The Bringing Back the Natives garden tour is back for 2022, and this time with both a virtual and in-person formats. Last weekend the virtual garden tours took place, via Zoom and YouTube. In a couple of weeks, the in-person garden tours will take place. This year I attended both virtual garden tours and may attend some of the in-person tours (first time ever)!
Doug Tallamy from University of Delaware gave the keynote address, based on his most recent book, The Nature of Oaks, which follows an oak tree through the calendar year. Doug is an advocate of planting keystone plants, which provide vital food sources and shelter for other species, and help define entire ecosystems. His favorite example is the oak tree, which hosts whole communities of birds, moths, butterflies, rodents, beetles, spiders, and more. Doug has spoken on aspects of this this topic over the last three years. It's very common to hear other presenters quote Tallamy or report how their landscaping practices have changed because of him (one person even tore out all their agapanthus after hearing Tallamy speak)!
Some of my favorite presentations include organizer Kathy Kramer's plant round up: "Ten Best Native Plants for Sunny Areas" and "Ten Best Native Plants for Shady Areas". And Al Kyte' retrospective on his 50-year old California native garden in Moraga, which is the subject of a six-video series called "Dimensions of Beauty". It's also fun to learn about new tools, like the Sun Surveyor app for tracking sunlight in your garden; native plant sources such as East Bay Wilds and Oaktown Nursery; and landscape designers.
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| Sun Surveyor app |
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| Bee condo |
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| How to prune manzanitas |
It's not too late to sign up for the 2022 in-person garden tours (April 30 and May 1). Registration enables you to visit the gardens and see the recordings from the virtual garden tours. To learn more about the online agenda from last weekend, see Online Garden Tour agenda, 2022. To learn more about the in-person agenda in a couple of weeks, see View 2022 In-Person Tour Gardens. The tours are free, but donations are appreciated to offset costs. Hope to see you there!
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