Mountain Garland Clarkia Photo Credit: Nancy Bauer
SPRING!
It’s the beginning of the wildflower season and there are so many Sonoma hotspots for wildflowers from now into June. Wander your favorite trails along the Sonoma coastal bluffs, Anndadel, Sugarloaf, Sonoma Mountain, or many of our local parks and preserves. Douglas iris, hound’s tongue, blue dicks, milkmaids, checkerbloom and shooting stars are blooming. Early nectar sources for butterflies. I have been seeing migrating California Tortoiseshell butterflies and several Mourning Cloaks lately. Both butterfly species overwinter as adults and emerge in spring. Mourning Cloaks hide in the bark of a tree, coming out on warm, sunny days in the winter. The Tortoiseshells lay eggs on wild lilac (Ceanothus); Mourning Cloaks use willows and poplars as larval food plants. California wildflowers, Ceanothus, Western redbud, manzanita, native salvias and monkeyflowers are just a few of our early blooming nectar sources for butterflies and native bees.
Nancy Bauer
Co-founder the Habitat Corridor Project
Author, the California Wildlife Habitat Garden. UC press.
https://www.powells.com/book/the-california-wildlife-habitat-garden-how-to-attract-bees-butterflies-birds-and-other-animals-9780520267817?condition=New&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23231155612&gbraid=0AAAAAD_gE3MWfSpOpzYIMmaPe70dBWg6O&gclid=CjwKCAiAnoXNBhAZEiwAnItcG25kRV-4cD6sPDzyJQKCQHfrK7B9Bdjvau6lS4GD-FYjqDEpytdWiBoC7ZgQAvD_BwE
Butterflies and more!
| Variable Checkerspot pupa - photo credit: Nancy Bauer
Hosting Butterflies When planting butterfly host plants, we often think of pipeline and monkeyflowers, but many local butterflies use trees and shrubs as caterpillar food plants. Of course, it would be much harder to see eggs and cats on these larger plants, assuming they aren't quickly finished off by their many insect and bird predators! Take oaks and willows, for example. Oaks host the Mournful Duskywing and the beautiful California Sister, a large dark butterfly with wihite markings and bright orange spots on the wing tips. One of the first butterflies to show up in the spring, the Mourning Cloak, may hibernate in tree bark as an adult during the cold months. This large, dark brown butterfly with a pale yellow fringe uses willows as a host plant. So does the Lorquin’s Admiral. It is smaller than the California Sister, but it, too, has orange-tipped wings. The host plants of the Western Tiger Swallowtail—that big black and yellow butterfly—include willows and sycamores. The Tiger Swallowtails in San Francisco are known to rely on the London plane-trees, a sycamore hybrid, that have been planted throughout the city. The Pale Swallowtail, a cream and black version of the Tiger Swallowtail, may lay its eggs on several native shrubs, including California coffeeberry and hollyleaf cherry. One of the small blue butterflies, Spring Azure, uses creambush (Holodiscus), California buckeye, ceanothus and the red-twigged dogwood as host plants. And let’s not forget those tiny grass skippers in tones of copper and amber who depend mostly on sedges and native bunchgrasses! Hairgrass (Deschampsia), California brome, Elymus spp., June grass, California oat grass, Carex spp., for example. Nancy Bauer |
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Tip Three: Plant More Salvias
You will find sages in all of the gardens April and I have worked on together. They are a backbone-of-the-garden kind of plant; we could even call them a keystone habitat plant. Not only are they a reliable and important source of nectar for hummingbirds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators, they add beauty to any garden. Salvias come in many forms (from mounding ground cover to shrubs), bloom from spring through late fall, and they are low-water-use and deer resistant. Besides Cleveland sage, check out brandegee and purple sage, pitcher sage (Lepechinia) and black sage (S. mellifera). One of my favorites is hummingbird sage (S. spathacea). The dark green foliage forms a mounding groundcover and the whorls of magenta flowers bloom from late winter through summer. This sage prefers shade/light shade and can take summer water or practically none.
5 things to do in the California Wildlife Garden in Fall
TIp Number One: Nature’s Mulch
If you still have some weeding to do, November has been rainy, and the best time to pull weeds is after a rain. Throw them in the compost pile or on garden beds, or tuck them under shrubs (preferably before they go to seed!). Instead of bagging leaves, allow some leaf litter, nature’s mulch. Leaves, weeds and garden trimmings decompose quickly, adding nutrients to the soil, while also providing hiding places for beetles and other beneficial insects. Birds benefit, too. They forage for insects in that mulch and leaf litter. But don’t forget to leave some bare places, free of mulch, for our ground-nesting native bees. Most of our California native bees are solitary bees that burrow into the ground to nest. Some use old beetle holes, hollow stems or decaying logs. And just in case you were wondering: unlike honeybees, our native bees do not make honey—and they are not aggressive bees.
