Francesca Claverie
Native Plant Program Director at Borderlands Restoration Network
Patagonia, AZ
November 4, 2024
Francesca Claverie led our group through the old metal gate onto the Borderlands Restoration Network’s six-acre native plant nursery and farm. We parked next to a collection of small sheds and greenhouses, where Francesca greeted us with a cheerful smile, her round cheeks glowing beneath her wide-brimmed hat and pink sunglasses. We huddled together to shield ourselves from the wind as Francesca spoke about the importance of the Native Plant Project. For the past decade, she has dedicated her time and energy to nurturing the nursery's initiatives aimed at protecting natural habitats and preserving biodiversity. She described spending countless hours learning the unique needs of native plants and figuring out how to help each one thrive. Unlike domesticated plants, these seeds have very particular requirements to sprout, and Francesca is passionate about discovering the best methods for growing them. Currently, the farm is cultivating about 200 different plant species. While we spoke, her fellow staff members were out collecting more seeds from public land— a slow process, done carefully to avoid overharvesting from any single plant. Francesca emphasized the need for more farms with similar missions to meet the growing demand for seeds for ecological restoration, as the current supply cannot keep up.
Next, she led us into the warmth of the greenhouse, away from the wind. The smell of damp soil filling the air. Francesca walked along the tables of young plants, looking completely at ease in the environment. This greenhouse was home to two of her favorite projects, and light danced in her eyes as she explained them. As she put it, they were growing prickly milkweed plants to support the "sexy" monarch butterflies, and "sexy" agave plants to provide nectar for the often-overlooked nectar-feeding bats. Both the milkweed and agave are becoming increasingly rare, and more need to be grown to support these crucial populations. By the end of the day, Francesca had taught us all to find inspiration in little plants of the desert.
by Cambria Barlett