Plant Sale - Round II

This morning was the annual native plant sale at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens. In preparation, I pulled out all the calla lilies from the front planter boxes. I had done this last year, but I wasn't careful and they all grew back. I tried to get all the roots and bulbs, though I expect I still missed some.

In order to prevent trick or treaters from running across the new plantings, I put up some cobweb fencing that actually worked.



This morning, I woke up early and headed out to Claremont at 6:45 am. The doors open at 8, but last year I got there at 8:15, ended up having to park on the street and take a shuttle, only to find that the place was packed. It was 50 F, as I waited in the queue, but I didn't have to wait long. When they let us in, the volunteer staff applauded us (you have to be a member to go in early).

I had a list and headed right for the Carpenteria californica. This is a rather endangered species in the wild, and all the pots I bought had a certificate that they were grown from cuttings in the botanical gardens, not taken from the wild. The popular name is Bush Anemone (cultivar "Elizabeth"). It has dark green leaves (somewhat resembling oleander but not poisonous), and when it blooms, it has large white flowers. It also likes light shade.



They had a handful of five gallon pots, so I bought all three. Two went in the front, near the front door:





The third big one I put where the dying chaparral currant was:



I noticed they had some really nice Sisyrinchium californicum (golden-eyed grass). This is tall and has bright yellow flowers. I thought it might brighten up this corner, so I planted it in front of the bush anemone:





I'm tweaking the wild flower meadow a bit. I think it needs some stable perennials to anchor it, so I put in some Sisyrinchium bellum (blue-eyed grass). This is a little shorter than its yellow cousins. I had planted a lot of this last year on the front parkway strip, but it needs summer water or it shrivels and dies. The meadow stays moist all summer, so I think it will work better here.



The decapitated blue sage on the parkway strip finally succumbed to the inevitable and died. I replaced it with a Salvia apiana (white sage). To get an idea at how fast it grows, compare this new one:



With this one that I planted a year ago:



Because all the blue eyed grass on the parkway strip died, I decided to use Erigeron glaucus "Wayne Rogers" (Wayne Rogers seaside daisy) to edge the path





I'm using something similar on the path to the front door. The Cape Sebastians are beginning to bloom:



Meanwhile, for reasons I don't understand, one of my heuchera (coral bells) has decided it's time to bloom:



Not much more to do. Later next week, I hope to pick up some brickellia (brickellbush) to put on the side of the house under my bedroom window (it's not a pretty plant, but it's supposed to smell very nice). I'm also thinking of using margarita penstemon to edge the other path over the parkway strip. It seems to do very well when given limited water and I'm interested to compare how it does versus the seaside daisy.

The Desert Willow is Blooming

Normally, desert willows (Chilopsis linearis) blooms in the summer, but this is not quite a year old, so it may be a little off.





I also finished the front walkway. I planted more seaside daisies on the other side, but they don't fully match the ones I planted earlier. These are "Ron's Pink," and they are somewhat larger and a different shade from the Cape Sebastian on the other side. Both varieties will grow and spread (significantly) over time.



This is a Ron's Pink:


This is a Cape Sebastian:

Native Landscaping - Year 2

I've been cleaning up the front yard and replacing plants that have died. Last year, I found that I had planted things symmetrically, despite my desire for asymmetry. As the plants died asymmetrically, however, I have been able to achieve some of what I desired.



By the way, even though it's October, I still have some summer wildflowers hanging on:



The centerpiece of the front yard (corner side) is the desert willow. While I feared this might have died, as you can see it was merely hibernating over the winter and has finally and fully come back to life. Not only is it growing by leaps and bounds, but it looks like I may even get some blossoms this year (check back in a few weeks to see).





Most, though not all of the small penstemon died as a result of the floods, so I've replaced them with "Cape Sebastian" seaside daisies. I need to pick up some more for the other side of the walk way. Once I get them, the front yard (block side) will be done.






I put in a lot of Margarita BOP penstemon last year, but most of them have died. The guy at the nursery said to think of them more as a long-lived annual. The ones that didn't get a lot of water have survived. I put in two new ones here. I'm hoping because I started smaller, they might live longer (the surviving penstemon is behind them).



