This project emerged from a moment of complete standstill, in which we all became sheltered in place, witnesses to extreme conditions that upended life as we know it. This immersive guide consists of narrated stories of plants found outside your window, although they were categorized as invasive and included in California’s “blacklist.” The guide began with plants found at AJU’s campus, and we hope you will bring it into your world: your yard, sidewalk, your favorite park. Take it with you. Locate these plants. Listen to their stories, see what they tell you about the world around you, about yourself. 

Nationwide “blacklists” of plants differentiate “natives” and “non-natives.” The “non-natives” are outlined as competitors with other plants, as a source of negative economic impact, or simply as un-aesthetically pleasing. This guide identifies them and gives voice to their potential testimonies to the human experience. 

This is the first of a two-part project by artist Jenny Yurshansky, which offers viewpoints of immigration, belonging and otherness, as these are weaved into botanical landscapes that reflect people and history.