California natives

RE “The Greening of Grand Avenue,” by Scott Timberg, Nov. 25: With most of the region’s scarce water resources going into landscapes, it is unfortunate that Laurie Olin has preemptively written off a complete palette of plants that are uniquely adapted to our distinctive climate. What a wonderful opportunity the Grand Avenue project offers to replenish some of our native plants while creating habitat and wildlife corridors for native insects and birds.

I welcome Olin and others associated with the project to visit Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont and tour the garden to witness firsthand the beauty, usefulness and diversity of our native plants, including not-at-all-scary native deciduous trees.

PATRICK S. LARKIN

Claremont

The writer is executive director of the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden