Plant Profile: Vitis californica ‘Roger’s Red’

Vitis californica ‘Roger’s Red’ is a fast growing native grape vine discovered by Roger Raiche.  Although previously considered a cultivar this plant is now considered to be a natural occurring hybrid between the native Vitis californica and the European wine grape Vitis vinifera.

Like its European counter-parts this grape vine is a vigorous climber (spreader) and can meander up a trellis quickly creating a screen to hide a bare wall or fence. This plant has large green oval shaped leaves, tendrils, and produces edible clusters of small grapes in late summer. The fruit is seedy, but makes a tasty juice and is a great habitat plant for birds! This Vitis is also adaptable to a variety of soil and watering regimes as well as sun/shade micro-climate exposures. Just make sure you have plenty of space as it can easily spread to 30+ feet.

Vitis californica ‘Roger’s Red’ is my choice for planting in narrow beds next to walls and fences. Couple with a rock, a Rush and/or riparian variety of California native bunch grass for an interesting plant grouping. The aforementioned attributes, combined with it’s cool, flaky cinnamon colored bark, and the fact you can make jelly, juice and even wine from the fruit makes this Vitis a perfect addition to the California native garden!

Plant Profile: Nemophila menziesii Baby Blue Eyes

Nemophila menziesii Baby Blue Eyes get their name from bright blue flowers dotted with black on white centers. Found virtually throughout the state in a diverse setting of  California plant communities such as meadows, grasslands, chaparral, woodlands, slopes, and desert washes; Nemophila menziesii is an endemic California wildflower, attractive to bees, butterflies and birds making them an excellent addition to the California native garden.

They are freely self-sowing if planted in a mulch-free environment and are suitable for growing in containers. Typically, Baby Blue Eyes are early bloomers (mid-winter) and have a growth habit under 1 ft in height/width with average water needs. Growing happily in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 3-10, Nemophila menziesii prefer light soils and dry conditions, but are adaptable and make an excellent front of border plant.

Sow seeds of this California native in full sun on the coast transitioning to filtered sun/part shade inland. Group them with taller-growing spring bloomers such as Layia platyglossa Tidy Tips, Lupinus succulentus Arroyo Lupine, Gilia capitata Globe Gilia and late blooming wildflowers such as Clarkia amoena Farewell-to-Spring for a long-lasting show of California native annuals!

Theodore Payne: the Man, the Vision, the Legacy

Theodore Payne, arguably known today as the father of California’s native plant movement, was introduced to California native plants at The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in England in 1891.

Born in Northamptonshire, England on June 19, 1872 a young Theodore Payne began his career serving an apprenticeship in horticulture for J. Cheal and Sons, a nursery firm in London. After three years, in 1893, Payne completed his contract and traveled to the United States.

Arriving in New York, he traveled to Chicago and visited the World's Columbian Exhibition, shortly thereafter setting out for Los Angeles, California. After arriving in Southern California, he took work picking apricots, before finding a job overseeing the gardens on the ranch of Madame Helena Modjeska in Santiago Canyon. Nestled into the Santa Ana Mountain range in Orange County, it was there that he began his life-long interest in California native plants, exploring the extensive natural areas surrounding the Ranch.

Even in the early years of the 20th century, native vegetation was being lost to agriculture, housing, and ever-increasing construction of infrastructure. Recognizing this was happening at an alarming rate, Theodore Payne began advocating for the use of California native plants in place of the standard fare of exotic species being pushed by the California Dept. of Forestry. He lectured up and down the state on the importance of preserving wild flowers and landscapes native to California, and the preservation of native habitat.

Read more about Theodore Payne’s enduring legacy preserving California’s native plants!

Plan on attending the Eighth Annual Theodore Payne Garden Tour April 9th and 10th 10-4!

Plant Profile: California Native Bunchgrasses

One of the questions I always ask my clientele during the preliminary design phase is if they like California native bunchgrasses. From a design perspective, bunchgrasses offer a plethora of benefits both aesthetic and functional.  Attributes include contrast, the element of motion, habitat restoration, visual interest, and historical value.

Experts conclude that native grasslands in California are among the most endangered ecosystem in the United States. Due in most part to historical land use and introduced disease, it is estimated that less than 1% of our state’s original grasslands remain. Fortunately, as forward-thinking home and business owners, we can address this issue by including California’s native grasses in our residential and commercial landscapes.

A short list of favorites for the garden include Purple Three-Awn Aristida purpurea, Blue Grama Bouteloua gracilis, California Fescue Festuca californica, Giant Wild Rye Leymus condensates, California Melic Melica californica, Deer Grass Muhlenbergia rigens, and Purple Needlegrass Nassella pulchra (our state grass here in California). Grass-like species such as Sedges Carex spp. are a great addition to a California-friendly, native garden as well.

In their natural environment, native grasses typically occur in groups with bare ground between them where wildflowers grow. Even though some gardeners feel grasses look messy; in consideration of wildlife value, letting things go to seed and having an area that's 'messy' is good for seed-eaters and butterflies.  Alternatively, hand trimming at the appropriate time of year is preferable aesthetically, and an occasional grooming to remove dead leaves and spent flower stalks or a seasonal coppice is perfectly acceptable and will keep them looking tidy.

Most of the aforementioned ornamental grasses will prefer a sunny spot in the landscape and will be tolerant of drought once established, though most species will look better with occasional summer water.

