Tag Archives: California Native Plants

California Native Plants, wildflowers

Wildflowers of the Sierra Nevada Mountains

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I’d heard stories about the glorious wildflower displays in the Sierras, especially this year with all the snow melt, but nothing could prepare me for how many beautiful sights I would discover on the west side of Lake Tahoe last month. As I explored and hiked the forest trails I thought of what it might have been like to be an Native American from the Washoe tribe. How did they use some of these plants and would I find similar species used by our local Ohlone tribes?

I sketched, photographed and identified ( or tried to ) over 49 different wildflowers and admired many more native plants, trees, shrubs. The weather was  perfect for hiking and the sky as blue as the water of the lake.

Lake Tahoe and the land surrounding the lake were once home to the Washoe Indians who wintered in Carson Valley and spent their summers on the shores of the lake hunting, fishing and gathering food for the winter. I’m sure they admired the flower displays as I did.

Red-twig dogwoods bloomed along streambanks. Native Americans used the berries as food, both fresh and dried and cooked. The berries were eaten to treat colds and slow bleeding. The inner bark used as a tobacco either by itself of mixed with manzanita. The bark could also be used as a dye. The wood used for bows and arrows, stakes and other tools.

Pink Sierra currants sported beautiful pink flower clusters and edible blue-black berries. Tribes relished the berries fresh and dried them for later use in the winter. All species in the genus, including our own native canyon gooseberry, have berries high in vitamin C. When dried they were mixed with animal fat and eaten while traveling.

Wood’s roses were in full bloom, their dark pink flowers fragrant in the sun. A variation of the species grows in every western state and throughout Canada. The petals can be eaten raw after the bitter white base is removed. The seed or rose hip contains 24 times as much vitamin C as oranges, vitamin A and E and is also a fairly good source of essential fatty acids, which is unusual for a fruit. A poultice of chewed leaves was used by Native Americans for bee stings. Various parts of the plant were used to treat burns, sores, swelling and wounds and used to make tea-like beverages. All this from a plant that is beautiful, too.

A real looker, the Mariposa Lily caught my eye. Blooming along the trail to McKinney Lake, I thought of how the Washoe would consider these plants a great find, digging up the sweet bulbs to be eaten fresh. We almost missed the Sierra tiger lily mistaking it for the columbines that were nearby. Their orange flowers are much larger but both are stunning to see in the moist meadows.

Other flowers that I encountered were monardella, penstemon, yarrow, lupine, larkspur, arnica, thalictrum, snowberry, giant hyssop, aster, solomon seal, corn lily, mimulus, paintbrush, western burning bush, cow parsnip, wintergreen, phacaela, golden rod, epilobium and sidalcea to name just a few. I was in seventh heaven.

I loved seeing all the rein orchids that were in full bloom. Pine drops emerged from the ground with their urn-shaped downward facing flowers. Plants exist for most of their life as a mass of brittle, but fleshy roots, living in a parasitic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi from which they derive all their carbon. Another unusual plant I saw, pushing up from the ground was the bright scarlet sarcodes or snow flower, a parasitic plant that also derives nutrients from mycorrhizal fungi. Nature has come up with many ways to survive and these are but two good examples.

Native Americans used grasses and pine needles for baskets, willows for household goods, acorns from oaks as a food staple as well as for dyes, medicines, games, toys and construction materials and wild onions for food and flavoring. I’m sure they loved to see the wildflower for their pure beauty as I did.

 

berries, birds, butterfly plants, California Native Plants

Native Plants for the Santa Cruz Mts

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In celebration of Native Plant Week earlier this month, let’s talk about using . How do you pick the best ones for your situation and what do they need to grow in your garden?

California is a vast domain when it comes to natural features and different soils. From hills to mountains to deserts to valleys and ocean bluffs, there are 6000 plus plant species within our borders. Hundreds of these are showy and useful plants worthy of cultivation in our garden. Some, like ceanothus, have already been cultivated for a century or more, both here and abroad.

There are features of the California landscape that present a certain flavor and seasonal progression, quite distinct from that of the subtropics and year-round, moist forests that many traditional garden plants come from. Plants of hilly and mountainous areas are often found in rocky or sandy soils and require well-drained garden soils. Many plants of the chaparral have poor resistance to the root pathogens that thrive in a warm, moist soil and may not tolerate typical garden style irrigation in summer.

Matching or creating the right conditions is the key to success to grow California natives. Planting on a raised mound or berm, for instance, is one way to drain water away from sensitive crowns. Knowing where in California a given native plant comes from can help you make the right decisions.

That being said there are many natives with an amazing broad tolerance of different conditions. Heteromeles arbutifolia or toyon grows in both sandy and clay soils as does Achillea millifolium or yarrow which is also a good cut flower. Carex grass and Erigeron glaucus or Seaside daisy also do well in most soils.

