Santa Cruz Island Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. aspleniifolius)
Lyonothamnus floribundus ssp. aspleniifolius is a mouthful to say but there is nothing edible about this tree. Lyonothamnus is endemic to the Channel Islands of California, where it grows in the chaparral and oak woodlands of the rocky coastal canyons. (more…)
With the lack of rain, everybody is wondering what to do in regards to irrigation. As we remember from Richard W. Halsey, our 2018 banquet speaker, California native plants generally receive rain during the months of November through April. However at this juncture, mid-February 2018, we currently have a deficit of 4 to 6 inches in rainfall. Due to this unusual lack of precipitation I’m recommending, if you can afford it, to water your oaks and other California native plantings.
A Rain Bird sprinkler puts out 120 gallons in 30 minutes, this would be equivalent to about a quarter inch of rain. At this point, you would need to water for 8 hours with a Rain Bird to catch up to normal rainfall for mid-February. Of course that would be very expensive and I’m not recommending you do that. However, any extra water that you can apply to your landscape including gray water would be very beneficial.
Until next month, Happy Gardening. John Nowak, Plant Sale co-Chairperson.
What native plant has more name recognition than Heteromeles arbutifolia, or some times, commonly known as Christmas Berry and California Holly. It is the sole species in the genus Heteromeles. Back in the 1920’s, people in southern California were drawn to the plant because is looked like holly. Some even believe that Hollywood was named after the large concentrations of the species growing on the slopes of the subdivision. (more…)
With winter on the way, now is the time for us to think about planting California native plants. When we plant in the winter, or rainy season as I like to call it, we take advantage of the moist soil conditions to help establish our plants. Plants planted in the rainy season do most of their growing underground with root development. When spring comes, they respond to this establishing period by sending out new shoot growth. By summer, they are ready for the long dry months ahead and will survive on monthly waterings. (more…)
Monarch caterpillar feeding on Asclepias fascicularis
All of our local native milkweeds are perennials, but like a lot of our drought-adapted plants, die back and go dormant during the long late summer and fall drought. Many gardeners, knowing there is a monarch butterfly/ milkweed connection, try to keep the milkweeds green all year, or use non-native milkweeds that stay green. Cal Poly’s Dr. Francis Villablanca has shown that winter breeding by monarchs will take place if green milkweed is available, which would not normally happen in the overwintering populations in SLO County. Nonstop breeding on the same plants can perpetuate the transmission of a devastating parasite called OE, for Ophryocystis elektroscirrha.
Normally, the transmission cycle is broken when milkweeds go dormant. The infection can kill adults as they emerge from their chrysalis, while mildly infected monarchs fly poorly, don’t reproduce normally, and die early. These very sick butterflies can then carry spores of the pathogen into the milkweeds in other gardens or along the entire migration route.
You don’t have to tear out a non-native milkweed if you cut it way back. While the infection issue is much greater for the central USA migration paths, it is critical that we take preventive actions on the coast, especially since we are still determining how bad it actually is in California.
Many thanks to Dr. Villablanca of Cal Poly on putting all of this together.
David Chipping
Coffeeberry Frangula californica – Images courtesy of Marlin Harms
Way back in 1992 the Watershed Education Program for San Luis Obispo County, in conjunction with U.C. Extension and the Soil Conservation Service (now Natural Resources Conservation Service) produced a list of native plants suitable for erosion control. CNPS feels that the wildfires of 2016 justifies republication of this list, although we have editied for species name changes and removed a couple of non-native species from the original list. The Highway 41 fire burned two years later, but that was far smaller than the current spate of fires.
David Chipping
Lupinus albifons
Alnus rhombifolia
White Alder 1,2
Acer macrophyllum
Big Leaf Maple 1,3
Acer negundo var. californicum
Box Elder 4
Artemisia califomica
California Sagebrush 5, 12,26
Baccharis pilularis Coyote Brush 12, 27
Ceanothus cuneatus
Buckbrush 5, 6, 12
Cornus glabrata
Creek Dogwood 1, 16, 18
Frangula californica
Coffeeberry 5, 10, 28
Hazardia squarrosa
Goldenbush 6
Heteromeles arbutifolia
Toyon 5,12,28
Myrica califomica
Bayberry (Wax-Myrtle) 1, 16
Plantanus racemosa
California Sycamore 1, 16
Populus trichocarpa
Black Cottonwood 1, 16
Querus agrifolia
Coast Live Dak 5,12,17,27, 28
Rhamnus crocea
Redberry 5
Ribes divaricatum
Wild Gooseberry 8
Ribes menziesii
8, 24
Ribes menziesii var. hystrix
8,20
Ribes speciosum
Fuschia flowered Gooseberry 8
Rosa californica
Wild Rose 1
Rubus ursinus
California Blackberry 1, 9, 20
Salix lasiolepsis
Arroyo Willow 1, 16, 18,22
Salvia mellifera
Black Sage 5, 6, 26
Salvia spathacea
Hummingbird Sage 20
Sambucus nigra ssp. caerulea
Blue Elderberry 1, 5, 11, 12, 28
Umbellularia californica
California Bay, California Laurel 2, 5, 12, 16, 24
Toyon and Sycamore
Acmispon americanus
Pink Deer-Vetch 6,12
Artemisia douglasiana
Mugwort 1,5,24
Bloomeria crocea var. aurea
Golden Stars 25
Claytonia perfoliata
Miner’s Lettuce 16, 17
Crassula connata var. connata
Pygmy Weed 6
Cryptantha sp.
