Summer Bloomers, Part 1

 Most of my plants are winter/spring bloomers, which  is typical for California. However, I want to support pollinators year-round, so I have several plants that flower in summer. They attract a lot of honey bees, but I'm more concerned about native pollinators such as bumblebees, digger bees, wasps, and hover flies. They need sources of nectar and pollen all through the summer, which these plants can provide. All of the following are very drought tolerant and all are blooming right now in my garden. Here's a rundown of them, arranged by flower color.

Yellow Flowers

Yellow seems to be the most common flower color in our region. Below is a Gumweed (Grindelia camporum). It is called Gumweed or Gum Plant because the flower bud produces an very sticky white sap that is almost like Elmer's Glue. This plant is in the Asteraceae family and has the standard structure of central disk flowers surrounded by ray flowers (ligules). It is a perennial that is widespread in California and easy to grow. Both the buds and flowers are attractive to pollinators of various kinds. It can bloom between April and October, depending on your exact location. After it blooms the stem will dry up and you can cut it back to the ground. If it's happy it will produce seedlings elsewhere in your garden.

Our next yellow-flowered species is Common Madia (Madia elegans), a lovely and fragrant plant that I got from Annie's Annuals. It's another Asteraceae and a sticky one, but no bowl of glue. It too is widespread in California, though somewhat less common in the southern part of the state. It flowers from June through September. Mine have red/burgundy markings at the base of the ligules, but flower coloration can vary quite a bit. It's strictly an annual so it needs to go to seed in order to have plants next year.

Next up is yet another Asteraceae, this one from several of the California Channel Islands including Catalina, Nevin's Woolly Sunflower (Constancea nevinii and also called Eriophyllum nevinii). Both the foliage and flowers are pretty, which is good because the foliage is retained all year. The leaves are almost pure white, they look lush and healthy all year, and when the flowers are open the color contrast is quite nice. It is considered a rare plant in the wild because feral goats ate it almost to extinction. It is now recovering on the islands and is popular in coastal gardens. I have mine under an Island Ironwood tree (Lyonothamnus floribundus).

One more Asteraceae - the next plant is San Diego County Viguiera (Bahiopsis laciniata). A perennial shrub, it is found only in southern California and northern Baja, from the coast to the foothills. It blooms 7 months of the year, maybe even longer if it likes where you plant it. The leaves are small, deep green and retained all year. It develops more woody stems than the others mentioned here, but it takes pruning and shaping quite well. It is extremely drought tolerant and low maintenance. It should be planted more often in our parks and large landscaped areas in place of the non-natives that we usually see.

Finally a different plant family. This one is Island Bush Poppy (Dendromecon harfordii), also known as Island Tree Poppy. As the name suggests, it is native to the Channel Islands. A close cousin from mainland California is Bush Poppy (Dendromecon rigida), but I think the island species is better looking and better suited to garden conditions, especially near the coast. In the places where I hike, the mainland species is pretty much done flowering now and is dropping a lot of leaves, while the Island Bush Poppy in my garden is looking fabulous without any supplemental water. This plant gets pretty large, not quite tree size but mine is about 10 ft. x 10 ft. So it needs plenty of room. It's also not super happy about being pruned, so again give it enough space so it doesn't need pruning. The leaves are blue-gray-green and retained all year. The flowers are not profuse but they are fairly large and showy. In coastal locations it can have some flowers 9 months of the year, a real boon for pollinators.

Red Flowers

Red flowering plants are very attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies. First up is Baja Fairyduster (Calliandra californica). It is native to central Baja and not our region, but I love Baja plants and this one is a proven performer. The long filaments of the anthers give it the fairyduster look. It blooms prolifically, virtually all year long, and needs very little water. It does well on the coast, in the foothills, and even in the desert.

Right next to my fairyduster is the perennial shrub Chuparosa (Justicia sp.) in the Acanthus family. The species is somewhat in question. It was sold to me as Justicia purpurea, another Baja species, but it looks exactly like Justicia californica which is native to our local deserts. Either way, it is a prolific bloomer, extremely drought tolerant, and bulletproof. In addition it is an excellent nectar producer, and hummingbirds love it. It does well on the coast as well as in hotter inland areas.

To finish up the red flowers, one of my favorites is Scarlet Delphinium (Delphinium cardinale) in the Ranunculaceae (Buttercup) family. The funnel-shaped flowers grow at the tops of very tall, spindly stems. They can get to be 8 ft. tall and sometimes grow underneath shrubs that help hold them up. In the wild they are found along the coast and into the mountains, from Monterey County south into Baja. It is a perennial herb, meaning that individual plants live more than a year but go dormant each year after flowering. During their fall dormancy they must be kept dry. In response to winter rain the plant will resprout from its tuberous roots. They also produce numerous seeds and can spread around your garden if they find it suitable.

Next time - Summer Bloomers, Part 2