If you garden in clay soils,  good native shrubs are Western redbud, manzanita, spicebush, bush anemone, ceanothus, garrya, Pacific wax myrtle, western mock orange, blue elderberry, mahonia, California wild rose and snowberry. Native perennials for clay soil include coral bells, sticky monkeyflower ( a good cut flower ), salvias, deer grass, rubus and Dutchman’s pipe vine.

Sandy conditions require California natives that are decidedly drought tolerant. You may already grow many of our manzanitas and ceanothus. But do you also have lupine, lavatera, coffeeberry, buckwheat, fuchsia-flowering gooseberry, purple sage, wallflower or the beautiful Douglas iris?

Then there are the folks that live in the shade. Native plants from canyons and riparian areas will do well in your garden. They require some summer watering but that’s all. Native shrubs that tolerate bright shade are manzanita, spicebush, bush anemone, ceanothus, mahonia, Ca. wax myrtle, any of the ribes, wild rose, snowberry and huckleberry. Perennials for color are columbine, Western bleeding heart, Ca. fuchsia, Douglas iris and coral bells.

Where ever you garden, to provide food and nectar or berries for our winged friends be sure you have some flowering currant, sticky monkey flower, coffeeberry, salvia clevelandii, Dutchman’s pipe vine,wax myrtle, Ca. fuchsia, aster chilensis or seaside daisy.

California Native Plants

Vines for the Santa Cruz Mountains

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If you enjoy and beautiful blooms, you can have them both when you plant vines.  Vines use little space, add color to bare walls and fences, cover free-standing arbors, provide shade and extend the garden skyward.  Vines are amazing plants.
   
If your trees aren’t big enough to provide shade yet , vines on a pergola or lattice work can cool a west facing patio.  They can also block the wind making your garden more comfortable.   Vines with large, soft leaves can soften sounds that would otherwise bounce off hard surfaces.  Birds will love you for your vines.  They offer shelter for many species and nectar for others. 
   
Creating an outdoor room with vines can make your yard feel cozy.  They readily provide the walls to enclose the space.  Views from one part of the garden may be partially open, framed by vines or blocked entirely.  Shrubs can also be used to create garden rooms but vines form a thin living wall that is quickly established.  Creating boundaries with vines also adds vertical design elements to an otherwise flat landscape.
   
Hide something unattractive with a covering of vines. A dog house, old stump, or rock pile can become a pleasant view when covered with vines.  Disguising a concrete block retaining wall with a climbing hydrangea will reward you with a great show of flowers each spring. A native vine like Roger’s Red wild grape or Boston ivy will provide fall color on the same wall.
   
Planting vines in containers or planters on a deck, balcony or paved area can add beauty to these areas. Remember that large containers offer more root space than small ones and require less frequent watering and transplanting.  Vine need support for them to climb.  A small lattice structure or netting stretched between posts works well for vines such as clematis and pink jasmine.  The  structure doesn’t need to be in the container.
   
Combining vines can have twice the effect.  A classic combination is to plant a large flowering clematis like Jackmanii with a rambling rose.  I’ve seen these on arbors and split rail fences and the look is breathtaking.
   
For a vine with long lasting interest, try trumpet creeper which blooms from midsummer to early autumn. Hummingbirds love it. Growing in sun or shade, it can tolerate wet or dry conditions and is generally pest free.  Give it lots of space to grow. 
   
Climbing hydrangea has showy white spring flowers and bright yellow autumn color before the leaves fall.  During the winter months the peeling bark provides interest.  It thrives with a bit of shade and regular moisture.  This is an excellent choice for masonry walls and the trunks of mature trees.  It will clothe a wall with white flowers and turn a dull trunk into a floral masterpiece. 
   
Plant vines for fragrance in your garden.  Evergreen clematis bears showy white fragrant flowers clusters above shiny dark green leaves in spring.  Clematis montana is covered with vanilla scented pink flowers in spring also.   Carolina jessamine‘s fragrant yellow flowers appear in masses throughout  late winter into spring.       
Star jasmine is a wonderful vine for sun or shade and it’s intense fragrance near a patio or open window will delight you.  It is easy to grow and is generally not  troubled by pests. Pink jasmine blooms mostly in the spring but sporadically through fall with showy, sweet scented pale pink flowers.  It grows fast to 15 feet and is tolerant of drought.  It can also be allowed to cascade over a wall or from a hanging basket.
   
Other vines that are beautiful and easy to grow are the native honeysuckle, lonicera hispidula with its translucent red berries in the fall. Violet trumpet vine, white potato vine, passion flower, Lady Banks rose, hardenbergia, Chilean jasmine and wisteria.
   
The above vines are just a few of the wonderful vines that do well in our climate, in a wide range of soils and conditions.  They are pest resistant and need little fertilization or care other than pruning to control size if needed.   Look around your garden for a spot that would be enhance by a beautiful vine.