Vallecitos Water District sowing seeds of conservation

The Vallecitos Water District (VWD) in Southern California is providing community members with resources to decorate their homes with waterwise, native plants that require much less water than other landscaping and benefit local wildlife.

A free library filled with gardening books was so well received by the community that Lisa Urabe, VWD’s public information representative, decided to pair it with a native seed library.

“I thought that a native seed library would be a great counterpart to the free library,” Urabe said. “Residents can’t always afford to go to nurseries and buy native plants. Now, they can pick up seeds for free.”

VWD buys seeds in bulk from the San Diego chapter of the California Native Plant Society. A few seeds of a given native plant are put into an envelope and filed in a plastic box with a QR code that can be scanned for information about the best growing conditions, the type of wildlife it attracts, and more information provided by calscape.org/.

“By purchasing the seeds in bulk, we’re able to provide a lot of different varieties for our customers,” Urabe said. “They could put in an entirely native garden at no cost, and even get the books to learn how to do it or to get some beautiful landscape ideas.”

The seed library includes annuals and seasonal plants, pending availability from the California Native Plant Society. These have included narrow leaf milkweed, California bush sunflower, red bush monkeyflower and California wildflower mix.

Urabe, who restocks the seed library weekly, has noticed a larger demand for flowers, including native species like monkey flowers, larkspurs and the poppies and plants that have beautiful, showy flowers.

“It’s a win-win for the community,” she said. “VWD can help residents save water in their landscapes for a minimal cost, the community gets to put in native plants at no charge, and it really helps our native and migratory wildlife populations that are dealing with habitat loss. Now, wildlife can find gardens throughout the county that are going to have the plants that they need to survive and thrive in San Diego.”

VWD’s demonstration garden includes bird species such as hummingbirds, orioles and road runners, pollinators, and other local wildlife.

A Native Plant Seed Library Program was launched three years ago by volunteers from the San Diego Audubon Society’s Advocacy Program to address the critical lack of native habitat in San Diego County. With 50 seed libraries established and supported by staff and organizations like the California Native Plant Society (San Diego Chapter), the program educates the community on native plant importance and provides accessible seeds.

There are plans to create a mobile version of the seed library, which would allow VWD to distribute the seeds at community events.