GBBD January 2010 - Country Mouse

Things are lush and green here, especially on the north facing slope, and more blooms are popping out. This lot is rather like last month's set, but just more of them. The ceanothus in particular has really burst into bloom. And the miner's lettuce is starting to flower also. As I'm short of time, I'll just show a bunch of pictures this month. [Note: on 1/16, I went in and edited this post to add details] Mostly natives, some planted, some indigenous, and a few non-natives.

Pop over to May Dreams Gardens for other bloggers' bloom days!

Above: Ceanothus "Dark Star"

Above: Indigenous coyote brush, Baccharis pilularis. A female one. The males don't get the fluff.

Above, indigenous Salvia mellifera, black sage. Looking lovely.

Above and two below: indigenous Arctostaphylos tomentosa, probably crustacea.


(I know above isn't a flower but the new manzanita leaves are like tender young flowers!)

Above: Indigenous Blue witch, Solanum umbelliferum (see A Tale of Two Solanums for more adventures with this plant).

Above: Indigenous Gnaphalium ramosissimum - aka pink everlasting, or pink cudweed. A biennial. Found in chaparral, mixed evergreen forest, coastal strand. I've found that it is lovely in a wildlife kind of way, though sticky - then when it dries up it seems like a fire hazard and is frankly ugly. So you have to whack em back and take them to the compost pile. Found in California only.

Above: Indigenous Scrophularia californica aka bee plant or California figwort. Great for hosting caterpillars of chalcedon checkerspot butterfly which estivate there (estivate - like hibernate only in summer.) Pretty much limited to California.

Above: Ericameria arborescens, indigenous native that just appeared in 2009. Known as "goldenfleece" - a chaparral and open woodlands plant, common after fire (or in this case, clearing). Found in California and Oregon.

Above: planted salvia "Bees Bliss" and Duncan who seemed to be snacking on it. Beautiful carpeting salvia. Spreads really big.

Above: Ceanothus Dark Star from another angle.

Ceanothus "Joyce Coulter" - A spreading Ceanothus that is massively happy here. This one is about 4 years old.

Non-native Mexican sage, Salvia leucantha. Last year's growth, almost ready to cut back to make way for the next. Survives with no care whatsoever. Was here when we moved in 10 years back. Hummingbirds love it of course.

Above: Creeping Rosemary and Jumping Duncan.

Above: spires of hummingbird sage, Salvia spathacea, and Erigeron glaucus, seaside daisy.

Above: Monkeyflower, Mimulus "Trish."

Above: rosemary that needs to be whacked back or removed for fire safety reasons, and in the distance the Ribes indecorum that is so stunning.

Above: the Ribes indecorum which is so stunning and in the foreground, Ribes sanguineum. Also you can see a bit of juncus and above, a spreading juniper I put in to spill over the parking area retaining wall, as I couldn't think of a native to do the same job. It doesn't really spill, but it's OK.

Ribes sanguineum, pink flowering currant, which is not so happy here. Maybe to warm overall? And miner's lettuce, which is all over the place.

Salvia "hotlips" I think. I got these from Town Mouse who didn't need them. They are not native but they thrive with absolutely no care, and I just whack em back every year so they don't get too tall. They make a nice backdrop to the parking area. Right behind them is a drop-off and a beautiful big madrone tree.

Above, sugar bush, Rhus ovata, Southern California native, said to grow to 8 feet but this one is about 3 feet and about 5 years old. There is one beside it that is not thriving at all - it is so small you can't see it among the miner's lettuce. I think this shrub would be happier on the sunnier chaparral side. Supposed to be fairly fire resistant, too.

Above: Ah, the gorgeous Ribes speciosum, fuschia-flowering gooseberry. It's so happy where it is, in partial shade, with some afternoon sun. It has furious thorns so you won't want it where you have to prune much or walk close by.

I do not make very inspired containers. That's probably an overstatement. Above, non natives: Some sea lavender (aka statice) and some pelargonium (aka geraniums but that's apparently wrong). Again from Town mouse. I am a sucker for plant waifs and strays. Don't let anybody know!

My attempt to make a container arrangement: Sphaeralcea Munroana (Monroe's Globe Mallow) dangling down, very pretty, with locally indigenous Nassella pulchra, foothill needlegrass. There is also some Margarita BOP penstemon and local indigenous California fuschia in there but they are not doing so well.

Another waif, an abutilon that lights up a dark corner, along with some kind of fuschia, not doing so well. The container on the table had a lovely fern but it died back. All from Town Mouse garden overspill.

Above: Cape honeysuckle, Tecomaria capensis. It should have been trained along the utility fence to hide it but wasn't so it just went into a huge bushy shape about 15 feet tall. One of my initial efforts to design and implement a garden, before the native plant bug took hold.

In front Encelia californica, Coast Sunflower - a "mother plant" that I'm fostering from the CNPS propagation group. A Southern California native. She'll be giving us cuttings at some point.
In the background, Polygala dalmaisiana, sweet pea shrub, non native. Trouble free, just sits there and has little lavendar pea-like flowers. Again part of the initial pool garden plan from '05, that was all non-natives.

Above: Also from many years ago, a snapdragon escapee (Antirrhinum majus). Doesn't spread, just hangs out there at the edge of the pool concrete, and reminds me of my mother's little gardens in Glasgow and Liverpool. Behind it the scourge - calla lily. Never plant these unless you want them for ever and ever. I wish they weren't like that as they are so beautiful. They do also seem to foster snails and slugs.

Last but not least, miner's lettuce, Claytonia perfoliata, nestling among some naturalized California poppy foliage. (Eschscholzia californica is not indigenous to our immediate area AFAIK). Miner's lettuce is covering the north facing slopes where we removed the big-old bay tree last spring. Unfortunately many weedy plants are growing among it, and it's next to impossible to weed in there without disturbing the extremely fragile Claytonia. I like how their little flowers seem like a tiny bouquet. It does taste OK but I haven't actually prepared them in a salad. I really should. Maybe this weekend...