Why those ‘native seeds’ you bought might not be good for your garden

Under the glow of white tabletop lamps, volunteers carefully separated small seeds from dirt and debris inside a small warehouse on Saturday morning.

These seeds, despite being native to the Mojave Desert, are not often found in plant shops and nurseries around the Las Vegas Valley.

While home improvement stores and garden centers may proudly sell native plant seeds for customers to take home and grow, Joe Kennedy, executive director of the nonprofit organization Get Outdoors Nevada, said that not every seed pack labeled “native” really belongs in local backyards.

This is because plants that are native to the southwestern United States may not fit in well with the delicate ecosystem unique to the Mojave Desert, as they won’t attract native pollinators, Kennedy explained.

In order to combat this shortage of native plants, Get Outdoors Nevada has planted more than ten native habitat gardens throughout the valley. It’s from these gardens that the seeds being “cleaned” by volunteers were gathered.

Reviving and replanting

One table of volunteers spending their Saturday morning in Get Outdoors Nevada’s warehouse had the easier task of “cleaning” the larger seeds of a Chaste tree, a form of lilac.

The other table needed the help of bright lights to identify the smaller California Buckwheat seeds.

Education Fellow Frankie Lopez, 25, selected the two flowering plants as she felt they were good options to bolster the organization’s seed bank.

She estimated that over the course of three hours, the two tables of volunteers would clean as many as 10,000 seeds.

Get Outdoors Nevada will trade some of the seeds cleaned on Saturday with their partners, including a plant nursery that’s not open to the public: Song Dog Native Plant Nursery.

Nursery’s collection

Song Dog Native Plant Nursery, located inside Lake Mead National Recreation Area, hosts a collection of native seeds that are used to “plan restoration projects and conduct plantings in disturbed areas,” according to the nursery’s website.

The nursery, which opened in 1992, is used to restore native plant populations where it’s needed, both inside the recreation area and beyond.

“Because they are a federal nursery, they’re actually not allowed to sell to the public,” Kennedy explained. “They’re in a tricky spot,” he said, as both organizations want to make native seeds more accessible to people who want to plant them.

Kennedy said he hopes that efforts like Saturday’s seed cleaning event help people to see the value in planting native species. Beyond the benefits they provide to the local ecosystem, they also typically require less water and are more hardy, he said.

Volunteers who show up to seed cleanings get to take home a bag of native seeds, Kennedy explained. Anyone interested in learning more about how to find native seeds to plant are encouraged to contact Get Outdoors Nevada.

From garden to (seed cleaning) table

“I actually helped plant some of these plants,” said Stephen Shoun, an ambassador for Get Outdoors Nevada who volunteered to clean seeds on Saturday. He also has spent time tending to the organization’s gardens, which is where the seeds were harvested from.

“I love giving back to the community and helping clean up our outdoor environments,” Shoun said.

Elizabeth Ward, 36, brought her 13-year-old son to clean seeds on Saturday as a way to connect with nature without going outside. “It’s hot outside, so we can’t really go hiking right now,” Ward explained.

Once the weather cools and volunteers venture back outside, they may find that the seeds they collected on Saturday have found new homes throughout the valley.

Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @estelleatkinsonreports on Instagram and @estellelilym on X.