wild in 2009. One question in that interview inspired Dan’s slightly altered version:

If you could make one wish about what gardening with California native plants would be like in a perfect world, what would it be?

Ron Vanderhoff-“For native plant gardening to be wildly cool and in vogue. In California especially, using native plants in our gardens and landscapes would be normal and mainstream. With that reality, native plants and the habitats they support, would be a cornerstone of our society. Gardeners are the greatest people on the planet, really; and native plant gardeners are the greatest of the greatest. We need more!”

Laura Curran-“My three wishes are as follows:

• 1. Develop/find more people who do maintenance who appreciate native plants. 
• 2. Find a source of interpretative materials on native plants which I could put in my garden. 
• 3. Cities and agencies would be motivated to use native plants as the primary landscaping medium, (consider Newport Beach Civic Center Park, which is 80 percent OC Coastal natives.) 

And right now, I would find a way to revive my buckwheat plant and make it more vigorous! “

Rama Nayeri-“In my perfect world, more contractors would educate themselves on California native plants. Far too often I’ve seen contractors not familiar with native plants, just unwilling to learn. They are more than happy to use the common cookie cutter, non-native alternatives.”

Bob Allen-“My one wish would be that people finally embrace the idea of ONLY planting California native plants for their spaces (perhaps allowing for a FEW non-native species that have been demonstrated to behave, i.e. they do not escape from cultivation).

Ok, I cannot resist a corollary: And that those humans enjoy the plethora of wildlife that visits those plants! For more information, see Bob’s article on pages 30-32 in CNPS’ Flora magazine.

Lori Reznick-“In a perfect world, hyper-local natives would be available at popular commercial retailers like Home Depot with printed planting guides and no Mexican Feather Grass available ever (!) — so the average neighbor weekend project would skew to help our planet.”

Mark Sugars-“In a perfect California, I would wish that gardening with locally native plants would be the only choice for ornamental landscapes.”

Sarah Jayne-“In the Dream World, every community would have a plant nursery outlet, each managed by a team of knowledgeable plantsmen and women, that supplied a full stock of vigorous local native plants, sourcing for rare or unusual natives, plus just enough of the “others” to keep the place in business.”

Terry LePage-“My wish would be that the low key beauty and dry-season dormancy of many natives would be understood and appreciated by mainstream gardeners and well-meaning people who want their gardens to look like Disneyland or lawn furniture.”

Leon Baginski-“In a perfect world I would not have to pull weeds and trim the dead stems of annuals and sweep the hardscape. I would also prefer to not have to dig the holes for the new plants in the yard. Everything else I’m good with.”

Greg Rubin-“I wish that folks would maintain an open mind regarding appropriately landscaping with natives. Unfortunately, just about everything we’ve been taught in Ornamental Horticulture seems expressly designed to kill native plants. Soil amendments, fertilizer, cardboard lasagna, ground-level soil saturation, etc. do nothing to promote the natural development of our complex, delicate, all pervasive soil ecology. Lean, clean, mean should be our mantra, because that’s why all the symbiotic soil biota evolved in the first place. Steady state, easy going, minimal disturbance will lead us all in that direction.”

Tina Cremer-“I would simply wish for sandy loam soil and a return to the [cooler] USDA Climate Zone 9.”

Nancy Harris-“I would like my neighbor’s front yard to be compatible with mine (California native plants). We are very close together without a wall between, and her shrubs are growing huge and encroaching on my tiny yard!”

Lori Whalen-“My wish would be that gardening with locally native plants simply became the norm. Imagine walking through your neighborhood and every yard reflecting the beauty and diversity of our local plant communities, each one different, yet all belonging to this place. Instead of seeing the same handful of imported plants over and over, we’d experience changing seasons, birds, butterflies, bees, and all the life that comes with native landscapes. I can picture myself walking my dog and enjoying not just my own garden, but the incredible variety of my neighbors’ gardens as well.” 

Alan Lindsay -”A sure-fire easy way to control weeds.”

Dan Songster-“While I would love it if the use and appreciation of our native flora increases in our many gardens and landscapes, I would hope that the wild edge of native plants never be lost. I am one who enjoys adding cultivars to certain landscapes, but I do not like the idea of repeated hybridization of our native plants to such a degree that they are overly “domesticated”.  Those might be easier to grow but some of their natural traits could eventually be dulled or lost–especially their interactions with our native pollinators. 

Also, I would like it if the stories of who found the plants, cultivated them, and made them accessible to us is not lost. I find the older plant pioneers are well documented, for example Mildred Mathias article about early botanical explorations in Southern California. But I am hoping that the native plant characters from the 1950’s onward are remembered as well. Think of all the folks who started small nurseries statewide, the educators at our colleges who promoted natives, and of course the many folks involved with California’s botanic gardens as well. 

Oh, and YES, being able to buy native plants locally at a native plant nursery, (as well as information and an inspiration hub), like Tree of Life Nursery–I miss it so much.”

Our question for our Sept/October 2026 newsletter is:  “Fall is in the air! What are the native plants you want to add to your garden this upcoming planting season?”