by Lorraine on September 23, 2012
My life has been a bit upturned the last couple of months because I managed to fracture my right foot when I was just finishing up my workout at the gym. I ended up wearing one of those big, clunky orthopedic boots which was not exactly conducive to walking in my garden and allowing me to spend any time in it this past summer.
I am finally out of it but still limited on doing things such as hiking or conditioning walking and I have been told not to do any repetitive movements on my foot until the fracture is completely healed, which at this point it, isn’t.
But with the arrival of Fall, I know that soon I will need to be doing a lot of cleanup and maintenance in the garden. When it comes to using California native plants and in my case those of the chaparral-sage community, there isn’t much to be done during the summer months because most of the plants shut down for the season and become semi-dormant.
With the arrival of Fall and then winter, that is the signal to get busy in the garden. The plants are waking up and getting prepared to grow and that means it’s important to groom, trim, prune the plants that need a “spa day” and of course it’s the best time to do planting. Plus I have a number of projects in mind this season and am only waiting for the weather to be cooler before I get involved in them.
Although it is quite hot here today, about 102 degrees which is typical for Fall in Southern California. I know that I will be removing more plants in the next few months but I will need some help when I do. I can’t do any digging with my right foot to remove the plants I want to take out. So I will be hiring my P/T garderner, Nelson to do the heavy work.
It is approaching the 5th. year when I decided to remove my lawn and put in it’s place, native plants and I’m finding it difficult to believe that it flew by so quickly. But since that time, there has been more discussions, books and articles about creating landscapes based upon using less water, no fertilizers or pesticides and becoming sustainable.
And not to forget, the joy of drawing wild birds and butterflies into a new “wild” space. Especially the humming birds…..
I’m happy that I have done my part and I certainly have learned a great deal about using natives for landscaping. And yet, the adventure continues as I learn more about this unique method of landscaping. And I’m already thinking about the changes I will be making to the garden in the next few months.
by Lorraine on August 28, 2011
The last few days have been extremely hot and although I am only 45 minutes away from the beach in Ventura, I may as well be in Palm Springs. To say it’s hot here today, would be an understatement and spending anytime outside in the garden isn’t possible, as it’s just to hot, but I wanted to continue with my comments about a few of the plants I have growing in my garden and with the exception of one dendromecon harfordii or Island Bush Poppy, most of the plants are from the chaparral community and thrive in the heat, although the Bush Poppy is doing fine & has managed to go through three summers so far without a problem.
I can’t list every type of plant that is growing in my garden because there are so many different ones but another one of my favorites is Woolley Blue Curl or Trichostema lanatum that is supposedly difficult to grow but have done well in my garden in spite of the fact that I don’t have the ideal conditions for them to grow in. Three and a half years later, since I planted them they are still doing very well and each year put out a spectacular display of soft, velvety purple flowers on long stems. and are about 4′ tall and almost as wide.
Hummingbirds love these plants as well as the Everetts Choice fuchsias and the Desert Lavender. The Desert Lavender, Hyptis emoryi is more native to the Mojave and Sonoran deserts but has thrived in my garden and on a day like today, that is in the 90’s they are probably smiling as I’m writing this inside on my computer because they love the heat.
I have two lovely, tall plants against the house that are about 10 feet tall and generally covered in tiny, soft lavender colored flowers that draw the hummingbirds and butterflies to them all the time. They have graceful, narrow branches and lend a nice architectural appearance against the house and create a bit of shade next to my sitting area.
Everyone of the plants that I chose for my garden, thrives in the heat prefers dry, rocky soil and in general, needs very little attention. Ideally when you have a chaparral garden you have the best growing conditions, such as well draining soil but in most cases you probably won’t and need to make the best of it when you are initially putting in your plants.
But the soil in my garden tends to be heavy however I am been fortunate in spite of issue and the majority of my plants have thrived and the mortality rate has been very, very low. I seldom water and all I do is any necessary trimming when it’s called for but other than that, I simply enjoy their fragrances, flowers, birds and butterflies and know that I have a tiny bit of that 7 million acres of chaparral in my front yard.
