A newly-created committee in the city of Mission aims to encourage others to grow native, drought resistant plants.

One of the seven members of the committee is botanist Betty Perez. She worked with the city to create an ordinance to protect native plants.

Perez grows the plants in her front yard, and created the ordinance after the city mistook her plants for weeds and mowed them in November 2023.

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“It's a lot about educating people about native plants,” Perez said of the committee.

Angela Rojas, a biologist at Quinta Mazatlan, is also part of the committee.

“[Native plants] are adapted to droughts, they're adapted to occasional freezes and they have special relationships with the animals that live here, with the pollinators and the birds,” Rojas said.

Rojas added that the committee also aims to protect local wildlife.

The city wants to formally recognize people in the city who have native plants in their yards. Homeowners will have to meet certain guidelines in order to receive a designation.

“So there will be an understanding with the code enforcement department that these properties that have the designations are enough to be checked for the weedy lawn owners,” Mission planning director Xavier Cervantes said.

Cervantes said planting more native plants, such as trees, will also help keep temperatures down.

“Native plants, they require a lot less care,” Cervantes said. “They require a lot less water, and that's the main point we've been trying to get across to these cities."

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