OCTOBER = Autumn = Time for Planting NATIVE PLANTS here in California

If you know me at all, you probably know that I'm a volunteer Habitat Steward and Host with the NWF (National Wildlife Federation) Backyard Wildlife Habitat program. {visit http://www.nwf.org/ for more information}


So knowing that, you might also know that if one is landscaping with native plants that are indigenous to their locale, there is a "right time" for planting those natives to give them the best chance at establishing in your garden. Here in Southern California, that time is ... NOW. Well, not NOW, not with this beastly heat ... but "now" as in "this season, as it cools down and we MIGHT just get some rain".

Consider this, which is one of my favorite quotes about nature, the outdoors, and children:

"Whatever landscape a child is exposed to early on, that will be the sort of gauze through which he or she will see all the world afterwards." -- Wallace Stegner

Isn't that a concise, poetic way of looking at things?

If that's not enough to sway you to garden with NATIVE PLANTS, wherever you may live, then I recommend you read Richard Louv's "LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder" -- visit his website at http://richardlouv.com/ for details.

For SO CAL information, you can visit one of my favorite sites: http://www.chirp.org/ ... based in Alpine, California, which was the very first COMMUNITY certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a COMMUNITY WILDLIFE HABITAT, C.H.I.R.P. promotes gardening for wildlife in a fantastic way.

Carry on, fellow travelers ... carry on ... always remembering to TREAD OH-SO-GENTLY.

-- D.