Ironwood | Magazine of Santa Barbara Botanic Garden | Issue 36
OF SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN
Editor-in-Chief: Jaime Eschette
Editor: Brie Spicer
Designer: Kathleen Kennedy
Staff Contributors: Hannah Barton; Sean Carson; Nazani Cassidy; Jaime Eschette; Jill Freeland; Charlotte Grenier; Manuel Hernandez; Holly Huff; Isabela Lima Borges, Ph.D.; Keith Nevison; Zach Phillips, Ph.D.; Heather Schneider, Ph.D.; Kevin Spracher; Eden Thorson; Chloe Tilton; Christina Varnava
Guest Contributors: Elaine Alarcon, David Starkey
Ironwood is published biannually by Santa Barbara Botanic Garden®.
As the first botanic garden in the nation to focus exclusively on native plants, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has dedicated nearly a century of work to better understand the relationship between plants and people. Growing from 13 acres (5 hectares) in 1926 to today’s 78 acres (31.5 hectares), the grounds now include more than 6 miles (over 9 kilometers) of walking trails, an herbarium, a seed bank, research labs, a library, and a public native plant nursery. Amid the serene beauty of the Garden, teams of scientists, educators, and horticulturists remain committed to the original spirit of the organization’s founders — to conserve native plants and habitats to ensure they continue to support life on the planet and can be enjoyed for generations to come. Visit SBBotanicGarden.org.
The Garden is a member of the American Public Gardens Association, the American Alliance of Museums, the California Association of Museums, and the American Horticultural Society.
Jaime Eschette, the Gerry Rubin director of marketing and communications
Jill Freeland, director of human resources
Denise Knapp, Ph.D., director of conservation and research
Keith Nevison, director of horticulture and operations
Melissa G. Patrino, director of development
Scot Pipkin, director of education and engagement
Steve Windhager, Ph.D., executive director
Diane Wondolowski, director of finance
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Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
On the cover: Endemic to the coastal interior mountains and valleys of California, the seeds of forked fiddleneck (Amsinckia furcata) come to life under the microscope, showing off their
(Photo: Rare Plant Team)
Letter From the Editor
One of my favorite quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson is, “A creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.” Every time I walk through Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, this thought lingers in my mind, reminding me of the immense potential packed into something as small as a seed. It’s astonishing to think that within each of these tiny vessels lies the possibility of entire landscapes — whole ecosystems waiting to unfold. It occurred to me that this idea is not just philosophical; it’s the driving force behind much of what we do here at the Garden. Because without seed, none of it is possible.
Seeds are something we engage with on a daily basis at the Garden. We think about seeds. We work with seeds. Our team is intimately familiar with the transformative potential of seeds! So, in this issue of Ironwood, we wanted to share our love and knowledge of these tiny wonders. Take Heather Schneider, Ph.D., and her team, who collect seed from deserts to mountain ranges to protect some of our rarest plants from extinction. Their work, beautifully captured in “Working in Service of Plants: Protecting California’s Rare Flora,” highlights their dedication to ensuring the survival of plant species found nowhere else in the world.
Our conservation work is about both the present and how we can shape the future. Keith Nevison highlights in “The Need for Seed: Navigating California’s Native Seed Supply Chain” the growing demand for native seed as climate change threatens plants and habitats. The recently launched California Native Seed Strategy, with input from our conservation director, Denise Knapp, Ph.D., is a big step forward in ensuring the seeds we need are available to safeguard our future.
Protecting and conserving the natural world, however, is not just about science — it’s also about fostering a connection. Kevin Spracher explores this in “Seeds of Wonder,” reminding us that curiosity is at the heart of conservation. Through exhibitions at the Pritzlaff Conservation Center, we blend art and science to inspire that sense of curiosity in our visitors, inviting them to see native plants not just as part of the landscape but as living stories of resilience and beauty.
And that sense of wonder extends to even the smallest creatures. In his quirky and insightful article, “Ants! At the Disc Golf Course,” Zach Phillips, Ph.D., uncovers the surprising role harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex spp.) play in seed dispersal. It’s a reminder that in nature, even the tiniest interactions have far-reaching consequences.
Throughout this issue, we also highlight the hands-on work of our horticulture team, such as in Christina Varnava’s “The Call of the Wild Walnut,” where we follow the team into the canopy to collect seeds from the Southern California black walnut (Juglans californica), a keystone species for restoring ecosystems. And in “Seed for Yourself,” Holly Huff shares practical advice for growing native plants at home, offering everyone a chance to be part of this movement.
As you read, I hope you’ll reflect on the power of small things. Just like that acorn holding the promise of a thousand forests, every native seed we plant is a step toward creating vibrant landscapes that will sustain all life on Earth — including each of us! And these articles are just the beginning. Join us at the 12th annual Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Conservation Symposium on February 8, 2025, as we continue to explore how seeds of change can foster conservation and resilience in our community and beyond.
Thank you for joining us on this journey and for your continued support of the Garden. Together, we’re growing something extraordinary — one native seed at a time — ensuring biodiversity not only survives but thrives for generations to come.
Let’s keep growing together.
Jaime Eschette Editor, Ironwood
Gerry Rubin Director of Marketing and Communications
The Budding Botanist: How To Grow California’s Native Plants From Seed to Sprout
By Manuel Hernandez, Rare Plant Nursery Technician
From the mightiest oaks (Quercus spp.) to the tiniest phacelias (Phacelias spp.), every flowering plant in California starts its journey as a seed. When you hold a seed in your hand, the outer layer you see is the seed coat. Think of this coat as a blanket that protects the living embryo until it’s ready to germinate. As plant propagators, our job is to figure out how to wake up the seed. How do we do that? The answer lies in the seed’s natural environment and sometimes the seed coat itself
At its heart, plant propagation is both an art and a science. Learn what you can from nature and don’t be afraid to experiment with new techniques. Sometimes you never know what will make plants thrive.
Tough Seeds
Some seeds have tough coats; this is the case for plants like mallows (Malacothamnus spp.) and milkvetches (Astragalus spp.). Germination can be stimulated by gently scratching seeds with sandpaper to create small openings that allow water to sneak in and kick-start germination.
Boiling water can also crack the seed coat and is often used for lupines (Lupinus spp.). Place the seeds in a heatproof container and pour boiling water over them, and then soak them for at least a few hours. Only do this method for seeds with the toughest coats, as boiling water can kill seeds without that thick protective layer.
Easygoing Seeds
Some seeds, like California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) and California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), are easy to grow. They have thin coats that allow water to reach the embryo and wake it up. Just sprinkle these seeds on soil, give them water, and watch them grow.
Left to right: California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) seeds; sowing California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)
Left to right: Mallow (Malacothamnus sp.) in bloom; scarification of mallow seed with sandpaper
Seeds That Love Cold Winters
Did you know that seeds can tell time? Some plants, like black sage (Salvia mellifera) and farewell to spring (Clarkia spp.), can detect California’s cold, wet winters and need that chill to germinate. You can mimic winter in the refrigerator by placing seeds in a plastic bag with damp perlite or a moist paper towel. Place the bag into the fridge for a minimum of two weeks and up to a few months before sowing the seeds
Seeds That Need Fire
Some of California’s plants have adapted to the state’s natural wildfire cycle and need heat or smoke to germinate. Showy penstemon (Penstemon spectabilis) and whispering bells (Emmenanthe penduliflora) need hot temperatures to germinate. You can imitate this by baking the seeds at a low temperature (170–200°F or 76–93°C) for 10 minutes. Seeds from plants like yerba santa (Eriodictyon spp.) or Matilija poppy (Romneya spp.), need the chemicals that wildfires release into the soil to germinate. You can re-create this by soaking seeds in a cup of water mixed with a few drops of liquid smoke (yes, the kind you use at a barbecue) for eight hours before sowing.
Sleepy Seeds
Some seeds, like mariposa lilies (Calochortus spp.) and Humboldt’s lilies (Lilium humboldtii), are especially sleepy and take several years to sprout in the wild. You can speed up this process by cycling them in and out of the fridge for two to four weeks at a time. This tricks them into thinking they’ve experienced multiple winters, waking them up faster. O
Left to right: Elegant clarkia (Clarkia unguiculata); cold storage of seeds in plastic bags
Left to right: Matilija poppy (Romneya sp.); liquid smoke process
Left to right: Humboldt’s lily (Lilium humboldtii); desert mariposa lily (Calochortus kennedyi var. kennedyi)
The Call of the Wild Walnut
By Christina Varnava, Living Collections Curator
Last fall, on sunny, forested hillsides, staff from the horticulture team at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden spent the day climbing trees. The shady dome of large leaves kept the sun from our eyes as we sought out our quarry: walnuts. The walnuts can be tough to spot earlier in the season when they are still cloaked in their green outer husk, but at this time of the year we found plenty of seed to collect. We came back to the Garden with paper bags filled with dozens of them. However, this was not a snack for hungry botanists. We were in the field seeking seed of the Southern California black walnut (Juglans californica) to cultivate and add to the Garden’s Living Collection.
Southern California black walnut is a close relative of the domesticated English walnut (Juglans regia), but it’s uniquely adapted for our Southern California landscape. The trees don’t become large, though they can be up to 30 feet (9 meters) tall, and they have a deep taproot that helps them access hidden underground water sources. They are also resilient to damage from wildfires and droughts and able to resprout from the crown of their roots. This allows them to quickly reestablish when the aboveground parts are damaged. A walnut seed is considered a nut, which botanically speaking is a type of fruit where the seed is contained in a hard outer shell that does not
Southern California black walnut (Juglans californica) fruits are covered by green husks. (Photo: Christina Varnava)
These dried Southern California black walnut (Juglans californica) fruits are still in the husk. (Photo: Christina Varnava)
pop open when mature. The Southern California black walnut is smaller than English walnuts with a harder shell, but the nuts are considered quite delicious.
