Fast Forward

Whoa! Can't believe that it's been 3 months since my last blog post. So much to do and so little time.

Despite the paucity of rain this past winter, the natives (which generally thrive on winter precipitation), have done remarkably well. In particular and quite surprisingly, all of the California Lilacs (Ceanothus) and Manzanitas were chock full of magnificent blooms earlier in the year.

Here's a recap of some of the garden happenings from April to June. July was, well, frankly rather uneventful, but I'll go through the rolls and see what's worth posting in the next round.

4/7/13 Otay Mountain Ceanothus (Ceanothus otayensis). Not one of the more ostentatious of the California Lilacs, but very drought tolerant and quite charming with its light, powder-blue blooms.

4/7/13 Cliff Rose (Purshia mexicana stansburiana). CA & SW desert native. Beautiful creamy white-yellow blooms in the spring. 

4/7/13 Great Basin Sage/Fleshy Sage (Salvia dorrii var. incana). Native to the NW High Cascades in Siskiyou County, CA. Distribution outside of CA is to Washington & Idaho. I bought this one online (a distinct form from the Cascade Mountains of Washington State) from High County Gardens in NM, before they closed their retail operation. Seems to be doing well in our DG.

4/7/13 Desert Sage/Dorr's Sage/Purple Sage (Salvia dorrii). In CA can be found in the NW Cascade Range, E. Sierras, Tehachapis, N. Mojave, and Great Basin Floristic Province. 

4/7/13 Western Toad (Bufo boreas), in a rock crevice above the pond. 

4/7/13 A pair of Western Bluebirds in one of the nesting boxes near the Sycamores.

4/12/13 A boy California Quail underneath one of the bird feeders. There's a resident covey of about 15 quail in the nearby chaparral that come regularly to feed on the birdseed that is strewn about on the ground by the unruly Scrub Jays and House Finches. 

4/13/13 Great Egret on a rock outcropping near the neighbor's fence.

4/14/13 Bumble Bee Plant/Black-Flowered Figwort (Scrophularia strata). Native to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties.

4/14/13 Most Beautiful Jewel Flower (Streptanthus albidus peramoena). Endemic to Central Coast Ranges & Bay Area of CA. 

4/14/13 'Mountain Haze' Ceanothus. A fast-growing Ceanothus hybrid with beautiful blooms in late winter/early spring. Seems to be fairly garden tolerant (i.e., is not averse to a little extra water in the dry months), but I've never ever watered it during the summer months, and it seems to be doing perfectly fine.

4/14/13 Pacific Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus). This one likes a tad more water and shade, so it's growing under one of the Sycamores. 'Las Pilitas' Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea) in the backdrop. 

4/14/13 'El Tigre' Pitcher Sage (Lepechinia fragrans). Beautiful flowers and velvety soft, fragrant foliage! Growing next to a large stand of Hoffmann's Night Shade (Solanum xanti var. hoffmannii)  and Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea). 

4/14/13 Golden Yarrow (Eriophyllum confertiflorum), which is native to our site, and 'Point Sal' Purple Sage (Salvia leucophyllum).

4/14/13 'Tassajara Blue' Ceanothus.

4/14/13 Wildflowers: Baby Blue Eyes, Chinese Houses, Woodland Tidytips, and assorted Monkeyflowers.

4/20/13 Hooded Oriole.

4/20/13 California Thrasher.

4/20/13 Male Western Bluebird.

4/24/13 Pink Fairy Duster (Calliandra eriophylla).

4/24/13 Island Tree Poppy (Dendromecon harfordii). Endemic to the California Channel Islands. 

4/24/13 'Margarita BOP' Penstemon, 'Conejo' Monkeyflower (Diplacus longiflorus), and Verbena lilacina 'De La Mina' on the other side of the driveway.

4/24/13 Peninsular Onion (Allium peninsulare). 

4/24/13 Woolly Blue Curls (Trichostema lanatum), Prickly Phlox (Leptodactylon californicum), and Showy Penstemon to the right (Penstemon spectabilis). 