(Tip Number Two next week!)
Tip Number Two: Tiny houses and bathing options
Last week I covered nesting sites for native bees, but it’s not just native bees that are looking for places to raise a family. Many other beneficial insects —tiger beetles, rove beetles, ladybugs, assassin bugs— are also on the lookout for a tiny home. A small rock pile, an old log or board, and compost piles are very attractive options.
A sunny boulder or large rock offers sunbathing opportunities for butterflies and insect-eating lizards. Beneficial insects and the not-so-beneficial are both on the menu. While the backyard bird population is mainly focused on food options, watering holes are a welcome surprise. Not just for refreshment, but also a place to clean up. And they don’t have to be flashy. Yes, waterfall pools and fountains have their fans, but a saucer on a stump filled daily with clean water gets the job done. And if you place your watering hole within easy view of a window, deck or patio, I guarantee it will be good entertainment. Bush tits and other small birds seem to love crowding together (even in small watering holes) for a vigorous bath. Larger birds—robins and jays, for example—tend to monopolize a watering hole, but when they eventually leave, those patiently waiting waste no time for a quick dip.
Madia
Whatever could possibly be blooming in August, when the hills are dry and brown and the last of spring’s seeds are blowing in the wind. Our native wildflowers never disappoint, and one of these late bloomers is madia (Madia elegans), also known as showy tarweed, an inelegant name for a spunky, most definitely showy, wildflower that grows in dry clay soils late in the summer. Yes, tarweeds are known for the aromatic, sticky resin that grows on the leaves and stem, so not a good candidate for cut flowers!
It was Charlotte Torgovitsky, another habitat gardening educator and enthusiast, who first introduced me to madia many years ago. An impressive stand of this tall (3-5 ft.) bright yellow wildflower was growing along the driveway in her lovely Novato garden and I loved it immediately. So you can imagine my delight when I recently found fields of it growing on top of a ridge in west Marin. (There is also a coastal version of madia that I look for along the Kortum trail near Jenner.)
Madia is a butterfly’s late summer feast; later, its seeds are a rich food source for finches and other seed-eaters. If you don’t have a dry meadow, try madia in a large container.
You can buy seeds from Charlotte’s nursery in Novato (homegroundhabitats.org). And California Flora nursery is a good source for plants.
Nancy Bauer is the Co-founder of the Habitat Corridor Project and author of the California Wildlife Habitat Garden (UC Press). https://www.amazon.com/California-Wildlife-Habitat-Garden-Butterflies/dp/0520267818 or request it at your local bookstore!
Ode to Oaks
Every so often I need to proclaim the beauty and benefits of having oaks on the land. California’s signature plant, they are majestic, long-lived, and hardy. But most of all, oaks offer food and shelter to so many birds and insects. They are nesting sites for owls and hawks and small cavity nesters, such as nuthatches and chickadees and the oak titmouse. Woodpeckers, jays and squirrels eat the acorns and by hiding their acorn treasures, spread the seed. All parts of the oak tree—acorns, pollen, sap and leaves-—are food sources. Oak woodlands provide habitat for over 300 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians and over 5,000 insects, including 7 species of butterflies. They are the only host plant for the beautiful California sister butterfly. Coast live oak, valley oak, Oregon oak, CA black oak, and blue oaks are the most common species in Sonoma County. Many of these oaks hybridize into new species– blue oak and Oregon oak, for example, in North Sonoma Mountain Regional Park.
Oaks thrive on winter rain and summer drought; watering under mature oaks invites pathogens and fungi to take up residence, but newly planted oaks need water until they are established. Some tips: Minimize pruning, avoid cutting the roots and paving within the root zone, or compacting the soil with foot traffic, cars or construction. Plants near or around oaks should not need supplemental water during the dry months. There are many native trees and shrubs, perennials and groundcovers that work well with oaks. For example: shrubs such as coffeeberry, snowberry, and pink-flowering currants; perennials/ groundcovers such as coral bells (Heuchera spp.), Douglas iris, low-growing manzanitas, woodland strawberry, and California fescue thrive in dry shade to part shade and do not need supplemental water. (See Appendix C: Oaks in the Landscapes in my book for more oak-friendly plants.)