For the Love of Fruits and Nuts
True to its common name, the Southern California black walnut is a species endemic to Southern California. It’s found on hillsides and canyons along the coast from Santa Barbara County south to San Diego County. This species is now threatened, but it was once widespread across the region, especially in the hills of Los Angeles County. Large stands of Southern California black walnut make up the Southern California black walnut woodland plant community. Black walnut woodland is a highly threatened and fragmented plant community that has been lost to development and widespread grazing across Southern California. There are still a few large stands of black walnut woodland, but today Southern California black walnut is often found as a component of oak (Quercus spp.) woodlands. Wherever it grows, Southern California black walnut is a keystone species that provides food and habitat for dozens of other species.
We were in the field to seek out walnuts to add to the Living Collection at the Garden, both to help conserve the species and specifically as part of a project to create “ex situ” (off-site) repositories of crop wild relatives (or CWR). This project was an initiative of the North American Fruit and Nut Tree Crop Wild Relatives Working Group and funded by Botanic Gardens Conservation International and the United States Botanic Garden. CWR are plant species that are closely related to those typically grown for food or other uses. CWR are wild cousins of our domesticated plants, just as wolves are the wild cousins of domesticated dogs. The species of plants used in agriculture have been cultivated and selectively bred by humans, sometimes over the course of thousands of years. These plants are desirable for various traits, such as larger fruits with smaller seeds. A classic example of this process is that a single plant species of wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea) was selectively bred by humans to create a multitude of different vegetables, including cabbages, broccolis, cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, kohlrabies, and kales. We have this artificial selection process to thank for almost every kind of delicious fruit or vegetable that you’d find at the farmers’ market or grocery store. The trade-off though is that these selectively bred plants have a smaller gene pool than their wild relatives. Because of that, they are less agile at adapting to new environmental stresses such as warming weather,
prolonged droughts, diseases, or different rainfall patterns. Anthropogenic climate change is here, and many scientists are concerned that the species that we rely on for food will not be well adapted to the new normal. California will continue to experience higher temperatures and dwindling groundwater supplies, and our crops will need to adapt.
Building Resiliency for the Future
One way that we can start to address this is through plant breeding. Researchers who hope to add resiliency and other traits back into the gene pool of important crop species can start by cross breeding them with their wild cousins. To do that effectively, researchers need access to reproductive material for these species, and that’s where botanic gardens come in. The living collections of botanic gardens can provide easily accessible material to use for cross breeding, which can help to create new, more resilient
Christina Varnava grabs walnuts like a squirrel. (Photo: Katie Miller)
varieties of crop plants that are better adapted to our changing climate.
The most practical way to conserve the genetics of fruit and nut species ex situ is as a part of the living collection of botanic gardens, like the one at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. This is for a variety of reasons. First of all, because fruit and nut trees take years to mature, living collections are an ideal way to make reproductive material from these trees more easily accessible for researchers. There’s no need to start from scratch and wait 10 years for the walnuts to mature if the plants are already grown up at the botanic garden. Additionally, walnuts cannot actually be stored as seed (aka seed banked) long term since they very quickly become rancid if not cultivated. This is true for many of the fruit and nut species that are important sources of food.
Coming Soon to the Garden’s Living Collection
Now that we have added these walnuts to the collection and shared material with other institutions, Southern California black walnuts are a little more available to researchers, whether they are looking to breed a new variety of walnut or restore a black walnut woodland. The walnut seed we collected last fall has been carefully grown by our Living Collection Nursery staff into a beautiful stand of trees. We are planning to plant these this winter, so keep an eye out in the Garden for these wild Southern California black walnut trees. O
Save the Date: February 8, 2025
Seeds of Change: Conservation Through Diversity
Join us for our 12th annual Conservation Symposium, where scientists and the community come together to celebrate the incredible world of seeds and their vital role in restoring habitats and conserving rare species.
Scan to learn more.
A group of Southern California black walnut (Juglans californica) trees in the Living Collection Nursery are ready to be planted. (Photo: Katie Miller)
From the Archives: Dara E. Emery and His Love of Seed
By Hannah Barton, Garden Archivist
This year marks 60 years since Dara E. Emery, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s first onstaff horticulturist and plant breeder, published his research on the propagation of California’s native plant seed. Compiled in 1964, Dara shared his knowledge on the topic in one of the Garden’s occasional series, Leaflets, which was provided for free to Garden members. The resulting 16-page pamphlet proved to be so popular that individuals and institutions from all over the state were regularly writing to the Garden and enclosing their 50 cents in hopes of being sent a copy of the publication. The enthusiasm around the distribution of this valuable knowledge eventually led Dara to compile all his research and tested methods into an updated and expanded book which he published in 1988.
Even today, his book, “Seed Propagation of Native California Plants,” remains the gold standard in research on the topic. It serves a broad audience, providing information on the basics of seed propagation, as well
The front cover of “Seed Propagation of Native California Plants,” second printing, 1993
Dara E. Emery with copies of “Seed Propagation of Native California Plants,” 1988 (Photo: William Dewey)
as encyclopedic charts on propagation specifications for hundreds of California’s native plant species. Since it was first published, the publication has been a best seller and continues to be updated. The latest edition, published in 2021 with changes to plant names, can be purchased in the Garden Shop.
In Dara’s oral history, a recorded interview conducted with him in 1985 and on record in the Garden’s Blaksley Library, he further explained the necessity for expanding and updating a publication on this important research. He added that many new discoveries had been made in the 20 years since first publishing his Leaflet and shared, “Certain things were sometimes taken for granted which you might or might not be aware of … day and night temperature, for example. Was it finally germinated in the greenhouse or outside, and what was the temperature? Or how old was the seed, and what was the source of the seed? All these things, we’ve come to find out, have bearing.”
If you are interested in learning more about Dara’s work and his countless contributions to the Garden and native plant horticulture, you can request the transcript of Dara E. Emery’s oral history from our Library via our website. If you find yourself eager and inspired from that, we have you covered. Explore the Garden’s Plant Introduction Program, where you can find beautiful, hardy, and climate-adapted native plant cultivars perfectly suited for California gardens. This is a wonderful program where we continue to honor Dara’s work by encouraging everyone to grow native plants. O
Above: Artwork created by Shari Smith to commemorate Dara E. Emery’s 30th year at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1985 (Illustration: Shari Smith)
Top right: Dara E. Emery in the propagation facility at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1980s (Photo: Mary Carroll)
Bottom right: Dara E. Emery sorting seeds, 1972 (Photo: M.S. Muckley)
Working in Service of Plants: Protecting California’s Rare Flora
By Heather Schneider, Ph.D., Senior Rare Plant Conservation Scientist
What does it take to save plants? It’s a simple question with a complex answer that gets to the heart of our work at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. To understand, protect, and restore native plants, we need to get to know them in their natural habitat, observe them throughout their life cycle, and assess current and potential threats to their persistence.
This is a big job for many reasons, not the least of which is that California is a global biodiversity hot spot boasting more than 6,600 kinds of native plants — and more than 35% of those are rare. To break that down even further, 1,360 of those rare plants grow only in California and nowhere else!
At the Garden, we understand the importance of protecting California’s extraordinary islands, foggy coasts, verdant grasslands, evergreen shrublands, mighty redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), diverse deserts, and towering mountain ranges. Saving plants means learning about these diverse communities and the threats that they face so that we can help them thrive into the future.
In Search of California’s Rare Plants
In 2024, the Garden’s rare plant team planned for months, hiked hundreds of miles, and slept outside for 200 cumulative nights in California’s wild places. These research trips are extremely valuable
scientifically, but it can also feel like California is our treasure map and we are on the hunt! We traveled to find plants on the Channel Islands, in coastal California, in the central valley, and on both sides of the Sierra Nevada. We used a combination of field survey and mapping techniques to locate and evaluate plant populations in nature. Plants are easier to find and identify when they are flowering, so that was when we typically conducted our first field visits. We recorded data about plant abundance, habitat quality, floral visitors, and threats from things like invasive species and human activity. We also collected herbarium specimens, documenting a particular plant at a specific place and time. With this information, we estimated when seed would be ready to collect and planned our return later in the season. If we collect too early, then we risk collecting seed that may never germinate, but if we arrive too late, then there may not be much left to collect.
Given that most plants start out as seeds (except for spore-producing plants like mosses and ferns), you can see why they are essential to our ability to understand, protect, and restore wild plant communities. Studying what makes seeds germinate helps us grow plants in our Living Collection Nursery and tells us something about the natural conditions to which they are adapted and how they might fare in
Left to right: A curious adult and juvenile Channel Islands fox (Urocyon littoralis ssp. santarosae) observed on Santa Rosa Island. (Photo: Heather Schneider, Ph.D.)
Surf thistle (Cirsium rhothophilum) is listed as threatened by the state of California. We mapped its distribution at Point Sal this spring.
(Photo: Heather Schneider, Ph.D.)
The rare alkali mariposa lily (Calochortus striatus) was seed banked for the first time ever by the rare plant conservation team in 2023. (Photo: Heather Schneider, Ph.D.)
Bottom right: Munchkin dudleya (Dudleya gnoma) only exists at one location on Santa Rosa Island. The Garden’s Conservation Seed Bank safeguards the only conservation seed collection ever made. (Photo: Heather Schneider, Ph.D.)
the future. For example, seeds that require exposure to cold to germinate may be affected by climate change that leads to warmer minimum temperatures. Once we know how to germinate specific seeds, then we can grow plants in our Living Collection Nursery and conduct pollinations to generate more seed (a process called seed bulking) for restoration.
Preserving the Rare Seeds of California
Following months of field, nursery, and lab work to collect, clean, and curate tens of thousands of rare plant seeds, these precious gems are packaged and frozen in the Garden’s Conservation Seed Bank. Seed banking is a relatively efficient way to safeguard plant diversity over the long term. Our Conservation Seed Bank houses more than 3.7 million seeds (and growing!) from across California. It’s our insurance policy against extinction, currently protecting more than 400 different kinds of rare plants. These seeds represent a genetic backup of wild populations and can be used to restore those populations in the aftermath of catastrophe. They can also be used in research and recovery work at the Garden and in nature.
