Ever since discovering the virtues of California native plants, Arvind Kumar has made spreading the word a top priority.
The software engineer not only volunteers as publicist for the Santa Clara Valley chapter of the California Native Plant Society, but he also heads a dozen volunteers tending a California natives garden at Lake Cunningham.
This spring, the group received $3,400 in city grants for the garden and a nursery they plan to build at the park. Plants grown there will be transplanted into the garden.
``What we want to do is have a demonstration garden of California natives to show how you can have a drought-tolerant, naturalistic garden,'' Kumar said.
He hopes the demonstration garden will persuade his neighbors to ditch conventional landscaping and go native instead. He ticks off their benefits: drought-tolerant, inexpensive, good for wildlife, no need for pesticides or chemical fertilizers. And pretty, too.
He's in for an uphill battle. Just about everyone on his Evergreen cul-de-sac has lawns flanked by roses. Not Kumar. He tore out his lawn and replaced it with California natives.
``This is a big experiment,'' he said of his efforts to persuade neighbors to do the same. ``We'll see if we succeed or not.''
For Kumar, growing California natives is one more way to feel more like a California native himself. Kumar grew up in India, and came to the United States for graduate school in 1979 before moving to California in 1982. He and partner Ashok Jethanandani bought their Evergreen house in 1988.
``It was beginning to feel like home but at the same time we didn't feel like full participants'' in community life here, he said.
He says one observation driving him and Jethanandani to feel like outsiders was the American media's failure to cover India and Indo-Americans except in times of crisis.
So in 1987, they founded ``India Currents,'' a monthly magazine. For similar reasons, Kumar took up California natives, figuring that as the plants put down roots, he would do the same.
``I'm Indian, I'll always be Indian, but I also want to belong,'' he said.
Kumar's interest in California natives began when friends and relatives nagged him to do something about his parched lawn, which he failed to water.
When Kumar discovered California natives, he thought he found the perfect solution. But plants died in their pots while Kumar debated where to put them in the yard, or he would transplant but not water them, and the plants would die of thirst.
He also tried simply scattering wildflower seeds, but nothing happened because birds snacked on his seedlings or weeds crowded them out.
He learned that he needed to water even the hardiest plants until they get established, and that he had to mulch and remove weeds to prevent them from taking over.
His first success was with a sage seedling that grew into a huge bush, attracting aphids, which in turn drew flocks of tiny, hungry birds called bush tits.
``So that's how it all started for me,'' he said. ``I had found a plant that didn't die. The California sage is one plant that said, `Hey, you don't have to take care of me. I'm OK on my own.' ''
His glee eventually led him to volunteer as publicist for the local chapter of the California natives society.
``We got a lot more people interested in our plants sales, which raises money for the chapter, which allows us to do more things'' such as sponsoring scholarships, said Carol Mattsson, the chapter's newsletter editor.
His publicity work has made him a familiar face at many South Bay nurseries, where he posts society notices.
``He's very enthusiastic and he's very good about getting the word out,'' said Wanda Olson, manager of the natives section at Alum Rock's Payless Nursery.
These days, nearly all of Kumar's yard is packed with California natives. He even created borders brimming with wildflowers, and arbors covered with native grape vines.
At the park, Kumar's group has a half-acre of sloping land near the lake's southern shore. Huge drifts of sage they planted attract swarms of bees and butterflies, and -- on one recent day -- even a school boy chasing bugs with a net.
``I don't begrudge him a couple butterflies,'' Kumar said. ``You can imagine 10 years from now, this place will be filled with butterflies.''
Sitting on a bench on the garden's edge, Kumar gazed out over the lake. Bees buzzed. A squirrel pawed at the dirt. Canada geese, goslings in tow, waddled by. Perhaps inspired by all this, Kumar began talking big picture about how cultivating natives helps save the environment.
``We have to be proactive by not just saving'' natives in state parks, he said. ``We need to plant them in our gardens. You can have your development but if you can integrate a little bit of native plants, you can have both.''