Primrose Way Pollinator Garden

Primrose Way Pollinator Garden This is the story of creating, maintaining, and promoting pollinator and insect habitats in Palo Alto Sadly, such non-native yards are the rule.

I'm Juanita Salisbury, a landscape architect in Palo Alto, California. I started this page initially to promote fund-raising for creating a pollinator garden and habitat close to my house. After driving by a parkway in the neighborhood for a couple of years, walking through neighborhood pollinator deserts and really wanting a larger garden space, I contacted the city of Palo Alto to see if I could

transform this space into a pollinator garden. They were intrigued, and after designing a garden and habitat, they gave me the green light to make it happen. The site is in a parkway located between Primrose Way and Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto. In 2016 we changed the plantings from lawn to a California native plant habitat with dozens of plant species. In the years since we installed this garden, 4 more gardens were installed, with a corridor habitat project as our newest project to connect two of the gardens. While walking through the residential neighborhoods in the area I am always struck by the differences in the amount of life in the front yards. Yards with native plants are alive with bees, butterflies, and birds of all kinds. Yards featuring mostly non-native plants are still, quiet and devoid of the buzz of activity elsewhere. Most yards do not provide year-long nectar, pollen or habitat for native pollinators and other insects. The neighborhoods are pollinator and insect deserts. Bees and other insects are struggling from habitat loss, less biodiversity, and pollution among other things. By planting locally native plants and engaging in best practices, these are easy and beautiful ways to support the abundance of life that will follow.

06/14/2026

Thank you Laura, Ted, and Tamar!

Laying in the grass this is my view.
06/13/2026

Laying in the grass this is my view.

New blog post.
06/11/2026

New blog post.

Mystery brodiaeas and pinto violets in the home garden today.
06/10/2026

Mystery brodiaeas and pinto violets in the home garden today.

06/07/2026

Paying it forward. A big thanks to Tamar and for the great work today!

06/05/2026

😉

A little from the home garden
06/04/2026

A little from the home garden

Chaparral tea: Eriodictyon californicum, Clinopodium douglasii, Agastache urtificifolia, and Trichostemma lanatum. Going...
06/04/2026

Chaparral tea: Eriodictyon californicum, Clinopodium douglasii, Agastache urtificifolia, and Trichostemma lanatum. Going for the sterubin for my grey matter.

Scenes in the home garden today.
06/02/2026

Scenes in the home garden today.

05/31/2026

Good garden game at Guida! Thank you for your help!

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Palo Alto, CA

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