On the other side, I decided not to go with more penstemon, but rather with an Alan Chickering blue sage. These have the most wonderful aroma.



Just behind it and a little over I planted a variety of lilac verbena. These will grow somewhat prostrate and have dark bluish purple flowers.



The small California fuschias I planted a month ago are doing well. The plant behind the lower one is the pitcher sage.





The surviving pitcher sage is still going strong. I may need to prune it.



Where the other pitcher sage died, I decided to go with something quite different. This is a monkey flower (Mimulus "Dave").



Here's where I had several Margarita BOP penstemon die last year, so I replaced them with some small ones.



I put in some more Anchor Bay ceanothus a few weeks ago, and they seem to be doing well.



For a long time, the Carmel Sur manzanita just sort of lay there, but after a year of getting acquainted with the neighborhood, they've finally begun to grow (though a different rates). The new growth leaves are yellowish.



The Lutsko Pink manzanita in the parkway strip has also begun to grow (though these are slow growing plants, so they only gain between 6" to 12" a year).





On the west side of the house, I did some soil amendments to the planter box to lower the pH (it was 8, which is very alkaline). One of the monkey flowers had died, so I replaced with another one (Mimulus "Jelly Bean Terra Cotta").



Instead of the chaparral current I put in a California mock orange (Philadelphus lewisii "Covelo" ). This plant goes winter deciduous, so while it doesn't look that great now, it should take off in the spring. It may not bloom next year, but when it does it will have large white flowers whose smell resembles orange blossoms (hence the name).



The remaining chaparral current isn't dead yet (though it looks it).



The monkey flower behind it was planted 11 months ago, so you can see how big they get.

The chaparral current still has sap and has a few small leaves emerging. I've tried to lower the pH of the soil to save it, and I might yet. I won't know for a while if it will survive.



Meanwhile, the grass has come in nicely and the orange looks healthier. I'm hoping it will grow a bit more this year.

Late Summer Plantings

I had planned to wait until fall before doing the second round of plantings, but the Grow Native Nursery had a 35% off sale last weekend, so I decided to start a little early. I didn't go overboard, but picked up a few plants as I consider what I want to do.

First off, my UC Verde hybrid grass is coming in quite nicely. I was worried that it might not fill in before it went into winter hibernation, but I don't think I have anything to worry about.





Here's a close up of how the grass plugs are expanding and interknitting.


I've been trying to decide what to do about the path to the front door. Almost all the small penstemon died, either in the floods of winter or later in the spring. I think only three are hanging on and none of them are doing all that well.

In the end, I decided to go with seaside daisy (Erigeron glaucus Cape Sebastian)





These are looking a little ragged and need some pruning (they bloom mostly in the spring), but if you want to see what they look at when they grow a bit more, click here: http://www.yerbabuenanursery.com/viewplant.php?pid=855

I pulled out what was left of the silver snowflakes and decided to replace all of them with california fuschias. These have really been thriving in the side yard, but I picked a low growing variant (Zauschneria californica Mattole Select).


As you can see, they are pretty small and will contrast nicely with the larger, more established plants, like the pitcher sage and the Margarita penstemon.


If you want to see what they look like when the grow and bloom, click here: http://www.yerbabuenanursery.com/viewplant.php?pid=901

The pitcher sages are continuing to bloom and thrive.


All the low growing manzanita I planted have survived and begun to expand, but it will be quite a while before they fill in even part way, so I decided to move things a long a bit by mixing in some low growing ceanothus (Ceanothus gloriosus Anchor Bay).
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One thing that I really like about it is how it meshes in shape and form with the manzanita.


Unlike the manzanita, however, this will bloom in the spring. To see what it looks like then, click here: http://www.nativerevival.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=112:ceanothus-gloriosus-anchor-bay&catid=40:plant-list&Itemid=92

So here's what the front yard looks like in late summer. Several of the greyish green plants in front of the desert willow are blue flax and are actually in bloom (cornflower blue flowers), but they've already closed up for the day.


Here's what they look like in the morning:


And a close up of the blue flax: