Another underused delight from many woodland communities in California and points north, Oemleria cerasiformis, or Oso-Berry, is somewhat unusual in the Rose family for tending to dioecy, the habit of separate male (staminate) and female (pistillate) plants. Oso-Berry is not a spectacular shrub, but has a pleasant form and fullness of leafage that fits it comfortably with other understory shrubs of similar general effect and stature (to 8′ in this case). Elliptical leaves of a fresh clear green, dulling as they mature, emerge with the flowers in early spring. These are pendant racemes of white, fragrant little apple-flowers that are highly decorative on the supple branchwork.

Fruits are purple-black drupes that are sometimes borne in quantity (sometimes not), and are attractive to birds when present. Oso-Berry also provides a graceful tracery of grey to reddish branches when it is out of leaf in winter. An excellent addition to the woodland garden, mixed with typical associates such as Pink-Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum v. glutinosum), Coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica), Ocean Spray (Holodiscus discolor), etc. Easy to grow. Best in light shade with decent drainage, average water. An occasional soaking in the summer won’t hurt.

We call it Deerweed, others use prettier names (Deerbrush, Deerbroom, California Broom). One of the more common of California’s many species of Lotus, this is a tough little subshrub that decorates hot, dry sites, often after fires, in chaparral and scrub. Wiry, spreading branches with fresh green leaves sport abundant yellow pea-flowers that fade red-orange. The season is fairly brief in the wilds, and Deerweed is often encountered as a leafless mass of dormant or dead twigs in the heat of summer — easily overlooked!

But keep it watered and it becomes a different creature entirely — lush billows of foliage absolutely crammed with flowers week after week, with a fine sweet fragrance that carries a fair distance on the breeze. In this costume you may well want to give it a finer name than Deerweed! Recommended as a showy filler between shrubs of stronger structure, such as Coffeeberry (Rhamnus californicus), Serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis), Monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus), and so forth. Water moderately for extended bloom, but expect this to shorten lifespan. This can probably be countered somewhat with a rest period in late summer/early fall, followed by a fairly hard cutback. Fast growing when watered, so replacement of senescent plants can ensure a continuous show of this lovely native. In good supply at Oaktown now.

The more we watch it in our own gardens, the more we’re mystified that Hairy Verbena, Verbena lasiostachys, isn’t offered more by native plant nurseries. It’s got everything to recommend it, including toughness and adaptability. A deciduous perennial from just about everywhere in the state (must be tough and adaptable), Hairy Verbena begins growth in spring with a gorgeous show of iridescent scalloped leaves in a dense clump, which expand, still iridescent, into long, branched stems 24″ - 36″ tall, carrying spikes of tiny lavender-purple flowers that are in full tilt by mid-May, continuing for another two months at least. The individual spikes have only a smallish spray of open flowers at any one time, but there are so many of them that the total show is quite impressive. Bloom and greenery are probably extendable with a little supplemental summer water; left to itself Verbena lasiostachys begins to fade by August, looking increasingly scruffy and tattered until by late fall it’s ready for a hard cutback.

Seems to take any soil, from dry to wet (where growth may be fairly rank). We haven’t seen it reseed in the garden, and in the wild it’s not in extensive patches — a plant here, a plant there. But easy to grow and very pretty! Nice in a scrub mix — e.g., Golden Yarrow (Eriophyllum confertiflorum), Sticky Monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus), Coast Sagebrush (Artemisia californica), Soap Plant (Chlorogalum pomeridianum), etc. We have a few on hand at Oaktown now, a new batch will be ready for our fall open house in October.

Genus Grindelia includes three promiscuously hybridizing species widespread in the greater Bay Area, of which G. hirsutula, Hairy Gumplant, is a particularly versatile and attractive garden subject. Typically found in open, sunny grasslands, this is a deciduous perennial that puts out a clump of pubescent, coarsely toothed leaves in early spring. From these soon arise sparsely-branched and -leafed flowering stems up to 4′ tall, graced by a substantial show of typical gumplant flower heads, protected in bud by a mass of sticky white stuff that protects the developing flowers from consumers such as weevils. The blooming heads are yellow through-and-through (the gum just fades away ), great for adding sunflower dazzle to your garden. Probably best massed or mixed with other open-land natives such as Coast Sagebrush (Artemisia californica), Hairy Verbena (Verbena lasiostachys), Silver Bush Lupine (Lupinus albifrons), and of course, grasses, grasses, grasses, especially Purple Needlegrass (Nassella pulchra) and California Melic (Melica californica). Hairy Gumplant blooms late spring to early summer, but stays green as it ripens its seed, while the grasses are turning tawny. Then it joins the fifth season, with stalks and leaves fading grey to black.