Each year, the rare plant team gets to bask in the wonder of the natural world while also grappling with how to best protect it. In 2024, we surveyed 145 rare plant populations and 70 populations of common native plants, and we brought 111 new collections into the Garden’s Conservation Seed Bank. We studied plant life cycles, quantified soil seed banks (i.e., seeds lying dormant in the ground), produced nearly 500,000 seeds for restoration in
our Living Collection Nursery, discovered previously undocumented populations, and described a plant new to Western science.
It is our honor to work in the service of plants. Our time spent analyzing data, assessing threats, and developing conservation recommendations for state and federal agencies is important for the survival of natural habitats. However, the Garden alone can’t save California’s native plants — we need everyone to get involved! That’s why we share our findings with the public via social media, in newspaper and radio interviews, and at public lectures. You can share with us too — and the entire plant community — via iNaturalist.org. With your collaboration and the Garden’s impactful work at the state and national level, we can ensure that our scientific findings are put to the best use possible.
Journey With Us Into the Field
Over the next few pages, for insight and inspiration, you’ll read about not just what it takes to protect some of California’s rarest plants and habitats but also what it means to us as individuals. We hope this energizes you to engage with nature and join us in the fight to save native plants — one seed and one step at a time. O
Good news! In 2023, six rare plants from the Channel Islands were removed from the federal endangered species list thanks to conservation and recovery successes. As we celebrate these wins, we also need to continue investing in conservation. Help us speak for plants because they can’t speak for themselves.
Clockwise from far left: Heather Schneider, Ph.D., sows seeds of the recently delisted Santa Cruz Island liveforever (Dudleya nesiotica) in experimental seeding plots on Santa Cruz Island. (Photo: Sean Carson)
Look at our view from a ridgetop while conducting surveys for the rare Masonic Mountain jeweflower (Streptanthus oliganthus) near the Nevada border. (Photo: Heather Schneider, Ph.D.)
Fiddlenecks (Amsinckia sp.) and hillside daisies (Monolopia lanceolata) paint Carrizo Plain National Monument yellow.
(Photo: Heather Schneider, Ph.D.) (Streptanthus oliganthus) is a rare plant restricted to just a few sites in California and Nevada. (Photo: Heather Schneider, Ph.D.)
Dudleya Deluge
By Charlotte Grenier, Rare Plant Technician
March 21, 2024
It was another lush spring field trip to the Sierra Nevada foothills. After several hours of unsuccessful scouting for our target species from this year’s Bureau of Land Management list (which includes 34 rare species), we called it a day. As we came around the corner, golden hour was illuminating a majestic waterfall and a perfect camping spot surrounded by silver bush lupine (Lupinus albifrons var. collinus). Suddenly we are feeling more hopeful of what tomorrow could bring.
March 22, 2024
As the sun rose, our search continued. We followed a meandering trail and found ourselves at the top of the waterfall. And there, to where our eyes were drawn the night before, we were greeted by my favorite of our target species: the canyon liveforever (Dudleya cymosa). It was sprouting from the granite, bountiful blooms amongst lichens and mosses. However, we must wait to collect the seeds. So, we made a note to return in J
*Read more about our adventures with the Seeds of Success Program on Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s website, including a tale of being chased by wildfire!
Right: This was our view of silver bush lupine (Lupinus albifrons var. collinus) from the perfect camping spot. (Photo: Charlotte Grenier)
Opposite: Sean Zweifler and Charlotte Grenier collect canyon liveforever (Dudleya cymosa) seed.
(Photo: Charlotte Grenier)
Researching the Endangered Jewels of Carrizo
By Isabela Lima Borges, Ph.D., Rare Plant Conservation Scientist
April 30, 2024
It was another beautiful sunrise at Carrizo Plain National Monument. The night’s sleep was rough, thanks to some persistent rodents trying to break into my tent all night. (For a plant project, this one is making me think about rodents a lot.)
We’re at Carrizo studying the federally endangered California jewelflower (Caulanthus californicus), a special little wildflower among the many that make up the beautiful blooms here each spring. Every two weeks, we’re measuring hundreds of individual jewelflower, checking their height, counting flowers and fruits, and investigating whether anything munched on them. Turns out, the endangered giant kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens) is a fan of this plant, often eating its flowers and stems.
This observation about the kangaroo rats’ snacking habits is just the type of detail we’re looking for as we investigate how jewelflower populations are faring at Carrizo. Are they growing or declining, and what will happen as the environment changes? For the past two rainy years, populations have been abundant, but climate change makes their future uncertain. It will take years of study (and many rodent generations) to fully understand this story.* O
*Read more about the endangered California jewelflower and how the Carrizo Plain plays a vital role in its survival on Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s website.
A giant kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens) about to nibble on California jewelflower (Caulanthus californicus) (Photo: Isabela Lima Borges, Ph.D.)
Top: Sunrise at KCL Campground, Carrizo Plain National Monument (Photo: Isabela Lima Borges, Ph.D.)
Right: California jewelflower (Caulanthus californicus), with white and maroon flowers, among yellow fiddlenecks (Amsinckia sp.) at Carrizo Plain National Monument (Photo: Heather Schneider, Ph.D.)
Plants on the Brink: Island Relics and Everyday Magic
By Sean Carson, Rare Plant Field Program Manager
June 12, 2024
Thinking of seed collecting conjures visions of wildflower fields in grassy meadows. Yet, here we are, four days sleeping on a sailboat, leaping from a rubber dingy, timing ocean swells to propel us ashore. We scaled cliffs to collect seeds of Santa Cruz Island malacothrix (Malacothrix indecora) and island malacothrix (Malacothrix squalida), two endangered plants that thrive on rocky shorelines untouched by introduced grazers.
June 13, 2024
Last night I drifted to sleep, pondering the day’s adventures — what cliffs remain un-surveyed, offering refuge to these plants? Awoken by splashing, I peeked over the handrailing and noticed plumes of bioluminescence in the water, expanding and contracting like vast nebulas in outer space. A dolphin’s tail fin kicked, and green bubbles surrounded the boat’s keel. Mackerel and kelp bass chased plankton — every scale and fin, every contraction of gills, glistening with bioluminescence. Dumbfounded, I fell back asleep reflecting on the wonders of Santa Cruz Island, hiding in plain sight on cliffsides and ocean depths. It’s moments like these that fill me with gratitude for the role I have in protecting these wild places. O
Peter Schuyler (retired from Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and The Nature Conservancy) and first mate Michelle Howard (Wilderness Youth Project) navigate the coves on the north side of Santa Cruz Island. (Photo: Sean Carson)
coast of Santa Cruz Island (Photo: Sean Carson)
Looking southwest at Diablo Rocks just in front of Diablo Anchorage, Santa Cruz Island (Photo: Sean Carson) Island malacothrix (Malacothrix squalida) (Photo: Sean Carson)
Annie Ayers collecting seeds of island malacothrix (Malacothrix squalida) in Potato Harbor on Santa Cruz Island (Photo: Sean Carson)
Molok Luyuk, a Hidden Gem
By Chloe Tilton, Rare Plant Technician
June 25, 2024
Wildflowers bloom in watercolor streaks through meadows and delicate rare lilies sprout from gravel on the roadside. Molok Luyuk (formerly Walker Ridge) is the place of my dreams. Not only is it a picturesque ridge in the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, but it is also a hot spot for some of California’s rare plants.
It was early spring, and we had set out to resurvey historical occurrences of six species of rare plants, with the ultimate goal of collecting seeds for Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s Conservation Seed Bank. My personal goal for this trip was to find an adobe lily (Fritillaria pluriflora), a beautiful, rare plant restricted to clay soils. To my surprise, we found not just one but over 50 of them growing among three other rare plants!
When we returned a month later, the adobe lily flowers had transformed into fruits packed with glistening rose-colored seeds. Their addition to our Seed Bank will help to ensure the survival of this imperiled species — one of the many treasures that make Molok Luyuk so inspiring. O
Opposite, left to right: Adobe lily (Fritillaria ) (Photo: Chloe Tilton); eastern view of Sacramento Valley from the top of Molok Luyuk (Photo: Isabela Lima Borges, Ph.D.)
Below: Adobe lily (Fritillaria pluriflora) specimen ready to add to the Garden’s Clifton Smith Herbarium (Photo: Chloe Tilton)
Bottom: Adobe lily (Fritillaria pluriflora) seed collected on Molok Luyuk in June 2024 (Photo: Chloe Tilton)
To ensure no native plant goes extinct on our watch, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has built a conservation program that is up to the challenge. One that not only understands California’s native plants from genes to ecosystems but also knows how to protect and restore them.
With your support for nearly a century, the Garden has achieved some impressive milestones. While we celebrate these wins, we can’t slow down. Now more than ever, we must do our part — from the tiniest seeds to sprawling landscapes — to harness the power of native plants to ensure biodiversity thrives across California’s central coast, and beyond. Will you join us?
300 + Campers
More than 1,200 hours were spent connecting with nature during our 2024 Summer Camp season. Through 52 scholarships distributed, the Garden was able to offer camp at no cost to families in need.
3.7+
Million Seeds
Our Conservation Seed Bank protects 400 of California’s rarest native plant species, acting as an insurance policy against extinction.
1,301 Species
More than 20% of California’s native taxa have found refuge in our Conservation and Living Collection Seed Banks.
215+ Native Plants
Alice Keck Park Memorial Garden is welcoming California’s native flora into its displays via a new project in partnership with the City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department.
Nearly
100 Grads
At the close of 2024, the Garden’s California Native Plant Landscaper Certification program graduates are ready to serve our community.
30% Native Plant Coverage
Join us in our goal of transforming 30% of the spaces where we live, work, and play into native plant habitats. Reaching this crucial milestone helps protect the health and well-being of people and the planet for generations to come.
50,000 Lichen
The Garden is home to California’s second largest Lichenarium, and we now have 15,602 of these specimens added into an online database, making them available to people around the world.
More Than
340 Registrants
We’re teaching more and more people how to add and care for California’s native plants through our public horticulture classes, providing life-supporting habitat across the region.
500,000 + Seeds Produced
The Garden’s Living Collection Nursery continues to produce native seed to support restoration projects across the central coast.
1 Rediscovery
Not seen since 1965, the Garden rediscovered a population of saints’ daisy (Erigeron sanctarum) thought to be extinct on Santa Cruz Island.
