A Bountiful Spring, Part 2

 Following up my post of a month ago, here are a few more plants that are blooming now. Some of these I have written about before and some are new.

First, two colors of monkeyflower (Diplacus sp.). This used to be known as Mimulus (or Diplacus) aurantiacus, but the taxonomy of this species is really confusing now, so I'm going to just leave it at the genus. The colors make a great combination.

Next are two species of Brodiaea. The first is thread-leaf Brodiaea (B. filifolia) which I've had for many years. I can't remember it ever having so many flowers. I count 23 of them in the photo below. I have it in a container so it's easier to keep track of the corms.

The second Brodiaea is a relatively new one for me, B. santarosae. The corms were given to me by Tom Chester a few years ago, and this year they lived up to their full potential. It's a larger plant than filifolia with larger flowers. I put these in the ground because I didn't have a pot to put them in and because Tom says they propagate themselves rapidly. Santarosae is so named because it is restricted to the Santa Rosa Plateau of Riverside County where it grows on basaltic (volcanic) soil. The basalt cap on the plateau creates very interesting and unique conditions for plants, including vernal pools.

The photo below shows how I have the monkeyflowers and Brodiaea santarosae in the same area of the back yard.

I've had Madia elegans for a number of years and it is a reliable performer in late spring and summer when there isn't much else blooming. It's somewhat surprising for an annual because it gets rather large and develops a semi-woody main stem. 

Mixed in with the Madia is Delphinium cardinale. It's just starting to bloom now. The flower stalks get really tall, 7' to 8'. 

 

 

Another one of my favorites is gumplant (Grindelia camorum). Its name comes from the fact that the developing flower bud gets a large amount of sticky white sap. Native people in southern California used the sap as an adhesive for various purposes. The flower is also beautiful and attractive to pollinators.

Summer holly (Comarostaphylis diversifolia diversifolia) is a very nice shrub or small tree that more people should try. It is related to manzanita and looks quite similar but is more upright and tree-like. The bark is gray rather than red. Its upright habit makes it perfect for tight spaces. It's also relatively fast growing if given the right conditions. The one in the photo below is about 5 years old, started from a one gallon container.

The flowers are the upside down urn shape of manzanitas, but they are smaller and there are more of them, arranged in very orderly rows. In summer it produces small red fruit that are the source of the common name summer holly. Birds are attracted to the fruit.

To finish up, my elderberry (Sambucus cerulea) is flowering now. I was looking at it recently and noticed a couple of hover flies feeding on the flowers. When I see that I feel like it is my reward for planting natives in my garden.

A Bountiful Spring

 I haven't posted anything in over a year. I decided to produce a new post because this spring has been especially good in a number of ways. At the beginning of April the San Diego Chapter of the California Native Plant Society held its annual garden tour and my garden was one stop on the tour. Lots of flowers were blooming, providing a very nice display. Around 400 people visited. It was great fun.

Since then there has been a new round of blooming which is possibly even better than the April bloom. The following are some of the standouts.

In the front yard there has been an extravagant crop of Clarkia unguiculata (elegant clarkia) which I've had for a number of years. It is a very reliable bloomer and seed producer. The flowers come in shades of pink, purple and white. Scattered among the Clarkias are a number of Gilia capitata (blue gilia) and Eschscholzia californica (California poppy).

Matching the Clarkia in showiness is Collinsia heterophylla (Chinese houses). Like the Clarkia I've had it for several years but this year was outstanding. The plants are small in size but quite impressive in their color and structure. Along with the Chinese houses, this section of the garden includes more blue tones - Nemophila menziesii (baby blue eyes), Sisyrinchium bellum (blue-eyed grass), and Sairocarpus nuttallianus (Nuttall's snapdragon). In the photo below the baby blue eyes can be seen but the other two are too small to show up in this photo.

In the side yard I was surprised to find a number of plants of Castilleja exserta (owl's clover). I was surprised because this is the first time it has come up, although I spread seed there some years ago. I really hope they return in the future.

In a small container in the back yard I have a new onion that I got from Neel's Nursery. It's Allium abramsii (Abram's onion). It's native to the southern Sierras so it isn't locally native, but I can't resist interesting geophytes and they do really well in a container.

I have another onion in the front yard. It's Allium haematochiton (red-skinned onion). This one has more pink in the flowers and is native to the coast from LA county down into Baja. It is doing quite well in the shade of the coast live oak.

In a container in the back is a very nice Penstemon spectabilis (showy penstemon). It's a little past peak bloom now but there are still some big, gorgeous flowers on it. I've had this before and it didn't live long. I'm going to try to make this one last longer.