These plants are tough! Just about any soil, including serpentine, with reasonable drainage. Very drought tolerant, though a little summer water will probably extend bloom. And the bees absolutely love them. Plant a mass of these and you can catch some of our native bee diversity in action, followed by finches and other seed-eating birds descending on the shattering seedheads. In good supply at Oaktown now. We also have the more coastal-oriented and flatter-growing Dune Gumplant, Grindelia stricta, which can be used as a groundcover — essentially evergreen, though it fades a bit in the dormant season, and likes a little cutback. But equally bright and floriferous in bloom, with an interesting sour pungence in the foliage.

Anisocarpus madioides (Woodland Madia) was formerly known as Madia madioides, i.e., the Madia that resembles a Madia. Botanists recently changed the genus to something a little less mystically circular: Anisocarpus is one of two perennials formerly placed in Madia but split out due to that perennial habit (the other is the lovely Kyhousia bolanderi of montane meadows and streams). Our Plant of the Week is a bright and airy daisy which puts on a nice show of golden heads, lighting up dry shade in late spring and early summer. Yes! Dry shade! Therefore perfect under your Coast Live Oaks, where they are commonly found. It forms clumps of linear, hairy, toothed leaves of a rich green, that send up open panicles of 3/4″ heads, 12″ to 24″ tall.

Soil-tolerant where well-drained, and probably OK with a little summer water where oaks aren’t an issue. Spreads by slow reseeding and we think also by rhizomes, but that’s a guess. Try lining your woodland garden paths with this cheery greeting, combined with other dry shade fillers: Heuchera micrantha (Crevice Alumroot), Symphoricarpos mollis (Creeping Snowberry), Maianthemum stellatum (Starry Solomon’s Plume), Melica torreyana (Torrey Melic), etc.

Why is this plant called Lizardtail? Maybe because it has a real long name. Certainly if I were a lizard I’d like it and all its other coastal scrub neighbors. A really fine thicket-maker, this plant has much to recommend if you can give it a decent amount of space. From windy coastal bluffs and hills, Eriophyllum staechadifolium forms dense masses of semiwoody stems bearing a lovely combination of grey-green, aromatic leaves and profuse inflorescences that start golden yellow and fade to a warm brown as they go to seed. Out of the wind it reaches 4′ in height with greater spread, but in coastal wind it will be more ground-hugging. A good habitat plant: provides critter cover, flowers for bees and other insects, seeds (and worms in the seedheads) for small-billed birds.

Soil tolerant with good drainage; fairly drought-tolerant but probably best with some summer water, especially inland. Full sun for most of the day: gets leggy in very much shade, and you want only the foliage and flowers visible, as it’s pretty scraggly and rank under its skirts. Cut back fairly hard every other year or so to renew. A piece of our beautiful coastal scrub mosaic that mixes well with a host of shrubs and subshrubs: California Blackberry, Bee Plant, Sticky Monkeyflower, Coast Sagebrush, Pearly Everlasting, and on and on. In good supply at Oaktown right now.

Torrey Melic, Melica torreyana, may well be the most versatile grass for Bay Area gardens. This is a beautiful bunchgrass with fine-textured foliage of a fresh green that emerges to decorate the dormant garden in early spring. Culms arch gracefully out from the clumps in midspring, bearing the typical Melic flowers: purplish florets with contrasting papery glumes that catch the light. Holds its green fairly late, and as the seeds drop the stalks are left with only the tawny glumes — against culms that turn almost black by late summer. Dormant by October or so, and best cut back hard in November or December for a good show the following year, but it does fine if left to itself, as it reseeds dependably, so new plants are always developing.