500 Students
As part of their 8th grade curriculum, Santa Barbara Junior High School students were invited to explore the Garden and learn about the vital role of native plants.
“Seed Propagation of Native California Plants,” by Dara E. Emery, the Garden’s first on-site horticulturist and plant breeder, remains the gold standard in research on the topic.
31 Giant Sequoias
(Sequoiadendron giganteum)
The Garden’s lichenologist, Rikke Reese Næsborg, Ph.D., climbed a lot of trees this year, including “General Sherman,” as part of a collaborative project examining bark beetle attacks.
Ants! At the Disc Golf Course
By Zach Phillips, Ph.D., Terrestrial Invertebrate Conservation Ecologist
Ido not play disc golf, but I rate the disc golf course at Elings Park very highly: five out of five Frisbees. My course rating system, which disc golfers might consider slightly unorthodox, is based entirely on ants. Are there interesting ants on the course? This is the only criterion. The course design could be perfect, the views spectacular, and the disc baskets (Figure 1) well maintained, but all this would be beside the point. Show me the ants.
The Elings Park Disc Golf Course is home to harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex spp.), an outstanding group of insects: five out of five abdomens. Harvester ants are key components of California’s ecosystems, particularly in deserts and other dry habitats. They construct deep underground nests and move large amounts of soil, dramatically altering the physical environment. To help carry fine particles of sand, each ant uses a “beard,” a set of long hairs on the underside of its head (note: pogonomyrmex means “bearded ant”) (Figure 2). Facial hair has never been so chic yet ecologically functional. The ants are also dominant granivores aka seed eaters (Figure 3 and 8) and influence plant and animal communities by transporting and consuming a wide variety of seed (Uhey et al., 2022).
Seed Foraging
Seeds are a major part of the harvester ant diet, and colony members perform seed-related tasks inside and outside of the nest. Foragers hunt down individual seeds, carry them back to the nest, and drop their quarry just inside the entrance. From there, a different set of
Figure 2: A harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex sp.) is poking its head out of a nest entrance in the Elings Park Disc Golf Course. The ant’s “beard” of long curling hairs is apparent on the underside of its head. (Photo: Ryan Tang)
Opposite, Figure 1: A section of the disc golf course and harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex spp.) habitat in the dunes at Elings Park (Photo: Zach Phillips, Ph.D.)
Figure 3: Harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex spp.) grabbing a detached abdomen of another insect at Elings Park. Harvester ants are not strict vegetarians. (Photo: Ryan Tang)
workers transports and processes the seed within the nest’s underground chambers. Each seed is de-husked, broken down into a dish called “ant bread,” and stored in granaries or fed to maggot-like ant larvae. The seed chaffs, along with other colony waste, are dumped outside the nest in a refuse pile or “midden” (Figure 4). Harvester ant middens are largely made up of discarded plant material. They are pleasant, aromatic green-bin garbage dumps. With the right branding, you could sell them as ant-artisanal potpourri — “PogonAroma: One Ant’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure” (Figure 5).
On the disc golf course at Elings, middens encircle the nest mounds of California harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex californicus). In autumn 2024, the middens were dense with rust-red parts of California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) (Figure 6), a feature that suggests the plant is a favored colony food source. However, a midden’s content does not necessarily mirror a colony’s diet, and plant matter can be deposited in refuse piles for multiple reasons. For example, the ants might be adding California buckwheat fragments to middens to help absorb moisture around nest mounds or to mark nest boundaries (Gordon,
1984). Regardless, the ants’ diet and waste should change with changing seed availability over the year. Colonies are not dependent on a single plant species, and their seed preferences are affected by factors such as seed size, shape, and seasonal abundance.
Seed Dispersal
Even though a colony functions like a well-oiled machine, individual ants operate like Larry, Curly, and Moe. They bump into things, get discombobulated, spin around, and get mad at each other. A clumsy ant can be a good thing for a seed. It’s not uncommon for a harvester ant forager to fumble and abandon a seed on its way back to the nest. When this happens, the ant has helped move the seed from one place to another, facilitating its dispersal and sparing it from an “ant bread” fate (Mull, 2003).
Seed successfully carried back to the colony can also be spared. Healthy seeds are sometimes discarded into middens, where they can germinate and be shielded from other seed and seedling eaters (e.g., ant-phobic birds and rodents). Also, when colonies
Figure 4: A refuse pile surrounds a California harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus) nest mound at Elings Park. (Photo: Zach Phillips, Ph.D.)
die or abandon their nests, viable seeds that remain in granaries can germinate and grow. Consequently, patches of distinct plant communities often develop on and around harvester ant nest mounds (Rissing, 1986).
Some plants use “elaiosomes” to conquer the whims of foragers. Elaiosomes are seed appendages that attract ants to aid in their dispersal. They are edible, detachable rewards, and look like little seed hats. The bush poppy (Dendromecon rigida) is a local example of a native plant that has evolved elaiosomes, and they attract harvester ants to help disperse their seed (Carney et al., 2003). A bewitched ant can use the elaiosome as a handle to carry the seed, eventually removing and eating it while leaving the rest of the seed unharmed. Thus, in this mutualism both the ant and the plant benefit from the interaction — the ant gets a meal, and the plant gets dispersed.
Enemy Ants
Harvester ants have powerful stings. On Justin O. Schmidt’s Pain Scale for Stinging Insects, which runs from one (least painful) to four (most painful),
Figure 5: In this handful of harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex spp.) midden, you can see what the colony regards as refuse but what I think certainly could be sold as ant-artisanal potpourri. (Photo: Zach Phillips, Ph.D.)
Figure 6: California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) can be found on the Elings Park Disc Golf Course. (Photo: Zach Phillips, Ph.D.)
Florida harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex badius) earn a three. His verbal description of the pain is vivid: “Bold and unrelenting. Somebody using a power drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.”
Unfortunately, not even a world-class sting like this can save harvester ants from invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile), one of most destructive animals in California (Figure 7). Argentine ants are relatively tiny and lack a sting, but harvester ants are no match for their aggression, numbers, and chemical arsenal. The loss of harvester ants to Argentine ants sends damaging ripples across ecosystems, partly because the latter cannot replace the former as a resource for certain animals and plants. For example, horned lizards (Phrynosoma spp.), which specialize in eating harvester ants, show an aversion to Argentine ants (Suarez et al., 2000). Similarly, the seed of bush poppies, which you’ll recall use harvester ants for dispersal, are not dispersed by Argentine ants. (Carney et al., 2003)
A Healthy Discourse
Argentine ants are common in Elings Park, just like they are in the rest of Santa Barbara. How long can the harvester ants on the disc golf course hold out? Who knows, but we’d like to keep an eye on the population. Ecology Intern Ryan Tang, working with me at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, is mapping the locations of the harvester ant nests, which will help us monitor their decline or persistence.
While looking for nests at Elings, Ryan and I regularly encounter friendly disc golfers who show an interest in the ants that share their course. We don’t even have to pique their curiosity with ant factoids customized for a disc golfer audience, such as, “The sting hurts like a Frisbee slamming into your ingrown toenail.”
On our last visit, we chatted for a bit with a group of golfers about our survey. About 20 minutes later, they excitedly called us over to another spot in the dunes. They’d found a nest, and we marked it with a flag. O
Acknowledgements: Thanks to journalist and birder Hugh Ranson for his photo and Elings Park natural history observations; Garden Ecology Intern Ryan Tang and Garden Invertebrate Technician José Flores for their photos and survey help; Garden Director of Conservation and Research Denise Knapp, Ph.D., for plant identifications; Elings Park Executive Director Dean Noble for permission to wander the course; and all the disc golfers for sharing the space and not being disc-gruntled when I call it a “Frisbee.”
CITATIONS
Carney, S. E., Byerley, M. B., & Holway, D. A. (2003). Invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) do not replace native ants as seed dispersers of Dendromecon rigida (Papaveraceae) in California, USA. Oecologia, 135, 576–582. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-003-1200-0
Gordon, D. (2008). The harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex badius) midden: refuse or boundary?. Ecological Entomology, 9, 403–412. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1984.tb00837.x Mull, J. (2003). Dispersal of sagebrush-steppe seeds by the western harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis). Western North American Naturalist, 63, 358–362.
Rissing, S. W. (1986). Indirect effects of granivory by harvester ants: plant species composition and reproductive increase near ant nests. Oecologia, 68(2), 231–234. https://doi.org/10.1007/ BF00384792
Suarez, A. V., Richmond, J. Q., & Case, T. J. (2000). Prey selection in horned lizards following the invasion of Argentine ants in Southern California. Ecological Applications, 10, 711–725. https:// doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[0711:PSIHLF]2.0.CO;2
Uhey, D. & Hofstetter, R. (2021). From Pests to Keystone Species: Ecosystem Influences and Human Perceptions of Harvester Ants (Pogonomyrmex Veromessor, and Messor spp.). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 115(2), 127–140. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saab046
Figure 7: A group of large, red California harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex californicus) are being attacked by much smaller, darker, invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) at Elings Park. (Photo: Hugh Ranson)
Figure 8: A harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex sp.) climbs through a midden at Elings Park. (Photo: Ryan Tang)
The Need for Seed: Navigating California’s Native Seed Supply Chain
By Keith Nevison, Director of Horticulture and Operations
Faced with the dual threats of climate change and biodiversity loss, the need for restoring habitats with native seed continues to grow each year. This is especially apparent in the state of California — with its large resident population (over 39 million), unique blend of habitat types (59 recorded), and sheer scale of plant diversity (over 6,000 native plant species) — which is increasingly threatened by natural disasters, continued human development in impacted zones, and the trend toward a warming, drier climate. To confront this challenge, the California Native Seed Strategy was launched in 2023 by the California Native Plant Society, along with input from federal and state partners forming the California Seed Strategy Steering Committee. Partners on the steering committee include the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Food
and Agriculture, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife, with additional reviews and contributors representing industry and nonprofit groups, including Denise Knapp, Ph.D., Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s director of conservation and research.