Apple Blossom Festival Plant list
Grav Fair Plant List and Materials - The perfect combination for full sun/pt shade
Shrubs:
Manzanita - Arctostaphylos densiflora
Toyon - Heteromeles arbutifolia
Coffeeberry - Frangula californica (syn Rhamnus)
Perennials:
Foothill Penstemon - Penstemon heterophyllus
Verbena - Verbena 'De la Mina'
Coyote mint - Monardella villosa
For the butterflies:
Showy and Narrowleaf Milkweed - Asclepias californica
Dutchmans pipe - Aristolochia californica
And a grass or two:
Blue Grama or Eyebrow Grass - Bouteloua californica
Sand Dune Sedge - Carex pansa
Traditional Plant Selection vs. Regenerative Planting
You may have heard of “right plant, right place” but have you heard of “right purpose”? Likely coined by Julie Weisenhorn et al. who developed a plant selection tool for the University of Minnesota Extension, this approach seeks to match plants to the conditions they evolved with rather than attempting to fit plants into conditions that may not support their long-term success. By selecting plants according to current conditions (rather than attempting to engineer different conditions), caretakers can greatly increase the chances of plant success and decrease long-term maintenance needs. Furthermore, planning for plants to die out or migrate over time is not only good design but also reflective of a broader regenerative approach to landscape gardening that allows for the caretaker to adjust to conditions as they naturally change over time. Embracing natural change and phasing plants in or out accordingly supports a more resilient and biodiverse landscape.
What is “regenerative” planting?
“Regenerative” is a definitely a buzz word these days, which means you’ll probably find multiple definitions for it across the internet. Put simply, we think of regeneration as the duty that humans have to engage the landscape in ways that extend beyond repair and support and even enhance it. The regenerative philosophy frames human kind as one of many– albeit important– components of the natural environment. In acknowledging how extensive our impact on natural processes and biodiversity can be, the regenerative philosophy suggests humans lean into our influential role to actively encourage the development of complex living systems. ReScape, a San Francisco-based regenerative landscaping workforce development organization, has distilled this philosophy down to 8 practical principles worth exploring here.
Regenerative philosophy suggests humans lean into our influential role to actively encourage the development of complex living systems.
Landscape Planting: Then and Now
Landscaping and gardening values, like most cultural values, change over time. However, some aesthetically-driven values continue to inform our perceptions of beauty and kemptness to this day. Before diving into succession and habitat gardening, let’s explore how we got here first.
Historically, gardens in the western world were a luxury enjoyed by folks who did not have to rely on their land for sustenance. Think: the wealthy nobility of France and England with their strolling gardens and highly manicured lawns. Gardens were designed as extensions of the dwelling’s architecture, continuing lines that imposed order on the landscape accordingly. Highly sculpted evergreen plants represented refinement and a triumph over chaos (nature). Sloping lawns and reflecting pools evoked ideas of infinity and power. Meanwhile, flowering plants were bred to have bigger, fuller, more frequent blooms, a practice that still takes place to this day.
Nowadays, private gardens (or yards) are a thing enjoyed by much of the first world’s middle class. If you’ve ever had your yard designed by a professional, it’s still a common practice to approach the garden as a series of outdoor “rooms” where occupants can enjoy green nature while still feeling the safety and assurance of their home. In this way, residential landscapes are still treated like an extension of the home, so it makes sense that plant and hardscape materials often reflect the owner or tenant’s stylistic preferences. Without any ingrained knowledge of local plants, the average lay person chooses plants they like with little or no practical knowledge of the conditions in which they evolved. The myriad of commercially available cultivars leaves little room to question otherwise.
Understand Your Site
The first step to designing a planting plan is site analysis. Map your site’s existing conditions and, most importantly, how they change throughout the seasons. Most designers can’t do this for you; they will only be able to capture a single snapshot in time whereas you, the caretaker and steward, are developing an ongoing conversation with your landscape. A habitat or biodiversity-focused designer should be willing to visit the site during the winter and summer for a full picture of how the site’s exposure and micro-climates change throughout the year. This is especially important for places around the house and trees so that the changes and shade and sun angle can be directly observed rather than postulated.
The next step is to select plants that have evolved within a location’s set of conditions, rather than the other way around. Since regeneration is interested in enhancing what’s naturally occuring, responding to existing conditions with well-adapted plants (think: natives), rather than creating new conditions, is the name of the game. This idea of planting is also known as successional planting and is well-documented as a small-scale farming practice.
For landscaping, we recommend starting with CalScape.This online database of California native plants can show you what’s native to your exact location (using your address) and tell you the soil, sun, and water needs for each plant. By capturing as full of a picture of the microclimate, soils, drainage, and exposure of specific locations as possible, you can greatly improve the rate of plant success, which decreases waste and reliance on inputs over time. Stronger, well-adapted plants will make your garden more resilient to pests and drought stress over time, which will make them better able to support pollinators and withstand wildlife impacts, too.
Set Succession in Motion
Keep in mind that adding plants (especially trees and larger shrubs) is likely to change the microclimate of one or several plant locations, so having some understanding of each plant’s influence is ideal. For example, most California native soils are nitrogen-poor, so planting nitrogen-fixing plants (i.e. most members of the pea family) outside of vegetable and herb beds will make the site less suitable over time for otherwise well-adapted native plants. Some change is inevitable, but the regenerative approach embraces those changes and asks, “What can this site support now that it previously could not?” Embracing change is an inherently adaptive mindset that can help you to anticipate the domino effects of your tinkering and recognize new opportunities as they arise in your garden. In this way you can begin to allow your garden to mimic ecological succession at the individual site scale.
