Reginald Durant is the undeniable force behind Back To Natives Restoration, a 501(c)3 service learning organization dedicated to the teaching of ecological concepts through hands-on learning. He is seriously passionate about his work and has created an impressive organization demonstrating the value of native plant communities, hands-on learning, and community involvement. Durant stresses, however, that “without Lori Whalen, our volunteer Director of Education, writing all of our curriculum, promoting and marketing BTN, and coordinating our volunteers we may have been another Orange County secret!”
Starting in 2003, Durant worked as a docent for Crystal Cove and as an honorary docent for the Nature Conservancy. As a docent, he put his really good memory to work and developed a knack for learning plant names. Later as the Grounds Administrator at the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach, he had to learn how to name and identify 5,000 species of plants. It was at this time he observed the need for a native revegetation firm dedicated solely to the restoration of native habitat. He had a vision to create a pool of volunteers who would learn how to plant natives, collect seeds, understand the intricacies of habitat restoration and apply their knowledge to another site. Durant formed Back to Natives in 2005 and actively pursued Board members to convince them to join. Back To Natives became a non-profit corporation in February 2007.
Today Back to Natives (BTN) works in partnership with the National Forest Service to conduct the USFS/Back to Natives Restoration Training Program specializing in the restoration and conservation of wildlands in Orange County. The first graduating class of the Forest Service/BTN training program graduated in June 2008. All graduates have to donate one year of service (two hours per month). In 2008, 1,000 BTN volunteers put in 3,500 volunteer hours on public lands and non-profit properties.
Back to Natives also offers many environmental education programs for children in grades K-6. Outdoor workshops for boy scouts and girl scouts enable scouts to earn badges, pins, and become smart caring naturalists. The BTN Traveling Naturalist program visits classrooms and engages students in learning activities based upon the California State Content Standards for Science. These programs can be paired with the BTN Schoolyard Habitat Garden program to provide students with a truly unique hands-on learning experience ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the value of native plants and how they can be incorporated into the suburban concrete landscape.
In order to cover their operating expenses, BTN provides professional native landscape design services. When homeowners decide to trade their lawn for a native landscape consistent with local wildlands, BTN provides all of the specialized services one would expect from a landscape design company. And then they do one more thing…they turn a homeowner’s renovation project into a community service learning project. Back To Natives conducts a workshop on-site in the homeowner’s yard and teaches participants the value of native plants and how to incorporate them into a residential setting. This workshop is not a lecture-only learning opportunity for participants. The lecture part only lasts an hour. The rest of the time is spent planting the homeowner’s yard and learning how to plant and care for natives, be they small plugs or one-gallon plants.
An Illustrator’s Garden
Southern California illustrator, Deborah Shaw, decided to transform her front yard into a native landscape after attending a BTN workshop hosted at a private residence. She took a few moments to tell us about the transformation.
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How long did planning take?
When we moved in, the front yard was “leftover landscaping” from the previous owners, consisting of a mixture of various grasses that made up an uneven lawn, some sickly-looking birch trees and some tortured begonias in the planters by the house. The grass was mostly overgrown thatch and impossible to mow with our small hand-push mower. The birch trees required a lot of water, and, even if well-watered, always look spindly and anemic when grown in this area.
We spent a few years fantasizing about getting rid of the grass, and haphazardly researching any best method that didn’t involve massive doses of “Round Up” or other chemicals, especially since everything in our area goes directly to the ocean. An additional challenge was that we had too much dirt on the property. Coupled with the ankle-deep thatch below the grass, any water, including rainwater, would run directly to the gutters instead of staying on the property to water the plants and percolate down to replenish the groundwater. In the end, we simply got out the shovels in June 2009 and started digging up the lawn. Each shovelful contained lawn, thatch and about six inches of the dirt. We piled each scoop onto boards to dry out.
It took months of shoveling and drying grass piles — from June 2009 through September. We rented and filled two “sod” dumpsters that were then picked up, taking away 16 tons of sod for mulching. We left the existing sprinkler system in place, then watered the dirt occasionally so we could pull up weeds and grass that were trying to make a comeback. Family members helped cut down the trees over the holidays and dig and form mounds for the planned landscaping.
We met with Reginald Durant from Back to Natives in October 2009 to start planning the garden; did a lot of digging and shaping in November and December; and put the plants in the ground in January 2010. We then adapted the existing sprinkler system to a water-efficient system that would give the natives the small amount of water they needed in order to get established.
How did you choose the plants for the plant palette?
We met the Back to Natives crew at a workshop at a Costa Mesa home (which has since earned a LEEDs Platinum designation). Although I was familiar with natives from the deserts, mountains and foothills (and had my favorites), I was surprised to discover during the lecture the local Orange County natives I didn’t know about. We had looked at all kinds of natives at the Tree of Life nursery and the Theodore Payne Foundation, but liked the idea of growing what belonged in this area.
Our plant preferences were based on the following:
After soil, exposure, etc., were taken into account, we wanted to grow natives that were: edible, endangered, had wonderful scents, flowered throughout the year, had interesting botanical features, provided native butterfly and bee habitat, and provided native bird and hummingbird habitat.
We also had a few “favorites” that we wanted to be sure to have in the garden, although there are a couple of favorites we had to give up on for a variety of reasons.
