An Annual Event

 Every year at about this time my garden begins to change. It really comes to life in a short period of time. The photo above shows one of the first signs of this change. It is Blue Dicks (Dipterostermon capitatus, formerly Dichelostemma capitatum). This plant grows from a corm that stores energy so that it can put up a shoot immediately after the first rain. I've had these Blue Dicks for 20+ years. Also shown in this photo is a Dudleya pulverulenta.

The annual seeds that I put out a few weeks ago are also sprouting quickly. Here are some Arroyo Lupines (Lupinus succulentus) that still have their cotyledons as well as their adult-type leaves. I just bought a macro lens for my phone/camera which yields much finer detail in closeup photos, such as the hairs on the leaves of the Lupines.

Another plant that is coming back to life now is White-flowered Currant (Ribes indecorum). Like many California plants it is summer-deciduous, so it loses its leaves around June and they come back in fall. Mine is putting out tiny leaves while wild plants are doing the same. The first photo below was taken in my garden on Nov. 7 when I noticed the first green leaves coming out. The second photo was taken on Nov. 17 at Lake Wohlford near Escondido.

Other plants that are summer deciduous include members of the Ocotillo group (Fouquieria genus). In our local deserts we have Fouquieria splendens. In Baja there are two species, and these are the plants I have in my Encinitas garden. The first one (below) is Fouquieria diguetii, known in Baja as Adam's Tree. You can see that it has spines, and the leaves come out at the base of the spines after a sufficient rain. I have it in a container, but I'm pretty sure it has put its roots through the bottom of the pot by now.

A close cousin to Adam's Tree is the truly unique, even bizarre, Boojum Tree (Fouquieria columnaris). In Baja it is known as Cirio which means candle. The thing that makes the Boojum look so strange is the fact that it has a thick trunk at the base, tapering to a slender, rounded point at the top, and it puts out uniformly short, stiff stems all along the trunk. These side stems are completely out of proportion to the size of the trunk. The main trunk sometimes divides into two or more branches at the top. The oddity of its appearance is most evident in really old specimens. First, here are a couple of shots of my Boojum which is in a container. It started putting out leaves a couple of weeks ago.

Below is an older specimen photographed in the Catavina region of Baja.

(c) Tomas Castelazo, 2007, published at WikiCommons

The final summer-deciduous plant I want to discuss is a native of our Channel Islands. I first saw it on Anacapa Island. It is also an odd one, a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae) but it looks nothing like other sunflowers, having a succulent main trunk and fern-like leaves. The flowers, though, are typical sunflowers. Below is one in my garden that is just now putting out leaves.

There are other plants in my garden that are starting to wake up, but I'll save those for another day.

First Rain of the Season

 This weekend we got the first rain of the 2020-21 season. I took advantage of this to sow some wildflower seeds and bulbs and to plant some plants. The seeds included arroyo lupine (Lupinus succulentus), Chinese houses (Collinsia heterophylla), owl's clover (Castilleja exserta), and some others. The bulbs were splendid mariposa lily (Calochortus splendens). I have no pictures of these because there is nothing to see yet.

Last week I bought a few plants from the annual CNPS sale. My timing was good for getting them planted before the rain arrived. I put three of them in containers. First is showy penstemon (Penstemon spectabilis). It is found from the mountains to the coast and from Ventura County down into Baja. Of course it has no flowers yet. Following that are some of my photos of P. spectabilis in the wild in San Diego County.

The second of my new plants is conejo buckwheat (Eriogonum crocatum), a rare species that is found only in a small area on the Ventura County/L.A. County boundary. It has nearly white foliage and yellow flowers, which will make a really nice color combo in a terra cotta pot.

Plant number three is scarlet monkeyflower (Erythranthe cardinalis). It's a plant that is usually seen in streams, so I put it in a pot that doesn't have a drainage hole in the bottom. I'll be able to keep it consistently wet without using too much water.

Below is a photo I took recently of E. cardinalis in the wild. When kept moist it produces blooms for a long time.

Now, here are three plants I put in the ground. They are less showy but still very valuable plants. Below is salt marsh fleabane (Pluchea odorata), another plant that likes damp soil but is not as thirsty as scarlet monkeyflower.

Here's a photo I recently took of a wild Pluchea odorata in bud.

Lately I've been seeing a lot of sawtooth goldenbush (Hazardia squarrosa) while hiking, so I decided to buy one for my garden. The photo below shows it, followed by one I observed in the wild.

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Lastly is seacliff buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium). In the wild it is found strictly on the coast, from San Francisco down into Baja. I had one years ago but then had to take it out for various reasons, and since then I have wanted to get another one. It is quite low growing, forming a mat that is essentially a ground cover. It has small white flowers, but I value it mostly for the foliage - small, rounded, shiny leaves. Also, its roots are excellent at holding soil on bluffs to prevent erosion. It's a plant that should be used all along our coast.

My next post will discuss the response to first rain by established, mature plants.