4/24/13 Red Monkeyflower (Diplacus puniceus).

4/24/13 'Margarita BOP' Penstemon, 'Conejo' Monkeyflower (Diplacus longiflorus) and 'San Gabriel' Fremontodendron.

4/24/13 Scytheleaf Onion (Allium falcifolium).

4/28/13 Ash-Throated Flycatcher.

5/3/13 Western Tanager.

5/4/13 SQUIRREL!!

5/5/13 Bush Anemone (Carpinteria californica).

5/5/13 Canary Island Sage (Salvia canariensis), Autumn Sages (Salvia greggii), and Fremontodenron 'Ken Taylor.' 

5/5/13 Chalk Liveforever (Dudleya pulverulenta). 

The Dudleya bed - have to keep it enclosed with chicken wire, or else the bunnies will go to town. 

5/5/12 Black-Headed Grosbeak. 

5/5/13 Kaweah River Bush Monkeyflower (Diplacus calycinus).

5/5/13 'Ken Taylor' Fremontodendron.

5/5/13 Upper half of the olive grove: Manzanillas, Missions, Arbequinas, and Leccinos.

5/5/13 Prickly Poppies (Argemone munita). These are abundant in some of the lower elevations of the E. Sierras. Bought these online from Annies Annuals up in Richmond, CA. 

5/5/13 Showy Penstemon (Penstemon spectabilis). 

5/5/13 Spice Bush (Calycanthus occidentalis).

5/10/13 Great Blue Heron. BAAAD heron! He's there to eat our fish!

5/18/13 Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa).

5/18/13 Red Torch Cactus/Argentine Hedgehog (Echinopsis huascha). Native to N. Argentina.

5/18/13 Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata). Native Mojave desert annual, easily grown from seed. With deep watering once a week in the summer, they last for months on end.

5/18/13 'Desert Museum' Palo Verde. A thornless (YES!!) hybrid between Foothill, Blue and Mexican Palo Verde. Flowering season is in the spring, but will bloom sporadically throughout the summer months. 

5/18/13 Saffron Buckwheat/Conejo Buckwheat (Eriogonum crocatum). 

5/18/13 'Hanging Valley' Santa Lucia Bushmallow (Malacothamnus palmeri). 

5/18/13 Harvest Brodiaea (Brodiaea elegans).

5/18/13 Western Spiraea (Spiraea douglasii).

6/2/13 Chevron-leaved Scarlet Monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis).

6/2/13 Creek Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus).

6/2/13 Ocean Spray/Cream Bush (Holodiscus discolor). 

6/2/13 'Winifred Gilman' Cleveland Sage (Salvia clevelandii). 

6/9/13 'Aurora' Farewell to Spring (Clarkia amoena).

6/9/13 Clarkia rubicunda 'Shamini.'

6/9/13 Beginnings of a butterfly and hummingbird garden, next to the rose garden.

6/23/13 Turkey Vultures doing what TVs do best, i.e., not winning an Avian beauty contest. They're either trying to out-freak each other, basking themselves in the sun, or just too freakin' full to fly anywhere after overindulging on some top notch carrion.

6/23/13 Wow! My first artichoke I've ever grown and I forgot to harvest them before they morphed into this. The flowers are gorgeous, like gigantic thistles because, well, they are!

6/23/13 Sapphire Eriastrum (Eriastrum sapphirinum). Native to the property, near the rose garden.

A Manzanita Retrospective

Ridiculous how time flies. My last post was on January 25th and here we are now into the 2nd week of April. Between work and garden chores, I haven't been able to keep my blog up to date, but at least I charted the progression of blooms throughout the season on the property via photography and am posting some of those photos now. 

We didn't have all that much rain this past winter, and yet every freaking plant on the grounds (native, non-native, fruit trees, or otherwise) is studded with blossoms. I can only surmise that it was perhaps due to the lack of protracted cold temps in La Cresta, which can sometimes extend into April-May. 