Based on the National Seed Strategy, and informed closely by the Nevada Seed Strategy, the California Native Seed Strategy is ultimately designed to bolster the supply of locally adaptive native seed by coordinating applicable policies and funding opportunities — and by bringing landowners and seed suppliers together to strengthen the market and the reliability of a steady supply of seed for restoration projects. Since California has the highest concentration of imperiled plants of any state in the nation (Bando, 2024) and an insufficient supply to meet current and future demands for restoration
The California Native Seed Strategy addresses all facets of native seed planning, production, and use. The cycle of native seed production and use includes many steps that need increased capacity and coordination as described in the strategy. (Graphic: The California Native Seed Strategy; adapted from Great Basin Native Plant Project)
projects, it is especially important now to work on establishing a reliable network of seed growers who can grow a diverse array of species types. This diversity will be critical in meeting objectives to restore impacted properties into the future.
Growing California’s Native Seed
On a fundamental, broad level, one of the most efficient and effective ways to restore impacted natural habitats is through the sowing of native seed. Some smaller projects are designed to use container-grown plants transplanted into a project area for reliability and enhanced success, but this approach is expensive. To restore projects that span across acres, native seed is the primary resource necessary to bolster natural diversity in habitat areas that have been impacted by human development (e.g., agriculture or urbanization) and/or overtaken by nonnative, invasive plants.
Ensuring the success of a native seeding project takes several years of development prior to project implementation. Projects begin in the planning phase, where land suited for restoration is identified, permits are filed through applicable agencies, and funding is secured to pay contractors and others involved. The next phase is typically wild seed
collection of targeted taxa because most projects require locally sourced genetic material to ensure no harm to adjacent natural habitats. From these initial collections of targeted wild seed by field contractors, farmers often receive material to plant in their fields in order to bulk up seed stocks. This allows them to produce enough seed from the initial, ethically harvested amounts to grow several rows or acres over ensuing growing seasons, depending on the scope of the project. The field establishment phase can take multiple cropping years to produce enough quantity and diversity of seed to move onto the execution phase of a restoration project. In the final stages before implementation, harvested seed is cleaned and tested for purity, which details the overall germination rate and what percentage of weed seeds are still present in each seed lot. Cleaned seeds are then transferred to the project installer where they can be stored for future growing seasons or sown into the targeted area, when the rate of establishment will be highest for success. After sowing and establishment, best practices in restoration will ensure that a site is monitored to document rates of establishment, along with any recurring issues with invasive plant reintroduction. It is estimated that the process from planning to execution and monitoring can typically take five to seven years, all of which adds to the uncertainty and cost of every restoration project.
Historically, California’s native seed industry has occupied a very small role within the much larger agricultural landscape in our state. Until now, much of the available native seed on the wholesale market has been grown on a small network of farms belonging to the NativeSeed Group, which includes S&S Seeds in Carpinteria with their growing facility in northern Santa Barbara County, and through Hedgerow Farms up in Yolo County. Recently, a few more farms have sprouted up to meet demand, including Heritage Growers — a venture of the nonprofit, Chico-based River Partners — which was founded to change the approach to large-scale habitat restoration in California.
Seeding California Restoration
Another major opportunity for native seed growers is presented through California’s ambitious 30x30 initiative, which aims to protect 30% of its lands and coastal waters by 2030. According to the most recent progress report published in September 2024 by Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Natural Resources Agency, the state has now protected 25.2% of its lands for conservation, adding nearly 1.5 million acres (607,028 hectares) since the announcement of the 30x30 effort, with the addition
A flowering succulent perennial living on the marine terraces of Santa Cruz Island, the Santa Cruz Island liveforever (Dudleya nesiotica) was taken off the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species List in 2023 due to a collaborative effort. (Photo: Heather Schneider, Ph.D.)
of 861,000 acres (348,434 hectares) in 2024. Much of this recent gain in protected land was due to the expansion of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, along with the first-ever ancestral land return effort provided through the Tribal NatureBased Solutions Program. In California and across the Western states, most existing protected land is under the jurisdiction of the federal government, managed by agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. Forest Service. Enshrining protections for federal, state, and tribal lands is therefore critically important for safeguarding areas with existing unique native flora to provide potential areas for wild seed collection projects in the future.
Still, even with the opportunities present in the native seed sphere, much work remains to help secure the necessary quantities and diversity of native seed to meet ecological restoration challenges in the future. At present, there is a distinct lack of locally sourced material for large-scale projects. There are no economic guarantees for growing a diversity of native seed, and that makes it a risky proposition for farmers and growers. They are understandably cautious to commit to growing field crops to bulk up seed, only for projects to potentially get delayed through multiple competing regulatory requirements, resulting in lost income for that season. Growers have reported their reservations to the National Academies, saying they could produce much more seed with more diversity “if they have access to the necessary source material to begin production and a clearer and more consistent signal for demand” (Smith, 2023). To illustrate this major floral diversity challenge, Julia Michaels, Ph.D., vice president of scientific and public affairs at Hedgerow Farms, explains, “There are 6,000 species of California native plants, but I’d say 25 species are commonly used in restoration projects across the state. For those 25 species, we have plenty [of seed] in our warehouses. But there has to be money and a few years’ lead time to expand beyond that.”
Enter again the California Native Seed Strategy, which is designed to rally support to enhance the availability of native seed for restoration projects. It does this by offering a pathway that addresses many layers involved in a project, including suggesting grants to help fund farmers so they can commit to growing more seed with more species diversity, which ultimately increases the odds of a restoration project achieving success (Ladouceur et al., 2017).
Incentivizing the production of native seed for restoration projects would help to stabilize demand, creating more guarantees for farmers to focus on what they do best — production — while assuming fewer economic risks to their livelihood. This in turn will help to address a major existing issue around sourcing that restoration practitioners repeatedly face when planning their projects. According to a report by the National Academies, “45 percent of governmental agencies from western states that responded to a survey sent out by the Academies reported they frequently bought native seed from a different geographical location than the one they were restoring, either because they didn’t have the budget (35 percent), weren’t able to get the right seed quickly enough (61 percent), or the seed they wanted was completely unavailable (81 percent)” (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2023). To address this need, the California Native Seed Supply Collaborative (CNSSC) was created to bring together multiple growers, nonprofit groups (including the Garden), and state agencies to promote better communication and coordination for
In Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s Living Collection Nursery, plant propagation is paving the way for native species to flourish and grow.
(Photo: Kaylee Tu)
Opposite: Brenton Kelly, watershed stewardship and advocacy director at Quail Springs, and Breanna De Lira, habitat restoration technician at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, are collecting seeds in the Cuyama Valley. (Photo: Denise Knapp, Ph.D.)
restoration projects in the Golden State. As part of this effort, CNSSC has offered a two-year road map to grow the supply of native seed and plant materials by preventing bottlenecks using existing funding vehicles and regulations. Their guidance is specific in many cases, including allowing seed development costs as allowable expenses in planning grants for large-scale projects and suggesting incentives to growers willing to invest in scaling up production of new or hard-to-produce ecotypes (species localized in a certain area or habitat). Also proposed are adding seed storage refrigeration to extend viability and expand availability, and creating public-facing tools to enable seed consumers to better source and obtain seed needed for their projects.
Seeding National Restoration
Beyond the state level, there is increased federal recognition and funding becoming available to strengthen the supply of native seed for public lands projects. In February 2024, U.S. Secretary
of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the new National Seed Strategy Keystone Initiative, an $18 million effort that also aims to create a National Interagency Seed and Restoration Center. As Secretary Haaland put it, “A reliable, abundant and diverse supply of native seeds is foundational to ensuring that the ecosystems we all cherish can thrive for current and future generations.” Bicameral legislation for the National Interagency Seed and Restoration Center Establishment Act has been introduced, with endorsements from the Garden Club of America, California Native Seed Supply Collaborative, National Wildlife Federation, Western Watersheds Project, Chicago Botanic Garden, and other groups, but the bill is presently stalled in Congress. The Biden-Harris administration supported many of these federal native seed efforts through the $1 billion priority initiative America the Beautiful — which is the federal counterpart to California’s 30x30 initiative — aiming to conserve 30% of federal lands and waters by 2030.
As part of a three-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is helping to develop climate-smart conservation programs, education, and science assistance to small farmers in the Cuyama Valley. (Photo: Clifton F. Smith)
Two Emerging Models of Success in California
River Partners led the charge to restore the 1,600acre (647-hectare) Dos Rios Ranch, located at the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers just outside Modesto. Dos Rios is California’s newest state park, which opened in June 2024. The efforts at Dos Rios were impressive: 350,000 native trees and shrubs were grown by River Partners and planted, 8 river miles (14 kilometers) were restored, 250 jobs were created, and 7,000 acre-feet (863 hectaremeters) of water were “retired” due to the ending of farming on this former agricultural site (Schiller, 2023). The Dos Rios project is a great model for restoring farmland to wild habitat. Many similar projects (likely using native seed) will surely be in the pipeline for years to come. Under terms from California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) — along with overall warming and drying associated with climate change — the state is poised to require transitioning over 1 in 10 acres (.4 in 4 hectares) of irrigated farmland into retirement in the San Joaquin Valley by 2040, as reported by Bay Nature. That’s 500,000 acres (202,342 hectares) poised to come out of agriculture to comply with SGMA irrigation limits, so the Dos Rios Ranch serves as an amazing early example of a collaborative approach to restoring land with several methods, including native seed.
Closer to home, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is in the beginning stages of our three-year U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Equity in Conservation Outreach Cooperative Agreement. This is aimed at developing climate-smart conservation practices in the Cuyama Valley that conserve soil and water — and benefit agricultural productivity — through the creation of diverse native habitats. This equity grant funded by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service was among 139 projects selected nationally. Our conservation project in Cuyama is also designed to educate farming families in the valley about native plants. Our hope is to equip them with the right know-how to successfully grow native plants in an effort to combat erosion and provide environmental benefits as they transition to fallowing fields (to meet compliance with the SGMA).
