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ECO-TOUR cont’d from page 4
featuring 21 fruit-bearing trees and vines, perennial and seasonal edibles, native and pollinator plants, rain catchment systems, and places to socialize or sit quietly.
Trathen Heckman of Daily Acts whose garden will also be featured on
the tour suggests that the Eco-Friendly Garden Tour is “like a trip through a Willy Wonka Wonderland for sustainable gardening enthusiasts. It is chock full of inspiring treats, sharing the smell, touch and experience of sustainability. People see incredible gardens while meeting inspiring gardeners and engaging with others who share their passion. Once exposed to such people and places, one feels more empowered to go home and take action, to plant food, recycle their greywater, catch the rain and share with others.”
To increase their positive impact, participants can also register their own
garden actions as a part the Community Resilience Challenge at www. dailyacts.org. The Community Resilience Challenge is an annual community mobilization campaign that runs throughout the spring and inspires thousands of citizens, leaders and groups to take action to save water, grow food, conserve energy, reduce waste and build community. Participants register their actions online and all actions are aggregated on a map to build a picture of the growing resilience movement.
In addition to the homestead gardens, CNPS Milo Baker will be presenting California native gardens in Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Glen Ellen, Kenwood, and Villa Grande. The gardens being presented are either owned or designed by CNPS members. Each of the gardens will have California native plant experts on hand to provide information to visitors. Several of the gardens will include other activities such as native plant talks, demonstrations, and sales of books and plants.
One of the gardens featured is the Santa Rosa wildlife garden of Pat and Bryan Sesser. On a quarter-acre lot the Sesser’s have created a sanctuary for wildlife using mostly California native plants. The sloped back garden is terraced providing the visitor with a unique walk through an abundance of California native flora, including many flowering perennials such as penstemon, buckwheat, blue-eyed grass and monkeyflower.
Betty Young from the Milo Baker Chapter of the California Native Plant Society comments on the importance of California native plants in our landscapes: “Many communities of native plants in California are in naturally dry areas and so are adapted to flourish with little or no summer water. Others are at home in swales or other wet areas. Aside from saving water, planting natives provides habitat for our local butterflies, birds and other pollinators. A beautiful garden with color through the year, alive with gorgeous and useful pollinators, is easy when using natives.”
The Tour is free, but please register at:
www.savingwaterpartnership.org/eco-friendly-garden-tour.
TO LEARN MORE:
http://www.savingwaterpartnership.org/eco-friendly-garden-tour/ http://www.dailyacts.org/
http://milobaker.cnps.org/California Native Plant Society Milo Baker Chapter
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