Cryptantha 6
Cyperus eragrostis
Umbrella Sedge 1
Delphinium sp.
Larkspur 6,28
Eleocharis palustris
Common Spike rush 1,16
Elymus glaucus
Blue Wildrye 5,12,15,20,27
Elymus triticoides
Creeping Wild rye 5,12,15,19,22,27
Epilobium ciliatum ssp. watsonii
Willow Herb 1
Equisetum telmateia
Giant Horsetail 1, 11,28
Erigeron canadensis
Horseweed 1,13
Eschscholzia californica
California poppy 5,6,23
Helianthus annuus
Sunflower
Hoita macrostachya
Leather Root 1, 18
Hordeum brachyantherum
Meadow Barley 15,19,23
Lupinus albifrons
Bush Lupine 5,6,28
Lupinus succulentus
Lupine 14,15,28
Microseris sp. 6
Mimulus cardinalis
Scarlet Monkey Flower 1,16
Mimulus guttatus
Monkey Flower 1,16
Phacelia distans
Phacelia 6
Poa secunda
Pine Bluegrass 5,12,23
Schoenoplectus americanus
Threesquare Bulrush 1,19
Scirpus microcarpus
Small Flowered Bulrush 1
Selaginella Bigelovii
Spike Moss 6,25
Spergularia sp.
Sand Spurrey 19
Stachys bullata
Hedge-Nettle 1,20
Stipa cernua
Nodding Stipa 5
Stipa pulchra
Purple Needle Grass 5,6,12,14,23,27
Symphyotrichum chilense
Wild Aster 1,11
Typha domingensis
Narrow Leaved Cat-Tail 1, 24
Verbena lasiostachys var. lasiostachys Verbena 1,25
Vicia americana
Vetch 20
Comment KEY
1. Prefers moist areas
2. Tolerates winds
3. Resistant to Oak Root Fungus
4. Messy, attracts pests
5. Drought resistant
6. Dry, sandy, or rocky areas
7. Needs irrigation
8. May not be available in nurseries
9. Seldom a good crop of fruit
10. Better with some summer water first year
11. Invasive root system
12. Good wildlife cover
13. Common weed
14. Heavier soils
15. Good on fresh cut/Mill
16. Not for dry areas
17. Not for saline areas
18. For stream beds
19. Can handle saline/alkalai
20. Shaded woody areas
21. Can not tolerate wind
22. Spreads rapidly
23. Open hills and plains
24. Canyons
25. Will grow in serpentine soils
26. Keep on dry side
27. Not in standing water
28. Some species may have poisonous parts
After last week’s hot spell (last week of September) when Los Osos hit 98°F in the shade; a good feeling came over me. Back in the day when I was a kid I always remember a hot Indian summer before a normal rainy year. So keeping this in mind I’m hoping this fall will bring lots of the wet stuff and get all the plants you purchased at the sale off to a good start. So I’m going to go over some of the basics for buying the right plant for your garden.
First, it’s important to think of others that come to visit your garden. I’m not just talking about your friends but other critters, such as birds, squirrels, gophers, moles, deer, rabbits … you get the picture. If you have a deer problem, it will limit your selection. Likewise, if you want to bring bees, birds, and beneficial insects to your garden such as Monarch Butterflies you can do this by selecting your plants ahead of
the sale.
Second, most important, if the rains don’t come you will need to be Mother Nature and water until the plants become established. This would mean a good soaking over the Winter, twice a month until April. After that pay attention and water at least once a month over the first Summer depending on your soil type. Los Osos, Nipomo, etc. more water and clay soils less water every three weeks during the summer, just watch closely.
If you’re lucky and you already have established plants then the idea would be to select something that can co-exist with what you already have. Remember like playing music, less is best. Avoid the temptation to create a botanical garden and focus on simple design. Also, remember that bugs always want to destroy our best intentions. I like to use water spray on leaves to control aphids, spider mites, thrips, and to knock down oak moth caterpillars. If needed, consult your local nursery for other options.
