On a TV piece, the broadcaster characterized the island plantings as “random,” rather than orderly, responding to a neighborhood group’s contention that there is no real design.

Over the past 15 years, I have learned that nature has its own order. After the initial planting in 2009 of 80 species of trees, shrubs, and perennials, 95% of which are California natives, the plants seem to find their “companions” and preferred locations where they continue to thrive.

When this naturalization process takes place, it illustrates why nature knows best. The serendipity of this process creates a beautiful, interesting design with a variety of heights, shapes, textures, and colors in a healthy ecosystem.

So instead of a monochromatic landscape with limited plants arranged in a linear fashion, this island boasts a broad mix of seasonal perennials, shrubs, trees, and annuals in various colors that serve a variety of bees, butterflies, birds, and many other insects and mammals, increasing the biodiversity connectivity of the island and surrounding open space. These plants are “seasonal” in that they produce flowers, seeds, and fruit year-round, providing abundant food sources throughout the seasons when needed by wildlife. It also allows pollinators to conserve precious energy by not having to travel long distances while foraging.

Even in the plants’ final stages, their spent leaves, stems, and fruits can provide cover and forage for insects and other critters.