Central Coast of California, wildflowers

A Wildflower Quest on the Central Coast of California

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Tidy tips – all photos by Tom Trower

A wildflower is a flower growing freely without human intervention. They grow in the wild and are not intentionally seeded or planted. Even when we humans create our own wildflower meadow from a seed packet the selected seed is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar different from the way it appears in the wild as a native plant. We are naturally drawn to fields of flowers and I didn?t want to miss out on this year?s spectacular wildflower display.

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Fields of Gold wildflowers

With well spaced precipitation we received this rainy season I knew there would be good wildflower displays where ever I decided to go. Because I lived in the Pismo Beach area for many years, the central coast of California got the nod and off we went with our dog Sherman along for company.

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Sherman and the author on Shell Creek Road

When I used to live in San Luis Obispo county there were more cows than vineyards. Not so anymore. So after a bit of wine tasting near Paso Robles we headed out towards Shandon and parts south to check out an area noted for it?s flowers in springtime.

Our first wildflower stop was Shell Creek Road which is abut 20 miles outside Santa Margarita near Highway 58. Named for the many fossilized shells that are found in the exposed strata of the bordering hills, this area is famous for it?s wildflower displays. The central coast has not received as much rainfall this El Nino year as southern and northern California. Still the wildflowers were pretty spectacular.

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Goldfields closeup
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lupine and owl’s clover

The weather was warm and soft late afternoon light accentuated the golden hills covered by wildflowers aptly named goldfields. Also in the mix lupine, tidy tips and owl?s clover splashed the hills and pastures with color while the grasses swayed in gentle breezes as we walked among the wildflowers. The drive itself is beautiful at this time of year but it?s when you get out of the car and walk among the flowers that you really get to appreciate them. The cattle were the only other observers of these green hills splashed with flowers planted only by mother nature.

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lupine and California poppies

Next stop was the Lopez Lake area. Wildflowers are ephemeral by nature and depending on the weather they may bloom, peak and fade in a very short time. Hiding beneath showy displays of color covering a hillside are dozens of little beauties that require you to get up close and personal to enjoy their tiny fragile features. it?s easy to take in the orange colored hillsides of poppies and goldfields but also take the time to marvel at the small jewels hiding among them.

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lupine closeup

I?ve also lived in the Antelope Valley are where California poppy fields go on for miles. And in 2005 I walked in the previous super bloom in Death Valley. Theodore Payne Foundation has an online wildflower hotline with weekly wildflower reports for all of California with their peak blooming times. February was dry in our state and some of the smaller wildflowers have already faded after setting seed. After our March rains and light April showers larger wildflowers might pink_unk_wildflowerget another bloom this spring in some locations so check the site for what?s blooming and where. Next year be sure to check out this source of wildflower sightings early and often in the season to get the very best wildflower viewing time for where ever you might want to visit.

atmosphere in the garden, Garden art, garden design, garden inspiration, stone

A World in Stone

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Lion’s head wall fountain

There?s a reason that stone in a garden gives us the feeling that it has been there a long time. The rustic elegance of a dry laid stone wall, natural stone paver patio, huge stone slab steps, outdoor stone fireplace or flagstone garden path reminds us that we humans have used stone for over two million years when we first started making stone tools.

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Ocean Pearl sauna wall detail

Stone is much more than the Wikipedia definition of ?a naturally occurring solid aggregate of one or more minerals.?? Granite, for instance, comes from igneous rocks formed slowly as it cooled deep under the earth?s surface. Sandstone and limestone are sedimentary rocks formed by the compaction of grains or pieces of any kind of existing rock material then cemented over millions of years by the movement of the earth?s tectonic plates and sometimes contain fossils formed at the time of deposition. Then there is metamorphic rock like marble and slate that were formed at extreme high pressures and temperatures beneath the earth?s crust from other types of rock. The presence of swirls, linear patterns or banding is a key characteristic of this kind of stone.

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Whimsical wall detail- anchor, agate, shells

In Ben Lomond lives a stone advocate who has created a spectacular decorative stone wall, a stone shower and sauna room, stone patio, paths and slab steps and he?s invited me to come and view them at his home before he puts it on the market.

Jon Troutner has been in the stone business for a long time. He owned Antolini Masonry and Landscape Supply in Santa Cruz for 20 years until he lost his lease and sold the company in 2008. Afterwards he used his expertise and some choice materials he saved to use at his home in Ben Lomond and another in Aptos. Jon?s primarily a musician these days but his creative vision in stone is a magical experience as he walks me around his home.

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“eel-head” rock peaking out of wall

Jon?s property is located near Love Creek up on a hill and has a lovely canyon view. When he bought the property 5 years ago the backyard was just sand but now it is fully landscaped. Ocean Pearl, one of his favorite stone types that he used in his whimsical wall and sauna, comes from a quarry on Vancouver Island that he used to own. Jon gave this this type of quartzite it?s unique name because of the subtle hues and shadings in the stone.

