Native to Guadalupe Island off of the Baja Coast, Senecio palmeri ‘Silver and Gold’ grows 2- to 3-feet high and about as wide. Photo: Betsy Collins
For 90 years, the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (SBBG) has been conserving California’s precious flora through its garden displays, research, and education programs. Since the inception of its plant introduction program in 1965, SBBG has introduced 41 cultivars. SBBG focuses on great plants from the California floristic province that can be used as substitutes for non-native offerings in the ornamental landscape trade. Native cultivars pose less of an invasive threat and help compensate for native plant habitat that is lost to development. The popularity and increasing use of native cultivars also help to preserve wildlife and pollinator relationships that are threatened by decreasing native plant populations.
Knowledge is essential to growing natives. The SBBG introduction program grows prospective plants in different locations on its grounds for two to three years to evaluate their tolerance for a variety of garden conditions. Promising plants are then shared...
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The Native Flora of Chile in The Traveler’s Garden at Heronswood by Dr. Ross Bayton
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