Driving Change With Your Support
Clearly, these are exciting but challenging times for native seed growers and restoration practitioners. As California becomes hotter and drier and experiences larger wildfires and more intense floods, the need for seed and plants to restore landscapes is huge and ever increasing. Here at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, we’ll continue to add our expertise and support in assisting state and federal partners on efforts like our Cuyama Conservation and Outreach Project, as well as our longstanding seed banking efforts, which have resulted in restoration, recovery, and occasional delisting of once endangered plant species. Thanks to the support of our members, volunteers, and donors, we will continue to harness native plants to preserve biodiversity across the central coast and state — and to showcase the beauty of California’s unique flora and fauna through the Garden. O
CITATIONS
30x30 California. (2024). Pathways to 30x30 California Progress Report. https://resources. ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/2024_30x30_Pathways_Progress_Report.pdf
Bando, J. (2024). California has the highest concentration of plants at risk of extinction in the nation. Sierra Nevada Alliance. https://sierranevadaalliance.org/california-has-the-highestconcentration-of-plants-at-risk-of-extinction-in-the-nation-opinion/
Biogeographic Data Branch. (2024). Wildlife Habitats - California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System. https://wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CWHR/Wildlife-Habitats
California Native Plant Society. (2024). California Native Seed Strategy. https://www.cnps.org/ biodiversity-initiatives/california-seed-strategy
California Native Seed Supply Collaborative. (2024). A ROADMAP Growing the Supply of Native Seed and Plant Materials. https://canativeseedcollaborative.wordpress.com/wp-content/ uploads/2023/06/a-roadmap-growing-the-supply-of-native-seed-plant-materials-1.pdf
Gómez-Van Cortright, G. (2023). The Rewilding of California’s Parched Central Valley. Bay Nature Magazine: Summer 2023. https://baynature.org/article/in-a-drying-central-valleyfarmers-must-fallow-land-their-choices-will-shape-the-california-to-come/https://baynature. org/article/in-a-drying-central-valley-farmers-must-fallow-land-their-choices-will-shape-thecalifornia-to-come/
Grenier, L., Panlasigui, S., Pickett, C., & Sencan, G. (2021). Advancing Ecosystem Restoration with Smarter Permitting. Public Policy Institute of California. https://www.ppic.org/publication/ advancing-ecosystem-restoration-with-smarter-permitting-case-studies-from-california/ Ladouceur, E., Jiménez-Alfaro, B., Marin, M., De Vitis, M., Abbandonato, H., Iannetta, P. P. M., Bonomi, C., & Pritchard, H. W. (2017). Native Seed Supply and the Restoration Species Pool. Conservation Letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12381
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2023). An Assessment of Native Seed Needs and the Capacity for Their Supply: Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26618
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. (2023). On the 50th Anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, Channel Islands Plant Species Declared Fully Recovered. https://sbbotanicgarden.org/press/ channel-islands-plant-species-declared-fully-recovered/
Schiller, A. (2023). Collaboration and strategic land repurposing: An interview with Julie Rentner, President of River Partners. Environmental Defense Fund. https://blogs.edf.org/ waterfront/2023/04/03/collaboration-strategic-land-repurposing-interview-julie-rentner-riverpartners/
Smith, H. R. (2023). The Native Seed Gold Rush: Big environmental dreams—and disasters— have created demand. Now it’s time to worry about supply. Bay Nature. https://riverpartners. org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Bay-Nature-Magazine_The-Native-Seed-Gold-Rush.pdf
U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management. (2024). National Seed Strategy. https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/native-plant-communities/national-seedstrategy
Seeds of Wonder
By Kevin Spracher, Interpretation and Exhibitions Curator
What has happened to the art of wondering in the age of instant answers? Maybe it’s too soon to say. I’ve been down too many curiosity-fueled Wikipedia rabbit holes to say that the instant answers are all bad — sometimes answers lead to the next question. But surely there has been a downtick in the prolonged type of wondering where you sit with, wrestle with, and engage with not knowing.
These days, when a question forms in my mind, like, “How do seeds work?,” I just Google it, like the other 5.35 billion humans who have internet access. (Actually, only 92% of those 5-ish billion are Google users. How do I know that? I Googled it!) And then I can choose from an endless variety of explainers that describe embryos, pollen, and zygotes. But when I’m under the towering coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) in Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and I shake one of their tiny seeds out of one of their tiny cones and really wonder, “How does this little brown dot become that?,” a whole host of other questions and possibilities opens in my mind.
paintbrush (Castilleja mollis) is a federally endangered plant that grows in just one place on Earth: Santa Rosa Island in California’s Channel Islands archipelago. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has contributed to the conservation and recovery of this plant in multiple ways including mapping populations surveys, conducting a genetics study related to hybridization, and making conservation seed collections. (Photo: Rare Plant Conservation Team)
Planting Seeds of Wonder in the Pritzlaff Conservation Center Gallery
Wonder is what drives us to construct deeper understanding, which is so much more than knowing the right answer. Often, getting an answer is what lets the mind move on, no longer grappling with the mystery. When we really wonder about something, it can stick like a seed in our brain. With enough sustained attention, those seeds grow into new ideas and beliefs. In the Garden, perhaps that’s a belief that native plants need to be conserved and protected. Since part of the Garden’s mission (and my job) is to foster love for native plants, I am always looking for ways to pique our guests’ curiosity and build that pathway to love.
In my role as a curator, this happens most naturally in the Pritzlaff Conservation Center (PCC) Gallery. With each exhibition in the PCC Gallery, we aim to blend art and science in ways that elevate native plants and habitats in new and unexpected ways. Situated in a building of cutting-edge scientific research (a microscope-filled
Soft-leaved
Santa Cruz Island liveforever (Dudleya nesiotica) is a succulent plant that only grows on Santa Cruz Island. Once threatened by introduced animals like sheep and pigs, these plants are now thriving and were removed from the federal endangered species list in 2023. (Photo: Rare Plant Conservation Team)
lab down the hall, a climate-controlled seed lab, and an herbarium a floor below) with one whole wall opening onto stunning views of the Channel Islands, the PCC Gallery literally blends science with the splendor of native scenery. It’s the perfect setting to generate wonder.
Finding the Art in Science
Usually, when it comes to new exhibits, I focus on finding artists from outside the Garden whose work with native plants can inspire our visitors. The Garden’s archivist, Hannah Barton, and I are always looking for work that will help shape how our guests see the landscape around them. However, two years ago, we decided to use one show a year to shift our attention inward toward the Garden’s conservation work. Behind the scenes at the Garden (and in the pages of this magazine), we see so much aesthetically interesting work from our staff, such as herbarium specimens (dried and pressed plants which are artfully arranged and adhered to paper), field photography from seed collection trips in rarely seen corners of California, and ultra-close-up microscopic images of iridescentarmored pollinators. All these things were created with as much care and eye for detail as an artist would use. We started to wonder, what would happen if we took this work out of its normal context and presented it as pieces of art?
Bush poppy (Dendromecon rigida) has two dispersal mechanisms for seed. First, seeds are sprayed out of capsules that “explode,” propelling seed a small distance away from the parent plant. But the seeds are also outfitted with elaiosomes (a yellowish, fleshy structure rich in lipids and proteins) that attract ants, which in turn help disperse the seeds. (Photo: Rare Plant Conservation Team)
The annual Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Conservation Symposium offered us an opportunity to share and celebrate what goes on inside (and often outside) the PCC. In 2023, our 10th annual Conservation Symposium focused on the recovery of the islands of the Californias. Part of our accompanying exhibit, “At the Edge,” displayed the research that uncovered the diverse diet of the Channel Island fox by analyzing the different types of DNA found in their scat. To visually convey the findings, we created a floor-to-ceiling collage of about 30 photographs of native plants and seeds, lizards, crabs, and various bugs.
Then in 2024, the Conservation Symposium theme of “Tiny Taxa Doing Big Things” saw us using the ghostly grayscale images of a scanning electron microscope produced in the Garden’s Plant Anatomy Lab. At first glance, they look like pictures of a fire scape, maybe from recent wildfire. But the scale is macro — these are the trichomes, almost-too-small-to-comprehend branching hairs, on paintbrush wildflowers (Castilleja sp.).
In both exhibits, our aim was to prompt questions from the viewer. What is that? What do those have in common? Why would someone need to see a flower so close-up? These are contextual questions you can’t simply Google; we intended to spark wonder that would draw in the viewer to investigate further.
Adobe sanicle (Sanicula maritima) is a member of the carrot family and only grows along the California coast, often occurring in seasonally wet areas with clay soil. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has contributed greatly to the conservation of this rare species by conducting seed germination and cuttings trials, growing and outplanting young plants for restoration, making conservation seed collections, and helping to salvage and relocate plants from an area slated for housing development. (Photo: Rare Plant Conservation Team)
These past two years have been an experiment in learning how to adapt science into art. As we turned our curating focus to the 2025 Conservation Symposium theme of “Seeds,” we were already thinking of new ways to boost wonder and inspire you to take that wonder with you.
Behind the Scenes of Our Next Exhibit
These Conservation Symposium shows require a lot of collaboration with the Garden’s Conservation Department staff. Having an excuse to sit with our inhouse botanists, entomologists, and (only) lichenologist to absorb their stories is one of the best parts of my job. Every year, Hannah and I start with a broad brainstorming conversation with the ever-insightful Director of Conservation and Research Denise Knapp, Ph.D. My notes from this year’s meeting show that Denise had no shortage of inspiring content for us to pull from: seed bulking projects, seed collection projects, seed cleaning and cataloging projects, and seed dispersal and pollinator network research. Surprise, surprise! The Garden has lots of projects related to seeds.
The Convergence of Science and Art
With so many possibilities, the best place to start seemed to be the Garden’s Conservation Seed Bank. With over 3.7 million seeds, we knew the Seed Bank would have something wonderful to share. To learn more, I reached out to Senior Rare Plant Conservation Scientist Heather Schneider, Ph.D., who manages the Conservation Seed Bank.
Is it weird to be a fan of your coworker? I feel like I see Heather more often on the news than around the Garden. She’s who the New York Times calls for a quote on the super bloom or she’s on National Public Radio talking about the delisting of endangered species on the Channel Islands. So, for an amateur native plant admirer and gardener like me, it feels like a privilege to have access to her help and ideas. When I met with Heather and breathlessly (and perhaps manically) told her some of my ideas for the show — maybe we could 3D print seeds or make timelapses of seeds growing — she smiled and nodded and started to help me piece loose threads into a cohesive idea.