Lastly, picking the right plant for the right spot. Sounds simple, but this is the most difficult task. Like a small boat on a large sea, the wrong plant in the wrong spot will die for sure and you won’t be happy. Going back to my first topic, look at the big picture, sun, shade are very important. Soil, drainage, are number two on the list. Think about when you go out on a hike, what’s growing on the trail. Well-drained, sunny slopes have manzanita, ceanothus, buckwheat, and lupine but shady areas have more organics, oaks, ribes, ferns, coffeberry, and hummingbird sage, love it there.
So in conclusion, I’m expecting a good chance of rain, if my gut feeling and childhood memories come through. Of course, we will have lots of good people working the sale this year so if you have special plant request, email me at gritlys@gmail.com and I will see what I can do. For now, happy gardening; Suzette and I will see you at the plant sale.
John
Image: By Gmihail at Serbian Wikipedia (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 rs (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/rs/deed.en) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
I volunteer at the botanic garden Tuesday mornings. The display of yellow Viola on the undeveloped portion of the hills was wonderful this year and it occurred to me that there would be lots of seeds. I would really like to have the propagation crew at the garden try to grow some of these as I think they would make a nice addition to our gardens. Granted they disappear in the heat of the summer but they could make a nice groundcover under some of our shrubs and need no water in the dry time. So I approached Eve. Eve is the person who started the garden as an extension of her senior project at Cal Poly. She was receptive to the idea. I asked if I could take a bit more for other uses. Again the answer was yes and extended to some of the other plants on the hills. So when I thought the seeds might be ready I ventured out.
These are hills that are brown in the summer. They are covered with oats and ripgut and some other not so nice plants. But there are patches of Viola and Sidalcea and Sisyrhincium. So I had a goal of collecting all three. Finding those patches was not always easy. The plants disappear into the dried grasses. But I could find some. And in my wandering looking for patches I was excited to discover that not only are there the invasive sorts of grasses but there was lots of Stipa pulcra, some Melica californica, Melica imperfecta (or at least a different kind of Melica), Elymus triticoides (I think), Elymus condensatus, Hordeum bracyantherum and the most exciting find, for me, was some Danthonia californica. I am not collecting seeds of those grasses because they are not represented in great numbers and I want all the seed that’s there to possibly increase populations. But I am collecting the seeds of the Viola, Sidalcea, and hopefully the Sisyrhincum.
However, patience is a requirement. Finding the patches of Viola was not nearly as challenging as finding the seeds ready to gather. I am honing my observational skills and getting up close and personal with the plants. I was looking for black, ripe seeds so black drew my attention. Often the black was a little beetle that I saw only on violets. Is this a good bug or a bad bug? I have no idea. But if it is providing food for the birds in my book it’s a good bug. Perhaps it’s one of those specialist bugs that only use one plant. Questions. Down on my knees I can see the developing seed capsules and I have observed that as they ripen they lift and point to the sky. Once ripe, the capsules pop open. Sometimes a few seeds remain in the opened capsule. Whether these are defective or not I don’t know but I have collected them. At least they are black. Picking a few capsules early results in green seeds. I have picked a few, unopened but upturned, which have resulted in the sound of popping seeds in the paper bags at home. I have gotten some black seeds out of these. My favorite find is to see the open capsule, still green, and filled with black seeds. Treasure! But it has taken weeks of venturing up on the hill to get a few tablespoons of seeds. Some of these will find their way to the seed exchange.
The Sidalcea is another story. I found that many of the flowers did not develop into seeds, but in some areas there were more that developed than others. Does this reflect the presence of more pollinators in some areas than others? In some areas the stalks were half gone. Are they browse for deer? More observations lead to more questions. But I did collect a few seeds that seemed to be ripe. The capsules on these plants seemed to dry with the seeds remaining in the capsule. But as they dried they would separate a bit and I found that if I just brushed my fingers across a capsule seeds would fall into my hand. I found capsules with just a few seeds remaining so assumed these were ripe. I don’t have many seeds of these but after sharing with the botanic garden a few will end up at the seed exchange. You should want these. I have a Sidalcea grown from seed that has been blooming for several months in my garden. I think it’s beautiful.
As for the Sisyrhincium, I don’t have seeds yet and am not sure that I will. Those patches, which were so obvious and seemed so huge when they were covered with their blue-purple blossoms, are very hard to find when there is no flower to beckon. Those that I have found are not yet ripe. The capsules are still green and I don’t know if I will have any luck finding ripe seeds. But I am going to try.
