Rainy day friends

NATURAL PERSPECTIVES

Last weekend we said goodbye to what was probably the last rain of

the season and hello to the coastal fog of May and June. I’ll miss

the rain.

For some reason, I love being outdoors as a weather front moves

in. I like to garden right before an approaching storm. Vic prefers

birding at such times because storm fronts often bring unusual

migrants. Last Friday, I gardened and he birded, which made us each

happy in our own way.

With good intentions of expanding our butterfly garden, I had

bought some California native plants at the Friends of Shipley Nature

Center’s first plant sale way back in November. Five lovely potted

sages sat in our yard all winter, awaiting a planting day that never

arrived. I moved them around once in a while until I found a location

that suited both them and me. But I never did seem to find the time

or energy to actually plant them.

Now any wife worth her salt would have nagged her husband until he

planted them, but I could never find Vic during daylight hours. He

gets up much earlier than I do and always manages to be out birding

before I can think of any garden chores to occupy his time. By the

time he returns home, I have long forgotten about landscaping tasks.

We settle in for a nice dinner and a discussion of our respective

days before one or the other of us has to run off to some evening

meeting. It works out well for both of us, really, but the result is

a neglected yard.

On Friday, I knew it was my last chance to get those sages planted

before the end of rainy season. So with firm resolve and achy knees,

I set spade to earth and planted three columbines, three autumn sages

(Salvia greggii) and two electric blue sages (Salvia chamaedryoides).

The new columbines went under the trees next to some other

columbines, coral bells and Douglas irises that I planted last year.

Columbines are native to the Rocky Mountains where I spent my youth

-- or perhaps I should say misspent my youth, since it was the wild

and woolly 60s when I was in college in Boulder. The columbines are

imports from another ecosystem, but the sages and irises are native

to California, where I am spending my wild and wooly middle years.

I finished planting on Friday before the rain fell. The forecast

for Saturday was for even more rain, a prospect I didn’t relish

because the Friends of Shipley Nature Center hold their restoration

days on the first Saturday of every month, rain or shine. At one of

their meetings I failed to say “no” fast enough and ended up being

vice president, chief grant writer and a host of other jobs.

I figured no one would show up for restoration day in the rain,

which was too bad because I had reserved a big dumpster from Rainbow

Disposal. We planned on filling it with castor bean stalks and roots

from giant reed that volunteers and Orange County Conservation Corps

workers have been piling up for months.

Rainbow hauled away and composted more than 75 tons of weeds from

the Nature Center last year, free of charge. They continue to provide

free removal for the Friends’ restoration days. Rainbow is one of the

best corporate citizens in town, offering help to nonprofit groups

whenever they are able. The Friends are only one of many

beneficiaries of Rainbow’s generosity. As the Friends face the

Herculean task of removing nonnative plants from the center,

Rainbow’s donated services are a godsend.

So it was with trepidation that I ventured forth in the rain on

Saturday. Rainbow had provided the dumpster, but could we provide the

volunteers to fill it, given that it was pouring down rain?

The answer was yes. Despite the weather, 25 stalwart souls turned

out. They worked all morning, braving mud and pouring rain. By noon,

the dumpster was filled.

Most of the nature center’s green waste is now managed on site.

Felled nonnative trees slated for removal are chipped to make wood

chips for the trails. Most green weeds are pulled and allowed to

decompose where they lie. But the castor bean, giant reed and

passionvine are so invasive that the volunteers haul them away so

they won’t regrow.

It was heartening to see so many people willing to work in the

rain to benefit a little patch of paradise. Actually, it was paradise

lost for many years. But the nature center will be back. And so will

we. Every first Saturday of the every month until that spot is the

best darned nature center in Orange County. Rain or shine.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.