One more container has a nice display of Bloomeria crocea (goldenstar), another geophyte that grows from a bulb. It's related to Brodiaea and other small lily-like monocots. After flowering it completely disappears until the next winter.

Finally, a species that I didn't know I had. It is Epilobium ciliatum (willowherb). It is native to much of North America where it grows on the margin of streams and ponds. In my garden it came up in a container where I have water-loving plants such as Erythranthe guttata (seep monkeyflower, shown at bottom). But I did not plant the willowherb and I don't know where it came from. At least I don't remember planting it. It has a tiny flower that would not be noticed by most people. Nevertheless it is a nice addition to the planter so I hope it sticks around.

There will be more plants flowering in the coming weeks, including Delphinnium cardinale, Brodiaea santarosae, and Brodiaea filifolia. I'll post about them soon.

My Favorite New Plant

 Tauschia arguta (southern umbrellawort) is a plant I have been wanting for a few years. It is perennial herb of woodlands and chaparral from San Luis Obispo county to northern Baja. A member of the Apiaceae (carrot family), the inflorescence consists of a compound umbel of many small yellow flowers. The leaves are finely toothed and somewhat shiny. The plant stays small and compact, growing to a maximum of about 2 ft. tall and wide, but usually less. It can be planted as a border or underneath shrubs and trees, and it is an important plant for a number of pollinators. Aesthetically, it is understated but very pretty, as you can see from the following photos.

Despite its good qualities, it is seldom grown by anyone, which has been frustrating for me. But this year I discovered a nursery that propagates Tauschia arguta. The nursery is called Growing Works and it is an activity of the Turning Point Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide job training, employment, and horticultural therapy to people with mental health challenges. What a wonderful combination of benefits - native plants and support for people experiencing difficulties! They are located in Camarillo (Ventura County). I haven't been there personally due to the pandemic. I bought five plants through my local plant vendor, Neel's Nursery in Encinitas. I don't know if they are going to continue to produce this plant, but if they hear from interested gardeners it might motivate them to do so. They may also decide to try  some other less common natives. Get on their email list and support their vital work!

Bush Rue

Cneoridium dumosum, commonly called bush rue, is an occasional component of the chaparral community in southern California. It is not as common or as well known as some other chaparral species such as manzanita, and it is not often found in gardens. It should be used more. I love it because I see it in native habitats around Encinitas. I am trying to recreate that look at home. Here's a large, old plant that I saw earlier this year in one of the few remaining patches of native vegetation in Encinitas.

I have one bush rue in my garden. It is only about three years old and still rather small, but this year it decided to bloom. It is blooming right now with just a few flowers but still worth celebrating.

A surprising fact about bush rue is that it is a member of the Rutaceae or citrus family. The flower is very similar to those found on orange trees, and the fragrance is similar too. In the wild it is found on the coastal side of the mountains from Orange County to northern Baja. The leaves are simple, linear to obovate and dotted with glands which give it that distinctive citrus smell. Because of these glands and the chemicals that create the odor, some people have a dermatitis reaction to it. According to The Baja California Plant Field Guide (Rebman and Roberts, 3rd ed. 2012) the dermatitis is caused by light-sensitizing plant chemicals reacting to long-wave ultraviolet light.

Cneoridium is a genus with only one species in it, which I always find interesting. Why did this part of the citrus family not give rise to any other species, either here or elsewhere in the world? 

Calscape says the shrub grows to around 3 ft. by 3 ft., but I have seen taller ones in the wild, up to 6 ft. The big ones develop a large woody trunk. The leaves turn gold in dry periods but generally remain on the plant. Below is a photo of one from near Lake Hodges in October.

I highly recommend Cneoridium dumosum for native plant gardens in San Diego and Orange Counties. Calscape says that 9 nurseries carry it. For additional information on growing it, see Calscape.

Shaw's Agave in Flower

 My last post about the Agave was on November 9. Day by day the tip of the inflorescence continued to swell and began to open up a bit. On November 12 we went to Borrego Springs for a few days. When we returned on November 15 the inflorescence had really opened up and I could see the yellow flower buds peeking out a bit. I have to admit I was pretty excited.

After that the inflorescence continued to open up further. Yesterday, November 23, I saw flowers that were actually open for the first time. The inflorescence had assumed its full candelabra shape, and I could see the large anthers protruding out. I observed hummingbirds feeding from the flowers but I couldn't get photos of them. In fact, I had to get on a ladder to get the photos below.

