The Story Conclusion

Offender to Natives #18 Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana)
Originated in The Pampas, South America
With Chrysanthemum - not listed Offender, but not native
Originated Europe and Asia

Offender to Natives #13 Highway Ice Plant (Carpobrotus edulis)
 creeping up a bluff wall from roadside planting
Originated South Africa

The cycle passes through generations, until one day CURRENT RESIDENTS OF SAN DIEGO realize the natural areas we love don’t look quite right.  The eucalyptus blocks our view of the ocean.  The pokey, sticky, annoying seeds fill our socks on hikes. The PAMPAS GRASS HAS ESCAPED!  I REPEAT THE PAMPAS GRASS HAS ESCAPED and it is headed for the border of both MEXICO and CANADA with the ICE PLANT!! 

The current residents have a choice, TODAY IS OUR TIME:

Do we just LEAVE it like the INVESTORS?  “Ahh, those groves of Eucalyptus are fine.  We don’t need to take them down.  It is too hard anyways.  Nature will figure it out.”

Do we just REPLACE the plants like the BUILDERS with something else? Take a giant backhoe and strip it out.  Start over?  And what do we start over with?  Plants that grow FAST, plants that grow DENSE, plants that TAKE OVER and make the landscaping fee worth it?  But the plants take less water…  That would be the right thing?  RIGHT?

Do we add the EXOTIC PLANT du jour?  It isn’t on that silly invasive plant list yet….. 

Or do we NURTURE NATIVE?  Could we “care for and encourage the growth or development of” NATIVE PLANTS?  REPLACE INVASIVES with a native.  CHOOSE NATIVES for the empty spot in our landscaping. CULTIVATE NATIVES so they are readily available and others see just how great they are.  HOPE that over time the changes are meaningful.  We didn’t get here in one growing season.  How could we fix it in one growing season?

I am going to be NURTURING NATIVE!

(or I chose the wrong name for my blog)   

Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri)

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA Native