Isabelle, a KPCC listener, learned to love SoCal through its native plants

NO PLACE LIKE L.A. IS OUR SERIES THAT ASKS L.A. TRANSPLANTS AND IMMIGRANTS: "WHEN WAS THE MOMENT YOU FELT THAT LOS ANGELES WAS TRULY HOME?"

THIS IS THE STORY OF Isabelle Teraoka in Westminster, who's originally from Belgium.

The first time I drove into L.A., traffic was a big shock for me.

I was used to little country roads or, at most, two-lane highways. I just couldn't believe it. It was so shocking.

But falling in love with Southern California, for me, it's all about the nature and the landscapes.

If you're just zooming past on the highway, it looks dead or grey or brownish.

The different plants, I started recognizing them by name.

The California blue-eyed grass has this delicate little grey-green slender stem and these beautiful purplish-blue flowers.

St Catherine's lace, it becomes taller than I am in the garden, and it has these big umbrella-like white flowers.

Catalina Island snapdragon's red and it's kind of funny because you can push on it and it opens up kind of like a little dragon's mouth.

I finally have that connection to nature that I didn't at first have. I guess I planted my roots here.

TELL US YOUR OWN STORY, TOO. IF YOU'RE A TRANSPLANT OR IMMIGRANT, WHAT WAS THE MOMENT WHEN YOU THOUGHT TO YOURSELF, "L.A. FEELS LIKE HOME, NOW?"