First, Heather gave me access to the rare plant team’s library of microscopic seed images. These high-quality photos taken through a microscope are absolute wonder-generating jewels. There is something magical about seeing a seed at this scale — like removing an invisibility cloak, their true forms become clear. Heather told me that when she takes guests on tours of the PCC labs and shows them seeds in a microscope, the experience consistently elicits the same amazement.
“People almost always gasp,” Heather noted, “because it’s so surprising. They look like little brown lumps but then you get them under the scope, suddenly they have all this texture and structure.” It was obvious to me these images would attract attention on the PCC Gallery walls, but it’s what Heather told me the gasping guests do next that got me excited: “They start asking questions.” They want to know: What are those hooks for? Why does it have scales? Why does it look like a honeycomb? How does that seed know how to camouflage itself? These are the kinds of hard-toanswer-but-easy-to-wonder-about questions that are perfect for prolonged curiosity.
From Seed to Sculptures
Once Hannah and I decided to focus on the beauty in the microscopic details, we wondered how to inspire viewers to ask questions and to more deeply wonder about the ingenuity and diversity of California’s native seeds. I started to think about how these images might inspire other artists. And I really wanted to get them off the page and into three-dimensional space. My mind immediately went to Rosie Brand, an artist and sculptor whom I started following on Instagram because she was teaching clay seed pod workshops across Southern California.
Sculptor Rosie Brand leads a clay seed pod workshop, encouraging students to learn from the intricate ”more-than-human architectures” of seeds. Her own seed-inspired sculptures will be featured in the winter Pritzlaff Conservation Center Gallery exhibition. (Photo courtesy of Rosie Brand)
When I initially suggested to Rosie that she could use these images as inspiration for sculptures, it was immediately clear that she was exactly the right person to take the idea further. She explained to me how she not only looks to seeds for inspiration but also as teachers. “Personally, I like to think about plant intelligence — that these other-than-human beings have an agency of their own,” Rosie explained. I wondered if creating more abstract representations of the seeds in sculpture form could help express some of that plant intelligence and agency? Rosie was already there and added on: “This sense of ‘wonder’ perhaps belongs to the seeds themselves. We can begin to think of these intricate structures almost like the thought-forms, the ideas and dreams of plants. Speculative spaces which humans can actually inhabit by extending our imaginations, through close observation and heightened sensitivity.” Rosie agreed to interpret the photos we selected for the walls into sculptures to help create a “speculative space” for viewers. I can already feel science and art merging right in front of me and I can’t wait for you to witness how her passion for connecting with plants comes across in the work she creates.
Capturing the Diversity of Seeds in Student Art
Hannah and I were excited about how the new exhibit was taking shape. But there was something else Heather shared that I didn’t want to miss. She said, “The diversity in the flora is mirrored in the diversity of seeds.” I worried if we showed only a few standout seeds, viewers might overlook the many multitudes of seeds there are in California’s richly biodiverse web of life. I realized we should display lots and lots of images.
La Colina Junior High School has been on a mission to add more native plants to their landscape, so connecting to them felt like the obvious choice. I also happened to have a connection with the art teacher, Hallie Silva. (Full disclosure, she’s my wife.) When I first pitched the idea to Hallie, she was skeptical. Are seeds really interesting enough to draw? But then, just like Heather described, when I showed her the images, it clicked. The subtle variations in color, undertones, textures, and patterns are perfect for an art class to explore. Hallie immediately saw the potential for her students to use the seeds as inspiration, not just for technical skill development but to deepen their understanding of native plants and their role in the ecosystem.
Soon, we had a microscope set up in her classroom, allowing students to study seeds up close. As the students set out on their initial sketches, I witnessed the “sustained, compassionate attention” that John Muir Laws talks about as the gateway to falling in love with something. They began experimenting with different
techniques to capture the textures they observed — cross-hatching, stippling, blending — while asking questions and researching the origins, structures, and dispersal methods of their chosen seeds. With over 50 students participating, they’ll generate enough art to fill an entire wall with intricately drawn seeds.
I am not expecting all the students to become obsessed with native plants (okay, maybe a few of them), but the project is giving them something to focus on and wonder about, and that might be a seed that takes root. I’m eager to see what they create!
An Invitation to Wonder
I don’t know what is going to happen to wonder as the world becomes more and more explained, but working at the Garden makes me feel optimistic. A visit here can be framed as an opportunity to wonder. It’s a place where you can sit in the space of not knowing and follow the cues within you to a deeper understanding.
And just in time to practice your wondering, mark your calendar for our 12th annual Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Conservation Symposium. The Conservation Symposium takes place on February 8, 2025. And, not to be missed — especially since you have the insider scoop — is the Symposium’s accompanying PCC Gallery show opening in early December 2024. The exhibit is free with admission to the Garden, so come discover the sculpture and art inspired by California’s beautifully complex native seeds. We’ll see you there.
Advanced art students at La Colina Junior High School study the intricate details of seeds from Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, as teacher Hallie Silva guides them in translating these complexities into their artwork. (Photo: Kevin Spracher)
Seed for Yourself
By Holly Huff, Gardener
Growing plants from seed can be a rewarding and magical experience. From a young age, I helped my mom collect seed from plants around the yard. We would save them in brown paper bags and sprinkle them in the garden the following spring or give them away to friends and family. It was thrilling to watch the new sprouts emerge as the ground warmed up in the summer months. As a child, I didn’t understand the science behind how plants grew, so it always felt like a small miracle. Even with the horticultural education I have now and years of experience growing and tending to plants, that feeling remains. Even more exciting is having the opportunity to propagate seed for our Living Collection of California’s native plants at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
Our Living Plant Records
I currently work as the gardener for the Island View Section of the Garden, which displays plants from California’s Channel Islands and eight of the islands off the coast of Baja California, Mexico. This section of the Garden showcases individual island habitats grouped in beautiful biogeographic displays. More importantly, the accessioned plants within the Garden are associated with valuable data, all captured in the Garden’s plant records database. The database holds provenance data associated with each accession and tells us where they were collected, with information ranging from descriptions of the surrounding plants and habitat down to specific GPS coordinates. Steve Junak, former curator of the Clifton Smith Herbarium and a longtime island botanist, compared this database to keeping genealogical records or a family tree, where we store the history and can trace the characteristics of these plants. This corresponding data increases the value of the collections for research, conservation, and even restoration of many of these rare species.
How does this relate to the daily operations in the Garden? Our Living Collection is, and always will be, in a constant cycle of growth, decline, renovation, or change. Plants may simply be short lived, or they may die due to herbivory or harsher weather conditions than they experience on the islands. To keep the Garden’s beds filled with these important accessioned materials, we need to cultivate these plants constantly. We have several dedicated staff groups who work to propagate and collect seed from important accessions to safeguard their genetic resources and provide new material for planting in the Garden.
A Walk Through the Channel Islands
Over the past year, I have been working with our Living Collection Nursery and other horticulture staff to identify opportunities for new introductions in the Island View Section, mainly using our Living Collection Seed Bank as source material. This section of the Garden can be tricky to plant, since we must use material that comes from the Channel Islands to maintain the integrity of this collection. You may not realize it when you walk the trails, but each plant grown there is a direct link to the Channel Islands. To that end, we exclusively use seed and cuttings from collections made on the islands or seed and cuttings from the plants that already exist in the Garden.
Collecting Seed for Science
If you have walked through the Garden recently and noticed mesh bags covering the flowers of certain plants, you’ve seen seed collection in action. These bags are used to control pollination of a plant, to prevent unwanted hybridization, and also to collect the seed. We have been using these bags on several of our island species that are at risk of cross-pollination with nearby cultivars or even closely related species. For example, one of our objectives is to propagate the rare San Nicolas Island buckwheat (Eriogonum grande var. timorum) for the Garden’s Living Collection, but it is surrounded by other important buckwheat taxa (or plant species) that could share pollen and potentially produce hybrids. To combat this, we bagged and hand-pollinated some of its flowers in hopes of generating pure seed for future propagation.
Originating on California’s Channel Islands, the red-flowered buckwheat (Eriogonum grande var. rubescens) is sprouting in the Garden’s Living Collection Nursery.
(Photo: Kaylee Tu)
Opposite: A mesh bag covers this liveforever (Dudleya sp.) shoot to allow the Garden to hand pollinate certain plants in hopes of generating pure seed for future propagation efforts.
(Photo: Nazani Cassidy)
Many of the island taxa have not been in cultivation for long, or at all. When we have seed collected and ready to grow, we have to consider the differences between the island and mainland ecosystems to influence our propagation protocols. In collaboration with our Living Collection Nursery staff, I have been working on a “dual germination” experiment using wild-collected seed from Santa Cruz Island. I am growing island paintbrush (Castilleja hololeuca), native to the northern Channel Islands (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Anacapa Islands). It is a hemiparasitic plant, meaning it still can make its own food through photosynthesis but also is a facultative parasite of a host plant. Seed for its typical host plant, California sagebrush (Artemisia californica), were unavailable at the time, so I chose seed of giant coreopsis (Leptosyne gigantea), a relative in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Both the island paintbrush and giant coreopsis seed were collected from Santa Cruz Island. We sowed them in a flat together and saw excellent germination of both species. Groupings of the two were moved into their own pots and several were planted in the Santa Cruz Island section in the winter of 2023. I continue to monitor these experiments in the Garden and Living Collection Nursery and look forward to trialing other hemiparasitic plant relationships in the future.