Mostly found in light shade — open woodland understory, woodland edges, sheltered in scrub — but will take considerable sun, especially near the coast. Quite soil- and drought-tolerant, and probably best without much summer water, as this can promote mildew. Absolutely one of the best plants for dry shade under oaks, and gorgeous massed on a slope, where it spills and arches gracefully. Easy, dependable, and thoroughly beautiful, what’s not to like? Oaktown has lots of these right now, heading to seed so we’ll be cutting back soon. Pick them up on sale, water them to establish, then let them go dormant in late summer and you’ll have as many as you want down the road.

–Otherwise known as Olney’s Hairy Sedge. Now which name would you want? Whatever you call it, this is without a doubt one of the most beautiful native Carex, and deserves much wider horticultural use.

Hailing from moist meadows and open forests in coastal California, this is a clumping sedge whose wide leaves sport a fine fuzz that catches the light, deepening their rich, slightly yellow-green color. Leaf clumps can get up to 2′ wide by 1-1/2′ tall, with 3′ flowering culms arching gracefully outward from the center. The formal effect is similar to Festuca californica, California Fescue, and in fact this sedge has similar uses in the garden. Best planted where its elegant form can be seen without crowding, it works equally well as an individual specimen or in well-spaced groupings.

Soil-tolerant, but needs decent drainage. Takes sun or light shade near the coast, with a little summer water preferred; definitely needs shade and summer water inland. If you can, try planting it where the natural drainage in your garden keeps the soil a bit moist into the summer, and you can probably leave it on its own. Reseeds dependably but not invasively in open conditions.

Maybe we can just call it ‘Hairy Sedge’.

Gardening for insect life certainly runs the risk of raising an eyebrow or two. Why, would anyone wish to attract insects, one might ask?? Well the simple answer is that not all insects are bad. In fact many insects are beneficial to your garden specifically and to the ecosystem in general. The obvious examples are the pollinators and those heroic predatory insects whose appetites keep the numbers of not so beneficial insects down to a tolerable level. So - we are aware of the fact that we need our six legged friends. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. What I am really setting out to do here is talk about that poster child for the insect world – that sunny fluttering flower of an insect, the butterfly.

According to the Butterflies of the SF Bay Region – there are (or at least were at the time of print in1965!!) 122 butterfly species documented in the region. Most of us are familiar with the more charismatic of these such as the Pipevine and Anise Swallowtails. I also commonly see Whites and and Skippers in my postage stamp of a garden in Berkeley.

Not surprisingly, I am partial to local natives and that is most of what grows on my postage stamp. The cool thing is that along the front fence there runs a very hearty Dutchman’s Pipevine and for the past two summers I have seen the large blue-black Pipevine Swallowtail flutter by and oviposit eggs on the vine. Following, of course, there are hungry larvae munching away. Oddly enough the caterpillars – once they reach maturity and are ready to pupate – seem determined to take off over land (this is a dangerous prospect in my area as there are sidewalks and broad residential streets to navigate). Twice I have been lucky enough to capture one and have it produce its chrysalis in a place where I can keep a close eye on it.

Setting out to attract butterflies, one must ask the question – what do butterflies really want? The answer is not simple, since these creatures have four distinctly different life stages. Outlined below are the basic ideas that one needs to keep in mind in order to provide for the needs of each stage of the life cycle.

Habitat Requirements For Life Stages

EGG – un oeuf is un oeuf

Allow for areas of undisturbed vegetation, if you have the space for it. Avoid vigorous clearing, pruning and if the larval host plants are deciduous leave them intact, even after they dry up and go dormant.

LARVA  - time to eat and grow up

Many of the local butterfly species have specific requirements when it comes to growing up plump and ready to pupate. Some butterfly species are host-specific, requiring the sustenance of only one species of plant (the example that stands out here is the Pipevine Swallowtail, which of course needs the Pipevine). Others are more flexible, requiring sustenance from a specific family of plants (for example the Anise Swallowtail needs plants from the parsley family). And then there are the generalists.

CHRYSALIS – time to rest and rearrange

Similar to the needs of the egg stage, areas of undisturbed vegetation, leaf litter and woodpiles. Some flutterbys pupate in the soil, some wrap themselves up in leaves, some produce the well known chrysalis hanging from or strapped to a stem. In a small yard the urge to tidy things up can be difficult to overcome, but perhaps there is a hidden corner somewhere that could be sacrificed.