What about not having the right shoes? The shoes I wear at the botanic garden are really old worn out hiking shoes with that open mesh sort of fabric for breathability. They are really great grass seed collectors. Those seeds penetrate through the open mesh and through my smart wool socks and into my skin. Almost intolerable. Before I drive home I have to remove my shoes and get rid of those seeds. I am pleased to find that they collect Stipa seeds too which means that there are plenty of Stipa seeds to be had. But I am very conscious of the fact that I don’t want to be transferring these seeds to the trails so they are no longer used for hiking.
Reminder: Seed exchange before the October meeting.
-Marti Rutherford
The prune-ability of Arctostaphylos has been well known in the nursery industry for many years. I’m going to discuss my experience with the species I’m most familiar with, Arctostaphylos morroensis.
The Morro bay manzanita grows in and around the Los Osos area. It has seeds that can survive many years in sandy soil. I have found them germinating in yards located around Montaña de Oro State park. In many cases these plants come up in areas where their large stature would not be appropriate. Rather than removing them, I have transplanted some, or have talked the owners into letting me shear them into a hedge shape. In most cases, I find that the plants are doing very well. They seem to live for many years under this intense pruning. The plants have maintained a much smaller stature, which is what the home owners wanted. They have developed a much denser canopy and their leaves have a much lusher color.
The only downfall I have found is the new growth can be a magnet for aphids. The aphids invade the new growth before it matures causing a red appearance as the insects drain the chlorophyll out of the new shoots. This new growth can also become deformed causing a very ugly mess. However, don’t worry, you can prune off the infested new growth and then apply a soapy spray solution. It maybe necessary to redo this treatment three times tonrid the plant of all the aphids. There is also a reduction in leaf spot. Leaf spot can be a real problem on the
older, mature leaves. Since the leaves are being trimmed all the time, the leaf spot cannot take hold.
So now that you know a little bit more about Arctostaphylos morroensis and its abilities, I hope you will consider it as a hedge substitute. If you have any plant questions, please fill free to e-mail me. Until then, Happy Gardening!
John
As one drives around in September, brilliant yellows, cheerful whites, subtle pinks, and even chartreuse greet us from bushes and roadsides. Except for the bright red leaves on Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobium, few of our lower elevation natives have the brilliant red, orange, and yellow leaves that festoon mountains and eastern areas, yet many of our fall flowers and leaves have their own unique if subtle charm. This is when our fall-blooming DYC’s come into their own.
Even the lowly Coyote Brush, Baccharis pilularis, one of the few dioecious, shrubby, non-showy composites that I know of, has its “Fifteen minutes (or 1-2 months) of fame.” The subtle yellow staminate flowers of the male plant, aka “Mr. Fuzzy-Wuzzy,” shine with pride, and are quite fragrant, especially in bright sunshine.
The white, powder-puff plumes and smaller blossoms of the female plants, aka “Mrs. Fuzzy-Wuzzy,” greet those who have the eyes to see them. This is indeed the season of yellow flowers. Prominent are the “diaspora” members of the Haplopappus genus, i.e., the various Golden Bushes, Hazardia, Ericameria, and Isocoma spp. The Mock Heather, Ericameria ericoides, looks as if its tops were spray painted. The tarweeds, Hemizonia, Centromadia, Deinandra, and Madia spp., Rabbit Brushes, Ericameria and Chrysothamnus spp., Goldenrods, Solidago spp., and Telegraph Weed, Heterotheca grandifolia, also greet the viewer.
White is represented by both flowers and plumes. Various Lessingia spp. bloom in the fall including one appearing late enough to be known as the “Christmas Daisy.” A few late-blooming Buckwheats, Eriogonum spp., Morning Glories, Calystegia spp., and Mexican Elderberries, Sambucus mexicana, are evident. The Dandelion-like plumes of the composites, the pheasant feather-like plumes of the Western Mountain Mahogany, Cercocarpus betuloides, and the fluffy plumes of the Cottonwoods, Populus spp., also liven the fall vegetation.
Pink is seen in the Twiggy and other Wreath Plants, Stephanomeria spp., maturing Buckwheats, Eriogonum spp., and the ubiquitous Naked Ladies, Amaryllis belladonna. But chartreuse? This is found in the rare but, in places, locally abundant Seaside Birdsbeak, Cordylanthus rigidus ssp. littoralis. A spectacular display can be seen on State Route 1 between Vandenberg Village and Allan Hancock College, where Deer Creek crosses the highway. Ah yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
As plant lovers we should not only see our subtle fall beauty, but should be sharing this vision with others. Check Field Trips for our mid-October Burton Mesa Chaparral tour at the La Purisima Mission.
— Charlie Blair