Sow and ye shall reap

Posted on | January 15, 2010 | 1 Comment

It smelled of sage and spring in the seed room of the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley this week as supervisor Kathy Parenteau showed how the fruit of their native plant collection is sorted and stored for propagation and sale. Pictured above are the English apothecary spoons that Payne himself used to sort seeds, with the tiny Chalk Dudleya specimens contrasted to the aptly named fruit of the Bigberry Manazanita.

With heavy and persistent rain in the forecast for next week and spring around the corner, now is the time to sow seeds or plant saplings. For information on the seeds from the Theodore Payne Foundation, which are carefully selected for Southern California, click here. Or, for beginners just contemplating converting to native gardening or advanced gardeners always eager to learn more, Chance of Rain has updated the January listings for dry garden courses and events and compiled a new region-wide page for February. March is in the works. To all those who have events that they would like to have listed, please send announcements to emily.green [ @ ] mac.com.

For a National Weather Service storm alert, particularly relevant to those who live in foothill communities near recent burn areas, click here.

This post has been updated.


Comments

One Response to “Sow and ye shall reap”

  1. Bob Galbreath
    January 20th, 2010 @ 9:09 pm

    Thanks for the comprehensive wrap-up of a a very thought-provoking week for water folks. A week wrapped up – a decade of problems to solve.

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