Native plants provide shelter and food for wildlife, save you time and money because they require less care and require fewer chemicals, maintenance and water, promote biodiversity and preserve the natural ecosystem.

Are you interested in converting some of your yard to native plants? Join in for this lecture and pilot project to help increase native plant biodiversity throughout Curtis Park and Sacramento.

Billy Krimmel and Caroline Larsen-Bircher will:
-Discuss the benefits and importance of native plants,
-Share a backstage look and planning and building the new garden at Sierra 2 Center
-Highlight some interesting native plants that you can plant
-Discuss a new seed pile project that you can be involved in

The Seed Pile Project is a citizen science initiative by Miridae Living Labs and the UC Davis Department of Human Ecology to research which local native plant seeds are best at dispersing in human-altered places like cities and roadsides.

What happens to poppy seeds that fall onto a sidewalk or get blown into a vacant lot? Under what conditions do certain species of seed spread, survive, die, or thrive? Studying questions like this can help inform the landscaping industry’s decisions about what native plants to use and where to put them for the most ecological benefit and resilience.