Wildflower & Native Plant Research - Theodore Payne Foundation

Theodore Payne foundation is a well respected name in Southern California landscaping circles. Their grounds include a nursery of hundreds of varieties of California Native plants including shrubs, vines, berries, and there's an information booth to help you with native plant questions and choices.

On their website, you'll find a Gardening Guide with seasonal tips, a calendar of classes, as well as mail order seeds and a nursery inventory of plants available. And don't forget about their annual Wildflower Hotline that opens each MARCH for the wildflower season.

The annual Native Plant Garden Tour is held in April of each year...what a beautiful introduction to landscaping ideas with native, low-water natives.

Theodore Payne Foundation promotes the understanding and preservation of California native flora.

Theodore Payne represents what happens to many folks who come to California. "He came to Los Angeles in 1893 and fell in love with the California flora, dedicating his life to its preservation." Even in the early years of this century, native vegetation was being lost to agriculture and housing at an alarming rate. He urged the use of California native plants and lectured across the state on preserving the wild flowers and landscapes native to California.

In 1915 he laid out and planted 262 species in a five-acre wild garden in Los Angeles' Exposition Park. He later helped to establish the Blaksley Botanic Garden in Santa Barbara, planted 178 native species in the California Institute of Technology Botanic Garden in Pasadena, helped create the native plant garden at Los Angeles' Descanso Gardens, and advised the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Orange County.

By the time he retired in 1958, Payne had made over 400 species of native plants available to the public.