I was fortunate to grow up in the Saratoga foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains while Santa Clara County was just completing its transition from the Valley of Heart’s Delights to Silicon Valley. My family home was surrounded by old orchards, rolling oak woodlands and spring creeks. In such a setting I grew quite close to the land, finding there a place of seemingly endless learning and beauty.
I decided to start Linda Vista Native Plants to foster that same appreciation of our California wildlands. Starting close to home, I am always working to offer a wide selection of plants native to Santa Clara County. This, I hope, will inspire the home gardener to appreciate our local flora and the local ecology it supports. Planting a local native plant allows us to bring a piece of our local wildlands into our gardens, supporting our unique ecology while inviting us to appreciate the beauty of our wildlands.
What begins in my backyard extends to the redwood forests, alpine meadows, parched chaparral – the whole varied tapestry of California’s native wildscapes. Planting a garden with a Channel Island theme invites us to understand, admire and preserve that unique island ecotype. A desert garden in full bloom dispels the image of a desert as a sandy, desolate wasteland. A native garden can bring close what is far-off and foreign, abstract and misunderstood. And once brought close, California’s native flora can be admired.
And admiration, I hope, inspires preservation.