Like many native plants, grasses play an important role in providing cover, nesting materials, and additional food sources for beneficial, garden-friendly wildlife. Coupled with the addition of contrast, the element of motion, habitat restoration, and historical value, I’m confident that you will enjoy the addition of California’s native bunchgrasses to your garden!

Stubby's Story

Statistics show that by the early '90's urban sprawl in California had reduced our coastal sage scrub ecosystem by more than 90 percent. As you may already know, coastal sage scrub is the habitat of the threatened California Gnatcatcher and Cactus Wren. Another lesser-known example of native bird that has been impacted by this statistic is the California Towhee. On top of habitat loss, Towhees and other ground-foraging birds are suffering heavily from suburban populations of feral cats.

I've become fond of these particular birds since becoming aware of their plight. Also contributing to this affection is the fact that a pair of Towhees have been frequenting my backyard now for quite some time. I would recognize them not only by their signature chirp as they flew into my yard, but because one of the birds had a short tail and I would find it humorous to watch as she hopped across the yard before stopping to scratch for seed. I  affectionately referred to this particular bird as 'Stubby' the Towhee.

Whenever I would see this pair, I'd have a sense of empathy and feel a bit of concern because in providing a backyard habitat for local, native critters, I'd noticed that feral cats also had been frequenting my garden more often.

On an afternoon in August, my wife commented that one such regular neighborhood cat was in the yard. When I glanced out the window I noticed that this particular cat was carrying something in its mouth and my first thought was that it had caught a bird. There is quite a bit of bird activity in our yard; mostly mourning doves, house sparrows and the like so I suppressed the urge to go out back and intervene, accepting the harsh reality that nature plays out its own drama in both natural ecosystems as well as ones designed.

I thought about it again and decided to go out and have a look anyway. I found the cat under a shrub and clapped loudly to scare it away-which worked, but upon closer inspection, I realized that I had become a witness to a statistic, and that the bird that had been caught by the cat was Stubby the Towhee. Stubby was still alive but died after an hour or so.

I don't usually become attached to the wild critters that frequent my yard, but I was really sad when I realized that of all of the birds that visit my little backyard habitat, it was not only a Towhee, but just happened to be that funny little, stubby-tailed Towhee that I found so entertaining as I would look out my studio window in the morning.

Domestic cats are pound for pound one of the most efficient hunters anywhere in the world and they prey on rodents and beneficial garden-friendly critters alike. One way you can help with this specific issue is to put a bell-collar on your cat if you let them outdoors. Or better yet, just keep them inside!

Create a Certified Wildlife Habitat

Whether you have an apartment balcony, a 20-acre farm, or just your standard suburban home, you can create a garden that attracts beautiful wildlife and helps restore habitat in commercial and residential areas. By simply providing food, water, cover and a place for wildlife to raise their young--and by incorporating sustainable gardening practices --you not only help wildlife, but you also qualify to have your garden become an official Certified Wildlife Habitat™.

Provide Food for Wildlife

Everyone needs to eat! Planting native forbs, shrubs and trees is the easiest way to provide the foliage, nectar, pollen, berries, seeds and nuts that many species of wildlife require to survive and thrive. You can also incorporate supplemental feeders and food sources.

Supply Water for Wildlife

Wildlife need clean water sources for many purposes, including drinking, bathing and reproduction. Water sources may include natural features such as ponds, lakes, rivers, springs, oceans and wetlands; or human-made features such as bird baths, puddling areas for butterflies, installed ponds or rain gardens.

Create Cover for Wildlife

Wildlife require places to hide in order to feel safe from people, predators and inclement weather. Consider Natural Features such as Deadwood and Snags. Use things like native vegetation, shrubs, thickets and brush piles.

Give Wildlife a Place to Raise Their Young

Beneficial Wildlife need a sheltered place to raise their offspring. Many places for cover can double as locations where wildlife can raise young, from wildflower meadows and bushes where many butterflies and moths lay their eggs, or caves where bats roost and form colonies.

Let Your Garden Go Green

How you maintain your garden or landscape can have an important effect on the health of the soil, air, water and habitat for native wildlife--as well as the human community nearby. Reducing chemical use, composting, mulching and reducing turf grass in your yard are important steps to gardening greener.

Once you have provided these essential elements to make a healthy and sustainable wildlife habitat, Get your Certified wildlife habitat sign and proudly post it in your garden. Join the thousands of forward-thinking homeowners and wildlife enthusiasts across the country who have been recognized for creating havens for neighborhood wildlife in their very own yards. These individuals have provided the essential elements for healthy and sustainable wildlife habitats and have earned the distinction of being part of National Wildlife Federation's Certified Wildlife Habitat™ program.

Public Can Help Stem the Spread of Gold-Spotted Oak Borer

University of California scientists are calling on the public to help stem the spread of the gold-spotted oak borer, a small invasive beetle that has already killed 20,000 San Diego area coast live oak, black oak and canyon live oak trees. The key to preventing the pest’s spread to additional Southern, Central and Northern California woodlands, the scientists believe, is not moving beetle-infested oak firewood from one place to another.

Firewood hauled from GSOB’s native turf - in southern Arizona, Mexico or Guatemala - most likely carried the pest to Southern California, where it was first detected in 2006. For millennia, the vast, dry Mojave Desert protected California from a GSOB invasion. But, the desert is no match for a pickup truck piled with logs.

Read more about the gold-spotted oak borer problem at CaliforniaNativeLandscapeDesign.com