So the manzanita blooms were simply stunning this year, and here's the retrospective:

1/26/13 Frazier Park/Mt. Pinos Manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca).

2/8/13 Lester Rowntree (A. obispoensis x A. pajaroensis). 1982 RSABG Intro.

2/8/13 Austin Griffiths Manzanita (A. manzanita x A. densiflora).

1/25/13 Rainbow Manzanita (Arctostaphylos rainbowensis).

1/25/13 Rainbow Manzanita (A. rainbowensis).

2/8/13 Lutsko's Pink Manzanita (A. densiflora hybrid).

1/26/13 Mexican/Pointleaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens).

1/26/13 John Dourley Manzanita (Arctostaphylos hybrid named after the RSABG Horticultural director in the 1970s). A smaller selection with a mounding growth habit.

2/16/13 Whiteleaf Manzanita (A. viscida ssp. viscida).

1/25/13 Louis Edmunds Manzanita (A. stanfordiana ssp. bakeri).

2/8/13 Big Sur Manzanita (A. edmundsii).

2/8/13 Right to left: Sunset Manzanita (A. hookeri x A. pajaroensis) and Harmony Manzanita (A. densiflora).

2/8/13 Diablo Blush Manzanita (A. auriculata).

2/8/13 Ghostly Manzanita (A. silvicola).

2/8/13 Howard McMinn Manzanita (A. densiflora).

2/8/13 Austin Griffiths (A. manzanita x A. densiflora), Ian Bush Manzanita (A. densiflora x A. pungens) and Sentinel Manzanita (A. densiflora selection).

1/25/13 Margarita's Joy Manzanita (A. pechoensis).

1/25/13 Paradise Manzanita (A. pajaroensis).

1/25/13 Santa Cruz (A. andersonii).

3/3/13 Laguna Manzanita (A. glandulosa adamsii).

A Winter's Tale in a Southern California Garden

Every season for the Southern California gardener has its special allure, but winter happens to be my favorite time of the year. Natives are generally best planted in the winter, at least in our neck of the woods, when cooler temps and more precipitation seem to prevail (in contrast to our Indian summerish falls which are, weather-wise, far less predictable). And, of course, there's no shortage of unexpected color from a plethora of winter-flowering shrubs and whatever  remains in late December to January of the vividly-hued senescent fall foliage on the sycamores, cottonwoods, Roger's Red California grape, non-native sweet gums (Liquidamber), and the two Japanese maples (Acer palmatum 'Shindeshojo' and 'Emperor One') that are still hanging on for dear life after six years in our semi-sheltered kitchen herb garden, having endured and survived perennial beatings from our hot, dry summers and oftentimes gale-forced Santa Ana winds.

12/28/12 Arizona Sycamore (Platanus wrightii) in all its leafless winter splendor.

The bare-naked stems of any deciduous tree, especially when adorned with pendulous ornamental seed pods, are also quite enchanting: the winter garden would not be the same without the visage of the burgundy pea pods of Western redbud (Cercis occidentalis), the dangly dingleberries of sycamores (Racemosa wrightii), and the dagger-like seed capsules of desert willows (Chilopsis linearis) in the backdrop.

The grounds have been starting to green up with velvety patches of forest green moss and supple carpets of verdant grasses that have just emerged after our recent rains. Sounds more like Ireland than California's coastal sage scrub, no? The show will be short-lived, though, so I'll enjoy it while I can, especially before the invasive mustards and yellow star thistle make their unwelcome appearance. It's taken quite an effort to get these weeds under control in the graded areas of our property - and they are becoming sparser every year - but they have not been completely eradicated, so diligence, patience, and persistence are needed.

Lastly, a number of our native shrubs are in full bud. Soon, the garden will be resplendent with the lilac to white blossoms of Ceanothus, the pretty-in-pink urn-shaped blooms of Manzanitas, and the blazing, glossy buttercup-yellow flowers of the Fremontias.

12/28/12 View of the snow-capped San Bernardino Mountains from the kitchen garden.

