We associate fire with destruction. But some plants, known as “fire followers”, grow abundantly in places where there’s been a blaze. Apricot mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) is one such plant. Our nursery and seed bank has been experimenting with different ways of helping this popular garden plant to germinate. They recently did five scientific experiments with apricot mallow seeds.

Robbie Bond came running across our lobby earlier this year, excited to describe his first ever night camping in the high desert. His stopover in the Mojave Trails was part of an amazing tour he was doing with his Dad to promote the 27 national monuments threatened with federal cutbacks. Like a lot of kids his age, Robbie had never visited the desert before. Never woken up to a sunrise over the Cadiz dunes. He left determined to share that experience with others.

The tricolored blackbird population has steeply declined in recent decades. Stinging nettles grown by the Mojave Desert Land Trust could help turn that around. One of the goals of our nursery is to restore habitats throughout the region by growing native plants. In the summer of 2017, the Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) was contracted to grow plants for a restoration project at Pleitito Creek in Wind Wolves Preserve. That’s right — a riparian habitat, not our usual desert fare!