One way to set the stage for this process is to phase your garden design. Depending on the site’s exposure and soils, it might be worth starting with more grasses or pioneer plants and/or larger plants and trees. This will allow the larger plants time to establish and for the pioneers to build topsoil, giving you the chance to reassess the change in soil and microclimate conditions and to select plants from the next phase that are best suited for the new conditions. This will again reduce waste in the long-run as choices are made in accordance with the direction that the site is shifting.
Another way plants influence a site is through cooperation and competition. We understand a lot about beneficial companions for food-producing plants, but we don’t know as much about how native plants help or hinder each other. However, we do know a bit about which plants are often found together in the wild, which can give us clues as to how to group them in a landscape setting. Along with growth requirements, CalScape also lists companion plants, pollinator relationships, bloom times, and more for every plant entry searched.
Embrace the “Bad” with the Good
It may be worth noting that some changes might not be for the better, in this case, an abundant, biodiverse, and resilient garden. For example, some plants may be too well adapted to a site and might overtake those around it. Contrary to popular belief, it is entirely possible for even native plants to become invasive. To be clear, any plant that spreads easily is not invasive; it’s the degree to which that plant keeps other species from growing and thereby significantly diminishing the garden’s overall diversity that determines if it’s a “weed” or not. Don’t be afraid to be your garden’s guardian; sometimes protecting the trajectory of the whole means weeding out the occasional ill-suited individual.
Be ok with knowing that your garden may take years to reach its “peak”. Make the act of observing your garden a regular practice (dare we say spiritual?). As plants grow, new pockets for later successional plants might open up while others may close. As perennial debris builds the soil, less pest management may be needed but early pioneer plants may die. Keep in mind that working in alignment with processes is an inherently time-consuming thing that pays for itself in the long-run. For this reason, developing a master plan with a variety of plants for each phase (rather than having determined plants in fixed locations) can build-in flexibility. Giving yourself the wiggle room to select species or cultivars that are aligned with your preferences as well as the direction your landscape is moving can ensure the regenerative nature of your efforts while also retaining your individual touch.
Nadja Quiroz operates Mend Landscapes, a member of Pollinate Collective and subcontractor to Habitat Corridor Project and April Owens Design, LLC.
Birding Season
It’s Prime Bird-Watching Season!
Walking along Santa Rosa creek recently, during a break between atmospheric river events, I was delighted to see Common Mergansers—a male and two females— feeding in the fast-moving creek. Been hearing the Great Horned Owls, too, hooting nightly. Bird activity really starts to heat up in early spring; it’s nesting season. Turns out we have a pair of bald eagles nesting in the Laguna de Santa Rosa and they have produced 14 offspring over a 14-year period. Unlike the Great Horned Owls and the eagles who build their own nests, there are others who are cavity-nesters, and songbirds, in particular, compete for good nesting sites. Nesting boxes are a great way to help out. Check out various bird conservation sites for information on how to build nest boxes or what to look for commercially (nestwatch.org is a good one). Nest hole size, placement, proportions of nest boxes are all important considerations.
Nancy Bauer is the Co-founder of the Habitat Corridor Project and author of the California Wildlife Habitat Garden (UC Press). https://www.amazon.
com/California-Wildlife- Habitat-Garden-Butterflies/dp/ 0520267818 or request it at your local bookstore!
Where to Start – it is easier than you think!
Sometimes we want to do something beneficial, like turning our backyard into a wildlife habitat, but it feels too big a task or we just don’t know where to start. The good news: you really don’t have to start over; there are so many ways to make a garden more wildlife-friendly. So where to start? Is there space to add one or more native trees or shrubs? Ceanothus, coffeeberry, hollyleaf cherry, toyon, for example, like sunny spots and are drought tolerant. Do you need a hedge for screening? These plants double as hedgerow options, too, while providing nectar or berries, or both. Can you find room in planting beds for a drift of native perennials or small shrubs? Early spring-blooming native salvias are a great source of nectar for native bees, honeybees and butterflies. Summer-blooming coyotemint (Mondardella spp.), a favorite of butterflies, looks beautiful massed or spilling over a wall. Taking a big-picture view of your back and front gardens, look for ways to increase diversity. Planning for more vertical layers of trees, shrubs, and ground plants will add shelter and nesting places. Plants that produce seeds and berries, fruits and nuts add more foraging sites. A water source for birds can be as simple as a birdbath filled with fresh water. Summer is a good time to see who is showing up in your garden.