12/28/12 Engelmann Oak (Quercus engelmannii) and a shrubby Mission Manzanita (Xylococcus bicolor) in the understory. 

12/28/12 Mission Manzanita (Xylococcus bicolor). We have two of these native on our site - this one's under the Engelmann Oak (which happens to be on the other side of the fence on our neighbor's property), and the other is an 8' tree in the chaparral stand just off of the driveway.

12/28/12 Raised bed with assorted monkey flowers (Mimulus spp.), Large-leaved Avens (Geum macrophyllum), and annuals including Sticky Phacelia (Phacelia viscida), Wind Poppy (Stylomecon heterophylla), Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii), and Chinese Houses (Collinsia heterophylla).

12/28/12 Sticky Phacelia (Phacelia viscida).

12/28/12 Another raised bed with Orange-Flowered Yerba Buena (Satureja mimuloides), Douglas' Meadowfoam ( Limnanthes douglasii), Sierra Columbine (Aquilegia pubescens), San Francisco Wallflower (Erysimum franciscanum var. crassifolium), Idllywild Rockflower (Heuchera hirsutissima), Cream Cups (Platystemon californicus), Fringe Cups (Tellima grandiflora), and Beautiful Rockcress (Arabis pulchra gracilis).

12/28/12 Coyote Mint (Monardella villosa). A tough native mint that seems to bloom year-round.

12/28/12 Giant Coreopsis (Coreopsis gigantea), emerging from summer dormancy.

12/28/12 Meadow Rue (Thalictrum fendleri var. polycarpum), also emerging from summer dormancy. This one likes shade to part shade and regular water.

12/28/12 Padre's Shooting Star (Dodecatheon clevelandii). I planted 3 of these in the native grassland/meadow garden. Very cool that they've survived and are resurfacing.

12/28/12 Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata). I propagated these Cal desert natives from seed in the desert garden, and am surprised that they've been flowering almost all year round. They're generally known to be annuals or short-lived perennials. I'm sure that caging them with chicken wire saved them from inevitable rabbit browsing and kept them alive and kicking for more than one season.

12/28/12 Baja Rose (Rosa minutifolia).

12/28/12 Native grassland (Nasella pulchra, Festuca californica, Sisyrinchium bellum), enclosed by a fence of 1" gauge chicken wire to keep those dastardly wabbits out. I had sowed a bunch of wildflower seeds here earlier in the fall (Clarkia bottae, Nemophila menziesii, Gilia tricolor, Collinsia heterophylla, Layia platyglossa, Lupinus bicolor, etc.) in hopes that there will be a riot of spring color.

12/28/12 Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa).

12/28/12 Cliff Spurge (Euphorbia misera).

12/28/12 'San Gabriel' Fremontodendron. Only two blooms on this ginormous 12' shrub so far, but more will follow.

12/28/12 Sugar Bush (Rhus ovata).

12/28/12 Hana Banana, making her rounds.

1/5/13 A youngish looking bobcat near the fenceline with one of our neighbors. Didn't seem too concerned that I was ogling him with my camera lens. Pretty kitty.

1/5/13 Sharp-shinned hawk on one of the bird feeders, waiting for dinner. Ya think the hapless little birdies are gonna come around now? If so, Darwin award!

1/11/13 'Cape Sebastian' Seaside Daisy (Erigeron glaucus).

1/11/13 Island Ceanothus (Ceanothus arboreus). Native to the chaparral slopes on several of the Channel Islands off of the California coast. This 4' shrub is growing along the fenceline next to a Cal Sycamore. There are a ton of buds setting, so can't wait for the burst of lilac color sure to happen in the next few weeks.

1/11/13 Rose garden, in its nascent stage. I planted about 40 roses (mostly own root from Heirloom Roses in Oregon) in November-December, and had to cage them to protect them from bunny predation. But if all goes well, there will be blooms galore and heady fragrances come late spring.

1/20/13 Bush Anemone (Carpinteria californica). A Cal native that likes dappled shade. This one is growing under a 10' Monterey Cypress at our front entry.