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“Where’s Waldo” stone wall

Jon?s creations in stone have a look of their own. Being a harmonica player he puts an old harmonica somewhere on each of his unique walls. It?s his personal signature and he pointed out one in the sauna and one in the ?Where?s Waldo?? wall as he calls it.

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mermaid in stone wall

?What?s a ?Where?s Waldo? wall, I ask?” Jon just laughs and explains that this 1987 children?s book is about the travels of Wally where readers are asked to locate him hidden in an illustration and to re-explore each scene locating other objects too. Jon showed me three mermaids, five otters, two turtles, three seahorses and an eel-shaped rock poking out from the ?waves? of ocean pearl stone veneer on the showpiece wall he created to enclose the patio. There are also ship net balls, an anchor, abalone shells, fossils and his signature harmonica. ?I pictured this wall as the ocean floor,? Jon explained.

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fossils in stone wall

As we walk around, Jon points out the Vermont slate floor and the ocean pearl veneer sauna room, the basalt shower with rounded cobble stone floor, the Indian rainbow cut sandstone shady patio, the Connecticut bluestone slab steps, the ocean pearl columns, the tumbled Arizona gold flagstone path and the 125 pound crystals from Brazil that are lighted at night.

This place is magical and timeless. Jon?s creative vision will live forever in his stone creations.

Bonny Doon, Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve, butterfly plants, California Native Plants, Climate change, Design trends, drought tolerant gardens, drought tolerant plants, dry shade, low water use plants, right plant-right spot, sustainable gardening, water saving techniques

Climate Smart Plants for the Garden

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Climate smart verbena lilacina with blue oat grass

All this talk about ?drought tolerant? plants or ?water smart? plants is misleading in some ways. What really matters for the success of a plant in your garden is that they are climate smart. You can call the new California garden climate tolerant or climate adapted but it all comes down to the same thing. The plants you choose to grow in your garden should be able to naturally tolerate periods of lower than average water. This doesn?t mean no water during extremely long dry periods. No plant can live without water.

I have two books that I look to for plant ideas when called upon to design a garden in our area. This first was published by East Bay MUD in 2004 and is called ?Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates?. The other book I refer to regularly for ideas and information is ?California Native Plants for the Garden?. Both are invaluable in these times of water conservation. One of the best tips each of them offer is to garden where you live.

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Philadelphus lewesii near Felton Covered Bridge.

All of us live in a summer-dry climate. Summer-dry gardens are naturally dry for long periods. Knowing which type of plant community you live in can make the difference between success and failure in your garden. Choose the right plant for the right place whether it?s a California native from an area with similar soil and exposure or a plant from another Mediterranean-like climate with growing conditions like yours.

Plant communities have evolved over time with geologic changes in climate, topography and soils. We have several district areas here- mixed evergreen forest, redwood forest, chaparral and sandhills.

If you live in a mixed evergreen forest you garden with trees like coast live oak, tan oak, madrone, bay and buckeye. Understory plants include ceanothus, coffeeberry, hazel and poison oak. Your soil contains serpentine and granite. Many other unthirsty plants like salvias, lavender, santolina, society garlic, giant feather grass, rosemary and rockrose do well here. California natives such as western mock orange (philadelphus lewisii), wild ginger and western sword ferns grow here also.

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Iris douglasiana (Pacific Coast Iris)

Mixed evergreen forest may also be found along canyon bottoms near streams where big leaf maple, white alder, cottonwood, and western sycamore trees grow. Most plant here grow lush in this deep soil. If you are looking to add something new to your garden here consider giant chain fern, aquilegia, dicentra, Pacific Coast iris and fuchsia-flowering gooseberry.

Chaparral areas are the hottest, driest slopes of these mountains. Dense thickets of manzanita, coyote brush, chamise, coffeeberry, ceanothus, monkey flower and sage are native here. These plants are adapted to little water and often have tiny, thick, waxy, light green or grayish leaves. Soils tend to be rocky and shallow with overlaying rock or a subsoil that is mostly clay. Plants here need to have an extensive root system that reaches widely and deeply for water. If you live here a classic combination would be the spring blooming western redbud and Julia Phelps or Dark Star ceanothus. The combination of magenta and electric blue flowers is unforgettable.

The sandhills near Quail Hollow and Bonny Doon around Martin Rd. are part of an ancient sandy sea floor that was uplifted, eroded and exposed. These sandy soils lack organic matter and nutrients and their white color magnifies the temperature of the summer sun. Unique, native plants like silverleaf manzanita and Ben Lomond wallflower live here. Buckwheat and sticky monkey flower do well here. You might also try growing Lewisia, a pretty little plant native to northern California, thrives in sand and gravel soils with good drainage. This 8″ tall hardy perennial blooms from spring to early summer with extremely showy flower clusters in colors ranging from apricot to pink, rose and bright cherry red. Mulch them with gravel or crushed stone.

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callistemon ‘Little John’

Remember right plant-right place. Don?t try to force nature although most gardens do look better with some summer water. Closer to the house we expect a fuller look. Combinations I?m going to try this season include leucospermum paired with blue echium or grey-leafed westringia planted with red-flowering callistemon ?Little John?.

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