Meeting:

November 11, 2010

Guest Presenter:

Mike Evans

Program:

California Native Plant Landscapes and Gardens

A presentation by Mike Evans, president of Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano, California and an outspoken advocate of California native plants.

For our November meeting, Mike Evans shared insights from his many years of growing and observing native plants in a variety of both natural and manmade settings.

Mike was born and raised in southern California and demonstrated an early love for the outdoors. He worked with several nurseries, both retail and wholesale, before establishing Tree of Life Nursery in 1976. The nursery specializes in native California plants and promotes the concept of appropriate landscaping. Tree of Life provides plants for landscaping and ecological restoration at the wholesale level and makes native plants and books available to the public at the retail level. The nursery website www.CaliforniaNativePlants.com provides valuable information on the use of native plants in the garden and its catalog, Plants of El Camino Real, is used as a planning tool for horticultural professionals and garden enthusiasts working with native plants.

Mike has been active in the California Native Plant Society, the California Botanical Society and the Nature Conservancy. With his experience in native plant production, design, landscaping and ecological restoration, Mike is often called on to write or lecture on the subject. His hobbies include hiking, surfing, photography, reading and writing. He serves as pastor of a Spanish language Christian church in San Juan Capistrano.

Matilija Poppy © Wildscaping.