Where to learn about plants while volunteering around L.A.
While hiking in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains as a kid, I’d be poked by yucca spikes, scratched by the tough leaves of oak trees and calmed by the soothing aroma of sages. Back then, I knew very little about these native plants — not even their names. Even though my mom was a gardener who’d take me to visit local nurseries, my understanding of plants didn’t go very deep. Like many of us, I assumed that lush green lawns and tall, limber palm trees were the signature plant life of Los Angeles. Volunteering as an adult has changed that. When I first went to visit the nursery at the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley, I remember being captivated by the little Joshua Tree sprouts they were selling in tiny 4-inch pots — these are plants that have been in our local Mojave Desert for over tens of thousands of years. I signed up to volunteer there because I had a feeling that these plants were part of the profound story of …
