This year, for the first time, I had the privilege of watching our Annual Native Plant Garden Tour unfold from behind the scenes. Like a bud, the production of this extravaganza requires many months of careful arrangement and effort, all to burst into bloom as a fantastic two-day event featuring 34 native plant gardens scattered all across Los Angeles.
Saturday began with a kick-off at the Paul Koretz Westwood Greenway, a two-acre urban green space next to the Metro E line which has been landscaped entirely with native flora. Five years in, the garden is truly coming into maturity, providing lush greenery and a beneficial habitat for local creatures. I counted 15 monarch caterpillars on one milkweed plant alone!
In addition to providing beneficial habitat and beauty, the Greenway serves as an example of what we can build when we act in partnership. Speakers provided context about the project, extolling the value of an early bold vision and the need for persistence and patience during the inevitable twists and turns of planning and execution. It was clear that many kinds of talent are needed to bring a large neighborhood project to fruition, and we honored those who have shepherded it to where it is today.
Speakers from the Westwood Greenway project included: Former Councilman Paul Koretz, Senior Climate Strategist Andy Shrader, who was honored for his role in making the greenway happen, Westwood Greenway VP Charles Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy & Planning in the Office of the Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, Kristen Pawling, Executive Officer for Sustainability Policy at LA Metro Heather Repenning, Chief Sustainability Officer and Chief Resilience Officer at LA Sanitation & Environment Doug Walters, and Los Angeles Department of Public Works Commissioner Faith Mitchell.
For me, the highlights of the rest of the tour involved falling in love with yet another native plant, finding inspiration in the many ways that native gardens can be interpreted, and meeting many joy-filled tour-goers, docents, and hosts. There is something special that happens when people generously open their spaces to strangers, and then again when visitors graciously appreciate the efforts they have made. I’m glad the Theodore Payne Foundation can facilitate this interaction because it makes me proud to live in this city and be a part of this community.
Alas, it’s impossible to visit every location on the tour in a single weekend, so I still have many gardens I want to visit. Luckily, these can still be perused online at our tour website.
I am hugely grateful to the Theodore Payne community for rallying together yet again to pull off such an extraordinary event. Many, many thanks to all the hosts, docents, volunteers, and staff for months of work and planning, to our sponsors for making it all possible, and to all of you, our community, for showing up, sharing your joy, wonder, and attention.
You are the best.
(Oh, and for those interested, my new love is Sphaeralcea ambigua, also known also as desert globemallow or apricot mallow. The foliage is velvety and the spikes of bright orange flowers often provide napping spots for bees. So sweet!)
-Amy Greenwood