Get Ready

May 1st is International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day. Since I'm determined to be a CA native gardener, I'm thrilled to say that the Sunflower family (Asteraceae) Helianthus annuus, is native. It is a huge family. Will I be a guerrilla? I'm not telling, but it could be unavoidable. It might be genetic.

The Los Angeles Guerrilla Gardeners have a great website. It reminds me of the Improv Everywhere group, only more stealth. The picture gallery is inspiring.

So what's a guerrilla gardener? Some one who gardens with or without permission on public land.

My parents, Wisconsinites, don't take long walks down the railroad track turned nature trail anymore, but when they were able, they always took a bag of seeds or bulbs or little seedlings to plant along the way. They didn't know they were guerrilla gardeners. They were just having fun. Little by little they beautified the walks they took with Wisconsin natives.

ABC's of Native Plant Gardening

January 30, 2010 - still catching up on the lecture series:

Lil Singer was the second speaker of the Nopalito Lecture Series. Lili Singer is an L.A. Times garden writer and Special Projects Coordinator for the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants.

Lil brought us a plant list including ground covers, perennials, shrubs, trees and grasses; a resource book list; and an article about Natives in the Landscape - Pruning. Then she told us that she couldn't get to everything and dove in.

These were the highlights for me.
1. You can't change your soil. Find a plant that fits your soil.
2. Never plant a dry plant. Water your plant and the hole before you plant.
3. When planting dig a hole ONLY has deep at the pot it came in.
4. Dig the hole twice as wide as the pot it came in.
5. Water often the first year as needed. Give the native a chance to get established.
6. A one gallon plant will do better than a five gallon plant because it hasn't spent much of it's young life getting used to a pot.
7. Plan a green backbone for your yard and it will look good all year.
8. We live in a Mediterranean climate. Embrace it.
9. Read the plant labels. Believe them. The plant will be as big as the label says when mature. I know I never thought my children would ever become 6' men and 5' 9" women, but they did. Consider the sun or shade requirements of the plant. Honor them.
10. Once established these plants can die from too much water.

I planted my first native yesterday. A Roger's Red grape vine. I was thinking of Lil the whole time I was watering and digging and watering. I found a perfect spot for it in the front, where it has 20' of fence to grow along, unchallenged. The birds will find it, it will look great when it turns red in the fall. I feel confident. That's the best part. I had information. My decision was educated.

Rincon Point to Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve

Sunday March 7th, 2010

Rain the night before threatened to reappear in the morning hours. The group was small and enjoyed a beautiful stroll along the beach. Organized by the Channel Islands chapter of the CA Native Plant Society.

William Abbott and Andrea Adams-Morden were our guides. They prepared a three page list of CA Natives and Non-Native plants we would meet. They organized the list by Genius, Family and Species. I took many pictures, a few are good enough to share.

Just about dead center you will see an iridescent green beetle.

Coyote Brush

Baccharis pilularis

This dragon guards a salt marsh developing behind its wall.

Field Mustard

Brassicaceae Mustard Family

Brassica rapa

Coastal Morning Glory. A CA Native.

Convolvulaceae Morning Glory Family

Calystegia macrostegia ssp cyclostegia

Silver Beach bur

Asteraceae Sunflower Family

Ambrosia chamissonis

Before we even began our hike Andrea was saying, "I didn't put that one on the list." In the parking lot area we saw CA's state grass, Nassella pulchra, Purple Needle Grass. I wish my picture had turned out, but you can see it in the California Native Plants for the Garden book, by Carol Bornstein, David Fross and Bart O'Brien.

In addition to looking at Native Plants, we discovered some wildlife. I borrowed this picture from google images because mine is blurry.

Shark egg pouch

sometimes called a Mermaids Purse

Overhead we watched an American Kestrel Falcon. We noticed unusual earth striations along the beach and began a discussion about earthquake fault lines and the relative newness of our mountains. The more you learn the more there is to learn. I admit that I have been hours online exploring plants and insects and birds and ocean and earthquakes. Isn't this the best? What a beautiful way to spend a Sunday Morning.

Designing Native Gardens

On January 16, 2010 Nopalito Nursery sponsored their first in a series of gardening with native plants lectures. The series included design, how to plant a garden with natives, Chumash Ethnobotany, grow your own fruit and then the all day Native Plant Symposium. Next up is "What to do with a lawn." These lecture classes have been just what I needed. Themes have been repeated and repeated. I'm beginning to get it. So here are some quick notes, so I won't forget.

What a great place to start. Design. The speaker was Carol Borstein.

Carol Borstein with David Fross and Bart O'Brien wrote California Native Plants for the Garden, a comprehensive guide to planning your own native plant garden. Pictures, pictures, pictures identified by plant type, geographic zones, light, soil, water and natural habitat and range. That's where I started. I skipped all the words and went straight to the pictures. Then I went back to the text.

Carol was the first to discuss the reoccuring themes of gardening with natives. The garden can be pretty all year if you plan. Think about color and seasons and fruit and flowers. Read the label on the one gallon plants you buy and believe them. If it says that little plant will grow to be 6 feet wide and 10 feet tall, believe it. She said horticulture is a mix of art and science.  The rewards of planting with natives are less water, less maintenance and less waste.

Still Planning

Books help a lot in the planning stage and the library has been a great source of information. I am building muscles carrying books back and forth. I have spent hours pouring over pictures and information, making notes and visualizing the future of my yard. However, there is nothing like a field trip. Seeing plants and fountains and gardens in person is essential for me. So off I went.....

Jackie Worden suggested that I check out Terra Sol Nursery in Santa Barbara. She knows that I need a water source (fountain, birdbath) in my yard and that I love succulents. Both are in good supply at this nursery. I also found a worm can

and some benches that I like. On a rack in the office area I found seed packets from Botanical Interests seed company. Organic. Some heirloom.

From there I drove to The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. I walked the entire garden, making notes of the manzanitas, meadow grasses, vines and ground covers. I'm aware of benches and paths, of color and texture. I enjoyed an outdoor art exhibit, 'from ashes to art' to honor the May 2009 Fire - they sliced burnt trees and had visitors write on them, then constructed these art-poles.

Then a friend suggested we visit Seaside Gardens in Carpinteria. Seaside gardens is planted in sections so you get a real feel for different types of atmospheres. Asian, Australian, Mediterranean, CA Native, Meadow, and so on. Exquisite. If you get a chance, stop by to look for yourself. I'm going to have a meadow. I fell in love with this grass.

I kept my hands in my pockets and my wallet in the car. It's hard to maintain this planning discipline. For me, it's essential to get the water structure in place before I plant. It's look, don't buy for another month or so.