Kendal Blust/KJZZ

A tree sprouts up at the Palo Alto native plant nursery in Hermosillo, Sonora, on July 8, 2021.

There is a growing effort in the Sonoran capital Hermosillo to plant more trees and create more green spaces in the city. And many are pushing for those trees to be native species. A new nursery is catering to that effort.

The Palo Alto Nursery, inaugurated Thursday morning, is a binational project growing native plant species for reforestation efforts in Hermosillo.

A partnership between the Palo Alto school, where the nursery resides, and Sonoran interns with Arizona-based Borderlands Restoration Network, the nursery is growing mesquites, ironwoods and palo verdes that will go toward greening projects.

“For reforestation, we need hands and we need plants. That’s where the nursery comes in, to benefit the ones who are doing the planting,” said Omar Calva, who has been heading up the project.

Calva, an intern with Borderlands Restoration and ecology teacher at Palo Alto, said there are a growing number of groups working to plant native trees around the city right now. But it can be hard to find endemic species at most nurseries in town. The Palo Alto nursery will hopefully help fill that gap, Calva said, and provide the plants needed to support efforts to make Hermosillo a greener city — and cooler — city.