It's not unusual to see an Agave blooming somewhere in the county, but they are typically non-native species such as attenuata or americana. I think my Agave is special because shawii is so seldom seen in gardens and much less often seen blooming. As the bloom continues I'll post again.

Shaw's Agave About to Flower

 People sometimes refer to Agaves as century plants, suggesting that they only bloom once every hundred years. That isn't quite accurate, but they do take a long time to bloom. I have one in my front garden that I planted around 30 years ago and it is finally ready to flower. It's a Shaw's agave which is native to northwestern Baja and just barely makes it into San Diego County. It was probably more common here in the past, but decades of agriculture and urban development have left only remnant populations at Torrey Pines and Point Loma. From Tijuana southward it becomes quite common.

The one in my garden started looking a little different in early August. The center of the rosette began looking very congested. Instead of the usual one or two new leaves coming up there was a dense cluster of smaller leaves, giving me the impression that it was going to flower. The two photos below were taken on Aug. 5, 2021, when I first noticed it.

Only three days later, an inflorescence was definitely coming up and growing rapidly.

By Aug. 13 ( five days after the previous photo) it was significantly taller. At this time it was growing about an inch in height every day.

By August 21 it had reached up into the branches of the neighboring elderberry tree. It had been growing for 16 days.

At that point I began pruning the elderberry to give the agave more room to flower. The elderberry is deciduous, so I cut it back every year. Note that the agave has many of its lower leaves trimmed back. This is because it sticks out into our guest parking space, and cars tend to hit those lower leaves. They get ratty looking so I trimmed them off.

By September 17 it looked like this. Note that the tip is starting to swell a bit.

All through the rest of September and early October the inflorescence grew little more. It seemed to have stalled at about 6 ft. in height (that's a guess because I didn't actually measure it). Around the middle of October the tip started to flare out more dramatically as seen in the next photo from October 27.

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By this time I was a little surprised that it had not flowered yet. Its growth started off so fast that I thought it would have bloomed and maybe finished by now. But in fact it still seems to have some time to go before the actual flowers come out.

When it actually begins to produce flower buds I will post new photos.

Summer Bloomers, Part 2

This is part 2 of what's blooming in my garden right now.

White/Cream Flowers

I'll start with Baja California Spurge (Euphorbia xanti). Like the Baja Fairyduster, it is not native to our region but it is adaptable, very easy to grow, highly drought tolerant, and flowers abundantly in spring and summer. The plant consists of a dense cluster of densely branching stems that start out slender but become thicker and semi-woody with age. Mine has an unusual shape due to the way I keep it pruned. The flowers can be either white or pink on the same plant.

Next is a small tree, Blue Elderberry (Sambucus nigra caerulea). It is common and widespread in California, and it is an important wildlife plant. The flowers which appear in spring or summer are much valued by pollinators. In late summer clusters of small blue fruit are prized by various birds. If given plenty of water it will be evergreen, or deciduous if allowed to dry out in summer. Mine is never irrigated without effect on the flowers or fruit. Mine is also a somewhat unusual shape due to the way I keep it pruned.

Next up we have a foundational plant of our chaparral and coastal sage scrub - California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum). This plant is abundant from the Bay Area down into Baja and is one of the most important pollinator plants. There are several horticultural varieties as well as other species that can be used. Mine is just the plain old species. It is literally crawling with pollinators right now.

Another option for Buckwheat is St. Cathrine's Lace (Eriogonum giganteum), a Channel Islands native. The flowers are similar to California Buckwheat, as you can see, but the leaves are considerably larger. Although it's a coastal plant in the wild, it is tolerant of a variety of conditions. 

Concluding the white flowers, we have Matilija Poppy (Romney coulteri). It's a perennial herb that spreads from rhizomes. It goes semi-dormant in winter, not losing all its leaves but not growing until it warms up in spring. The rhizome means it will pop up where you least expect it or don't want it. Fortunately it is easy to control. The payoff is big, impressive flowers in summer. It is generally recommended to cut back all the stems in fall.

Pink/Purple Flowers

To finish up this review of summer bloomers, I have just a couple of plants with flowers in the pink/purple category. The first is another buckwheat, Red-Flowered Buckwheat (Eriogonum grande rubescens). It is native to the Channel Islands, and although the name is red-flowered, that's not accurate. It's really pink-flowered in my opinion.

The last plant is Blair's Cliffaster (Munzothamnus blairii). Yet another Channel Islands native, this species is more rare and seldom seen in gardens. I got mine from Tree of Life Nursery, and it is a solid performer. The leaves are pretty large compared with most of my other plants, producing a different visual texture. The flowers are great (obviously).