Native Plant Gardening in LA- Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) by Christina Zdenek

Native plants are basically those that were here before humans came. These plants evolved to fit this region, surviving in the local climate, rainfall, and soil type, therefore not requiring irrigation or fertilizers to survive. Other species of birds, lizards, bees, butterflies, etc. evolved to use the locally native plants in their region for food, shelter, and for nesting. This happy balance, however, was lost when modern society peoples decided to plant plants that were non-native and from a different region. The butterflies could no longer have their food host-plant for their caterpillar babies to eat, birds could no longer eat the strange and wrong-sized seeds of the new flowers, little bees could no longer find their little flowers, and the lizards no longer had insects to eat because the insects could not eat the leaves of the foreign plants. These native animals soon died out and mainly only survived in surrounding areas that still had the native vegetation remnants. BUT, we can turn back the clock on this mistake and encourage wild populations of wildlife in city outskirts to come back in and enrich our lives and that of our children. This can be done by planting locally native plants! And the more people that do this, the more connected the islands of native gardens in the city become. This video is an example of a one plant option that southern Californians can plant, but for those people living elsewhere, you can try asking your local native plant society or wildlife group where to source native plants for your garden. Lets all ask the Home Depots and Lowes to carry locally native plants in their plant section so that these plants are readily available for mainstream planting!