Take the $5 a month Pledge!

Back to Natives Needs your financial support today! Just $5 a month would put us back on track

Dear BTN Supporters, (Volunteers, Members, Advisory Council, Board, Donors),

We NEED YOU! Without your financial support, this could be the final year of Back to Natives Restoration. Have you volunteered with Back to Natives? Interned? Served on the Board of Directors or Advisory Council? Back to Natives Needs YOU! Funding is tight, and we have projects that need staff to lead and train volunteers to perform habitat restoration as well as grow more locally native plants in the Back to Natives Nursery. We also need supplies and equipment to secure our Barns and the BTN Nursery grounds. For that, we need your financial support.

I am not asking for much, I personally have committed ALL of my savings, and MORE to this past season. But I am supposed to be staff, not a donor. I am an employee and have no money left to give and must pay my own mortgage, and loans back, that I took out to pay BTN’s debt. Please help me help Back to Natives! I don’t have anything else to commit. I have even taken out personal loans and maxed my credit card to be sure BTN can continue its mission. But…

BTN can’t do it without you. Back To Natives Restoration Needs your support. Just $5 per month is all I ask. Is that too much in comparison to my savings? $5 per month, with EVERYONE on this email list, and social media friends, pledging $5 per month, BTN’s funding would increase by $70,000 per month! Right now we have only raised $40,000 for the Fiscal year 2018, since July 2018(and ends June 30, 2019). But our budget calls for $240,000 to even come close to achieving our habitat restoration and native plant propagation goals. Can you help? Just $5 per month.

You can also contact us to ask what you can pay for directly, to help our mission. we are not seeking items that can be stolen. We are seeking funding for staff, and operations to perform our mission, as well as equipment to make our BTN Nursery more secure. Like steel bars, building materials, steel fences, concrete and more.

You can use our merchant services online to make a donation or become a member. You can still use PayPal, or select “use credit card” and use our secure intuit merchant services!
Even better for BTN, as in no fees taken out of your donation, enroll in Bill Pay through your financial institution. Pledge $5 per month, or more if you can afford more, and have your financial institution send the check to:

Back to Natives Restoration
PO BOX 10820
Santa Ana, CA 92711

You’re always being asked to help with causes that are far away. Those causes are important, but if you really want to see results from your efforts and from your donations, act locally. Donations help to ensure that Back to Natives service learning and habitat restoration programs continue – and we are a 501(c)3 non-profit public charity – so your donations are tax deductible.

If you think Internships should be paid, then help us fund those paid Internships!

You can choose to donate once or on a monthly basis to help assist Back to Natives with the many programs and projects we have in the works. Your small monthly donation will be a HUGE help to Back to Natives! Pledge today. We Need you, to help save the world right here in the County and Southern California!

Thank you for your support,

Reginald I. Durant
Executive Director
Back to Natives Restoration, a 501(c)(3) public charity
WWW.BACKTONATIVES.ORG/donate

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The Spring Garden Show is right around the corner!

Spring Garden Show Social MediaThe Spring Garden Show transforms South Coast Plaza into a gardening sanctuary, featuring inspiring display gardens created by local landscape designers. The event from April 28 – May 1 also showcases a diverse and outstanding selection of garden tools and art from California vendors, children’s programs, an informative speaker series as well as an extraordinary floral centerpiece.

Back to Natives will promote native plant landscaping once again at the Show – it’ll be our 7th year! Two free “Native Plant Landscaping for Birds and Butterflies” seminars will be presented by BTN Executive Director Reginald Durant. The first will be presented on April 29 at 1:00p.m. in Williams-Sonoma and the second on April 30 at 11:30a.m. in west elm. Durant will show examples of beautiful, drought tolerant native plants that provide habitat for birds and butterflies.

Social Media_SeminarsBack to Natives will also have over 30 species of locally native plants available for sale at the Show. By gardening with native plants, you can bring the beauty California offers into your own landscape. 

“50% or more of the water we use daily goes on lawns and outdoor landscaping,” said Back to Natives Executive Director Reginald Durant. “Planting natives is one of the best ways for homeowners and businesses to help solve the crisis brought on by one of California’s worst droughts.”

Native plants help conserve water, eliminate the need for pesticides and fertilizers, and provide habitat for butterflies and birds. Many California native plants need minimal irrigation beyond normal rainfall. Saving water conserves a vital, limited resource and can also save money.

Plant sales will raise funds for environmental education and habitat restoration programs.

“We’re especially excited about our focus this year on habitat gardening for birds and butterflies,” said Back to Natives Education Director Lori Whalen.

Research tells us that native wildlife clearly prefer native plants. Native insect pollinators can increase the abundance of fruits and veggies in a food garden, while a variety of native insects and birds will help keep your landscape free of mosquitoes and plant-eating bugs. 

Whalen continues, “Our new partnership with the Monarch Joint Venture has inspired us to focus even more on host plants like milkweed that monarch caterpillars depend on, as well as a number of beautiful landscape quality nectar plants. Anyone can provide habitat in their yard – and have a beautiful garden – using locally native plants. ”

Join us at the South Coast Plaza Spring Garden Show to learn more about native plants or visit us at www.backtonatives.org.

We hope to see you there.  – Crystal Sayphraraj, BTN Communications Intern

Why Landscape with Locally Native Plants

 

Bladderpod_PricklyPear2Promote Biodiversity

In California, there are over 5,000 native plant species, more than in the central and northeastern US and Canada combined. More than 1500 of these plant species are endemic to (found only in) California, and most of these endemic species are found in Southern California. Southern California is one of the 25 global biodiversity “hotspots.” Hotspots are where the largest number of different species can be found, especially those species found nowhere else. More than 60 percent of the Earth’s total species live in hotspots, which cover only 1.44 percent of its surface. Orange County is “a hotspot within a hotspot”, with more native plant species per square mile than Yosemite National Park. Orange County has 806 species of native vascular plants. As the human population grows, many of Orange County’s open spaces are vanishing, and with it the native plants. By growing native plants in our gardens, we are restoring some of the natural biodiversity of our area. Many species are dependent on the habitat provided by native vegetation and taken in aggregate, home plantings can enhance the wildlife populations of an area.

bflyReduce the use of water

Native plants are adapted to the unique climatic conditions of their growing area and once established they require little or no supplemental irrigation. When we grow plants found in our resident plant community, we use far less water than traditional garden landscapes. Using drought tolerant natives in our California gardens conserves a scarce natural resource and saves money on water costs.

20080318_2968_21Reduce the use of pesticides

Many native plants are not severely effected by insect pests and diseases that afflict traditional ornamentals. Often, natives have adapted defense mechanisms to pests common in their habitats or have a high tolerance for pest damage. Eliminating pesticide use in the garden promotes biodiversity, reduces our exposure to toxic substances and saves money.

Enjoy a low maintenance garden

Native LandscapingSpend more time enjoying your garden and less time maintaining it. Natives require less work at garden chores such as mowing, pruning, fertilizing and dividing. California native plants are adapted to a wide variety of growing conditions and fine native plant choices exist for virtually any garden environment. The biodiversity promoted by a native plant garden will reward the owner with satisfying experiences of discovery and observation, not only of the plants themselves, but a host of other species… birds, insects, mammals, etc. A good native plant garden complements the indigenous habitat and by growing plants found in our resident plant community, we bring in all sorts of nearby creatures dependent on that habitat. In a small but significant way, we as native plant gardeners begin to help secure a connection with the natural world that is infinitely more satisfying than mowing the lawn.