How did you choose the plants for your illustration garden?
I have always been enamored of natives, including the various California native habitats and the Sonoran desert (where I grew up). By growing natives, I would be able to live with the plants I love to paint. I had done some studies for paintings for “Losing Paradise,” the American Society of Botanical Artists’ exhibition on endangered species, but then didn’t have time to complete the paintings before the deadlines. I like the idea of growing locally endangered species, and being able to view the entire life cycle of the plant. Hopefully, we’ll be able to grow a variety of plants and then harvest the seed so that Back to Natives can then use them to restore habitat in other areas. If possible, we can be a small version of a native and endangered seed farm.
There are genera and families of plants that I’ve always been attracted to: Dudleyas being one (we have five local species growing, including Dudley pulverulenta, Chalk Dudleya, one of my favorites). Also on the “must have” list was Trichostema lanatum, Wooly Blue Curls (smell just like Bazooka Bubble Gum—really); Mimulus aurantiacus, Monkey Flower; Lotus scoparius, Deerweed; and Sisyrinchium bellum, Blue-eyed Grass. Truthfully, all of the plants in our garden are on my “must draw” list.
What plans do you have for the illustrations you will produce? Exhibit? Personal enjoyment?
First on the list is personal fulfillment. I would like to continuously illustrate a species through its life cycle, throughout the year. By growing the plants, I’m also hoping to have a continuous supply to dissect and compare, so I can see how the species looks, as opposed to painting a portrait of one particular plant. I would also like to explore illustrating the same plant in a variety of mediums (including digital). If there are paintings that I feel are exhibit worthy, I’ll certainly submit them, but it’s not my overriding goal. The native garden feels like an extension of painting.
Would you like to help Back To Natives restore habitat?
Back To Natives is currently looking for interns for both the office and the field. Field assistants will participate in monitoring activities and help biologists who need assistance. Back To Natives also needs Corporate Sponsorships, memberships, and donations. Landscape design funds only part of their costs associated with habitat restoration and education (most of which is mainly insurance and staff). Back To Natives is a California Non-Profit Public Benefit Corporation and is a Non Profit Public Charity under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to Back To Natives are deductible under section 170 of the IR Code as of February 13, 2007. They are qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the IR Code.
To request more information, please contact the BTN office. Or attend Reginald Durant’s presentation at the LA Garden Show on Sunday May 2, 2010 at 3:00 PM. Download 2010 Garden Chat Schedule
Question for EE Week Readers:
How many of the 125 species of butterflies listed as native to Orange County have you seen lately? (Hint: native butterflies need native plant species to lay their eggs on!)
Additional Information:
Are you wondering which native plants are included in Deborah’s plant palette? Here’s a list:
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Trees
- Arctostaphylos glauca, Big Berry Manzanita [beautiful red bark, delicate urn-shaped flowers]
- Platanus racemosa, California Sycamore
- Sambucus mexicanus, Blue Elderberry [edible berries, also loved by songbirds, which, in turn, are loved by Cooper’s Hawks]
- Eriogonum fasciculatum, California Buckwheat
- Ribes speciosum, Fuchsia Flowered Gooseberry [edible berries, beautiful fuchsia flowers and bright red spines; flowers adored by hummingbirds]
- Salvia apiana, White Sage
- Salvia leucophylla, Purple Sage
- Salvia mellifera, Black Sage
- Symphoricarpus mollis, Creeping Snowberry
- Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls
- Achillea millefolium, Yarrow
- Epilobium canum, California Fuchsia [blooms with a red so vibrant it hurts to look at; will be an interesting color to try to mix]
- Eriophyllum confertiflorum, Golden Yarrow [the yellow looks wonderful mixed with the blue from the Blue-eyed Grass]
- Heuchera maxima, Jill of the Rocks
- Lotus scoparius, Deerweed
- Mimulus aurantiacus, Monkey Flower [one of the bright yellow varieties]
- Satureja chandleri, Yerba Buena/San Miguel Savory
- Sisyrinchium bellum, Blue-eyed Grass
- Stachys bullata, Hedge Nettle
- Lupinus succulentus, Arroyo Lupine
- Brodiaea filifolia, Thread Leafed Brodiaea
- Clematis lasiantha, Pipestem Clematis
- Calystegia macrostegia, Island False Bindweed, Island Morning Glory
- Vitis girdiana, Southern California Wild Grape, Desert Wild Grape [small edible grapes, with big seeds]
- Fragaria chiloensis [edible strawberries that were one of the original species that were hybridized into the strawberries we buy in the grocery store]
- Aster chilensis, California Aster
- Aristida purpurea, Purple Three Awn
- Carex praegracilis, Field Sedge
- Juncus mexicanus, Mexican Rush
- Melica imperfecta, Coast Range Melic
- Dudleya edulis, San Diego Dudleya
- Dudleya hassei, Hasse’s Dudleya
- Dudleya lanceolata, Lance Leaf Dudleya
- Dudleya pulverulenta, Chalk Dudleya
- Dudleya viscida, Sticky Dudleya
Shrubs
Sub Shrubs & Perennials
Vines
Ground Cover
Grasses
Succulents
ArtPlantae Today 
Thanks so much for writing about Back to Natives. I put a short post about them on my blog.
Back to Natives does wonderful work. Thank you for telling your readers about them.