Guided by Nearly a Century of Knowledge
up the
When I sow seed, I am fortunate to have the collective resources of our own and other botanic gardens’ generations of horticulturists to pull from. We utilize seed treatments detailed in manuals and books for much of our native California flora, from liquid smoke to sandpaper. These treatments often mimic complex ecological processes and natural dormancies that these seed require for germination in the wild. Propagating plants for the Garden has grown my appreciation for our Living Collection and has been a great motivation to invest time into studying our flora in more depth. A few of my recommended resources are listed below:
• “Seed Propagation of Native California Plants” (Dara E. Emery)
• “California Native Plants for the Garden” (Carol Bornstein, David Fross, Bart O’Brien)
• “Growing California Native Plants” (Marjorie G. Schmidt, Katherine L. Greenberg)
• “Chumash Ethnobotany: Plant Knowledge Among the Chumash People of Southern California” (Jan Timbrook)
• SBBotanicGarden.org
• CalBG.org
• TheodorePayne.org
Ready, Set, Grow Your Seed
I encourage anyone interested in growing plants from seed to give it a try. You can start by looking around the Garden or on your favorite hike for inspiration. Think about how you can introduce some of your favorite native plants into your gardens — from the smallest potted plant to a majestic oak tree (Quercus spp.). If you already have a native plant garden at home, start by harvesting some of the seed your plants are already producing. Crumble old flower heads containing seed directly back onto the soil and see if new plants emerge.
The Garden would love to help you start growing California’s native plants. Our retail Garden Nursery and Shop can help you find a seed mix for beautiful spring flowers, books about California native plant gardening, and basic tools. For more hands-on instruction, keep an eye out for our horticulture classes, including seasonal seed propagation!
Bringing native plants back into our developed areas improves the habitat value for so many of our local fauna and helps to strengthen the bond between humans and the land that we inhabit. Happy seeding, everyone! O
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Join us as we build a community of native plant advocates and lead a movement toward a healthier planet — one native seed at a time. Join today
Bluebird-sky days like this in the Garden’s Island View Section offer visitors stunning views of Arlington Peak, 3,258 feet (993 meters). (Photo: Kaylee Tu)
Seeds Not Your Style? Let’s Make Clones!
By Manuel Hernandez, Rare Plant Nursery Technician
Vegetative propagation is useful when you want to skip the seed stage, obtain mature plants faster, or don’t have seeds available.
Dividing Plants
One of the simplest ways to make a clone is by dividing a plant. This works well for bunch-type grasses such as needlegrass (Stipa spp.), irises (Iris spp.), and hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea). Dig up your plant, keeping as many roots as possible. Look for natural clumps at the base of the plant where it wants to separate. Gently tease these clumps apart, ensuring each piece has some roots attached, and then plant each clump as normal.
Stem Cuttings
The most common method of cloning plants is via stem cuttings. For this, you’ll need to collect stems that are bendable but don’t break easily. From each stem, cut a piece about the length of your palm, making sure it has at least three nodes (points from where a leaf sprouts). Make a diagonal cut below a node and trim leaves off so only a few remain on top. Then, stick it into a mixture of perlite and peat moss. Keep the mixture moist and, after a few months, roots should start to grow. You can then move the cuttings into small pots with soil and care for them like seedlings. Golden currants (Ribes aureum) and sages (Salvia spp.) are good starter plants for this method. As you get more advanced, you can experiment with rooting hormones for harder-toroot plants.
The Giving Guide
At Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, we know everyone has different priorities and different ways they choose to give back to their community, which is why we have a variety of opportunities for you to make an impact.
Beyond traditional cash donations, here are a few popular giving options to consider that are mutually beneficial. This means, by choosing one of these giving methods, you can make your gift go even further than with cash alone. We encourage you to consult with your financial advisor or tax professional to better understand the benefits specific to your circumstances.
Gifts of Stocks or Appreciated Assets:
If you own securities or other assets that have appreciated in value, gifting these to the Garden can provide significant tax advantages. When you transfer stocks or assets, you may avoid capital gains taxes and receive a charitable deduction for the full, fair market value of your gift.
Grants from Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs):
If you have a DAF, you can recommend a grant to the Garden. This allows you to receive an immediate tax deduction when you contribute to the DAF and then grant funds to the Garden over time. This is an efficient, sustained way to both manage your giving and support the Garden’s mission to conserve native plants and habitats.
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs):
If you are 70½ years old or older, you can give up to $100,000 from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) directly to a qualified charity such as the Garden without paying income taxes on the contribution. This method, also known as a QCD, can satisfy your required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year.
Every gift, be it big or small, supports the Garden’s ongoing conservation, education, and horticulture programs. With your support, we’re creating a world where nature thrives and our children and grandchildren can revel in the wonders of a rich and diverse ecosystem.
As a cherished member of the Garden community, we are grateful for your generosity in whatever form it takes. Thank you for considering the Garden in your planned annual giving.
Please hold on to this as a guide for your future giving. For more details on how you can help further our mission, please visit us at SBBotanicGarden.org/support.
We Appreciate You
Thank you for joining us at one of our many Free Senior Days in 2024, thanks to our generous sponsor.
The Book Nook
“The Oldest Living Things in the World” | Rachel Sussman
From start to finish, “The Oldest Living Things in the World” is captivating with its incredible blend of science, history, and photography. Rachel Sussman takes readers along as she travels from continent to continent, exploring and capturing both photos and stories of the most ancient organisms alive. Featuring specimens over 2,000 years old, this book gives a unique perspective on the past, while also encouraging readers to think about the importance of the future, and nature’s impact on both. In addition, this book is a tribute to the resilience of the natural world, showing how these living things have withstood almost every natural element, human encroachment, and the effects of climate change. These organisms are living history. You can even see some of the same species at the Garden (just not quite as old)!
Recommended by Eden Thorson, Membership Associate O
“Wild Life: Finding My Purpose in an Untamed World”
Rae
Wynn-Grant, Ph.D.
This captivating memoir highlights the remarkable journey from an urban childhood to becoming a leading ecologist. Raised in Northern California, Rae Wynn-Grant, Ph.D., was inspired by nature documentaries, sparking a passion for wildlife. She pursued biology despite limited representation in environmental sciences and earned a doctorate, specializing in large mammal conservation. Throughout the memoir, Rae shares the challenges of being a Black woman in a predominantly white field, and her groundbreaking research with bears in the northern Rocky Mountains. Her work bridges wildlife conservation and social justice, addressing human-wildlife conflicts while advocating for diversity in science. Rae’s storytelling emphasizes the interconnectedness of all life, urging action against habitat destruction and climate change. Her memoir is an inspiring call to protect our planet’s biodiversity, reflecting her dedication to creating a future where humans and wildlife coexist in harmony.
Recommended by Jaime Eschette, the Gerry Rubin Director of Marketing and Communications O
“I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life” | Ed Yong Dive deep into the world of microbes and their profound influence on our lives. Ed Yong’s ability to clearly distill complex scientific information into engaging and accessible language makes for an exciting read. This book is rich with well-researched anecdotes about bacteria, something not ordinarily talked about outside of the science world. While some sections dig into the details, Ed’s explanations and examples keep you engaged. The tone of the book is very conversational, and despite the high page count, it’s an easy read. The book broadened my own understanding of the microbial world and its relationship with humans. “I Contain Multitudes” is a thought-provoking read that will leave you with a greater appreciation for the microscopic organisms that shape our existence. I recommend it to anyone interested in biology, health, and the natural world.
Recommended by Nazani Cassidy, Communications Coordinator O
“What We Sow: On the Personal, Ecological, and Cultural Significance of Seeds”
Jennifer Jewell
Jennifer Jewell digs into the cultural, historical, and environmental significance of plants, weaving a narrative that blends personal reflections with thoughtful research. For those passionate about California’s native plants and biodiversity, her book urges us to reflect on the ways we interact with our landscapes. She touches on the importance of seed saving, the role of plants in combating climate change, and the interconnectedness of ecosystems, all while inviting readers to reflect on their own relationships with nature. This book will inspire gardeners, conservationists, and nature lovers alike to think more critically about the ethics of cultivation and how we can foster a healthier connection with the natural world. It’s an essential read for anyone dedicated to preserving and celebrating our native flora.
Recommended by Jill Freeland, Director of Human Resources O
Field Notes: Poetry Inspired by Nature
By David Starkey, Founding Director of Santa Barbara City College’s Creative Writing Program, and Elaine Alarcon, Writer and Garden Member
Elaine Alarcon has graduate degrees in creative writing and 20th century literature from the University of Denver, has published in various little magazines, and has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize. “In Santa Barbara Botanical Garden” was written when Elaine and her husband were walking in the Garden. She says, “I was taken with how quiet and lovely the meadow was, and how huge the boulders were lining the path, so pre-historic in their seeming, dwarfing humans. Then I came upon the sequoia stump and as I was reading its lifelines, an ant was crawling over them, voyaging.” O
In Santa Barbara Botanical Garden
In the botanical garden orange poppies blaze through the meadow and peace enters my feet, then slips into my bloodstream flowing upward to the sun.
There are no words for this absolution, no words for blessing.
I am votive to wind, to bird calls in the canyons, to the cactus flowers in whose yellow cups tipsy insects tumble among their pistils, and to the giant boulders strewn under the oaks, Samurai guarding the path.
And to the lost ant crawling over the labeled rings of a halved sequoia trunk — a sapling in 1150 — then crossing its rings to the Magna Carta in 1215, searching fruitlessly for its kind in 1542 when Juan Carrillo explored the Channel Islands, the ant inching forward to the Declaration of Independence and rings tightly yoked by violence together — death by drought in 2000.
Unaware of its long rite of passage across eons, the pilgrim finally disappears over the edge of the trunk into shadows and the leafy beatitude of home.
— Elaine Alarcon
Elaine Alarcon stops for a smile in the Meadow Section during members’ hour. (Photo: Greg Trainor)
Sprouted in 1150, the Garden's halved sequoia (Family Cupressaceae) tree trunk reveals its story in the Arroyo Section. (Photo: Greg Trainor)
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Includes all of the benefits of a membership, plus admission for one guest each visit. Also get six one-time-use guest passes, branded Garden tote bag, and free 1-gallon native plant from our Nursery.
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CORPORATE
Spending time in nature improves productivity and promotes improved mental health — even a few minutes a day can make a big difference.
Give your employees access to the Garden while supporting the conservation of native plants and habitats. We have several tiers of corporate membership available starting at $2,500. For more information, please email our membership office at membership@SBBotanicGarden.org.
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