ADULT – time to reproduce

While the larval stage seems to be consumed with munching endless amounts of leaf material, the adult stage needs nectar to keep up the energy required in attracting a mate and reproducing. Different species of butterflies emerge at different times so the garden needs continuously blooming nectar sources. It can be an interesting challenge to figure out a way to have plenty of nectar-producing plants blooming from spring all the way until the end of summer. According to Mikula (1997), butterflies are attracted to flowers in this order of preference: purple, pink, yellow, white, blue and red. Since butterflies are cold blooded they need places to bask such as dark colored boulders. Shallow impressions filled with mud and water can also be very attractive to some species, as sources of both water and mineral nutrients.

And so you may wonder how does all of this relate to what Oaktown Native Plant Nursery grows?? Here are two lists. The first is a list of larval host plants by butterfly, the second is a general list of our nectar plants.  Have a look and make your shopping list today!

Larval Host Plants by Butterfly

• Anise Swallowtail – Yampah (Perideridia kelloggii), Lomatium (Lomatium californicum and L. dasycarpum)
• American Lady – Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea)
• Blues – Giant Vetch (Vicia gigantean), Buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium & E. nudum), California Lilac (Ceanothus thyrsiflorus), Deerbrush (Lotus scoparius), Lupine (Lupinus albifrons & L. variicolor), Buckeye (Aesculus californica)
• Buckeye – Sticky Monkey Flower (Mimulus aurantiacus)
• California Tortoiseshell - California Lilac (Ceanothus thyrsiflorus)
• Chalcedon Checkerspot -  Foothill Penstemon  (Penstemon heterophyllus)
• Checkered skipper, Grey Hairstreak, West Coast Lady and Painted Lady – Checkerbloom, (Sidalcea malviflora)
• Morning Cloak – Arroyo Willow (Salix lasiolepis)
• Mylitta crescent – Venus Thistle (Cirsium occidentale)
• Northern Checkerspot – Wooly Paintbrush (Castilleja foliosa) & Common Aster (Aster chilensis)
• Pale Swallowtail – Coffeeberry (Rhamus californica), California Lilac (Ceanothus thyrsiflorus) & Holly Leaf Cherry (Prunus ilicifolia)
• Pipevine Swallowtail – Dutchman’s Pipevine (Aristolochia californica)
• Sister – Oaks, particularly (Quercus agrifolia & Q. chrysolepis)
• Skippers (Umber, Fiery and California Ringlet) – many native bunch grasses
• Tailed Copper – California Gooseberry (Ribes californicum) & Pink Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguinium var. glutiosum)
• Whites – San Francisco Wallflower (Erysimum franscianum)

General List of Nectar Plants by botanical and common name

Achillea millefolium – Yarrow

Cirsium occidentale – Venus Thistle

Erigeron glaucus - Seaside Daisy

Eriophyllum confertiflorum – Golden Yarrow

Eriophyllum staechadifolium – Lizardtail

Grindelia sp. – Gumplant

Lessingia filaginifolia – California Beach Aster

Monardella villosa – Coyote Mint

Phacelia bolanderi - Bolander Phacelia

Phacelia californica - Common Phacelia

Salvia clevelandii – Cleveland Sage

Sedum spathulifolium – Stonecrop

Solidago californica – California Goldenrod

Verbena lasiostachys – Robust Verbena

Wyethia angustifolia – Narrow-leaf Mules Ears

Wyethia helenoides – Grey Mules Ears

References

Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay Region, JW Tilden, UC Press, 1965.

California Butterflies, JS Garth & JW Tilden, UC Press, 1986.

Caterpillars In The Field and Garden; A Field Guide To The Butterfly Caterpillars Of North America, TJ Allen, JM Brock & J Glassberg, Oxford University Press, 2005.

Garden Butterflies of North America, R. Mikula, Willow Creek Press, 1997.

To alleviate confusion regarding our pot sizes I am posting a helpful photo. The picture shows the correlation between the cryptic codes that we use on our inventory page and what you will get if you buy a plant of that container size. In case the font under the pots is too tiny to see on the computer screen they are, starting from the upper left and reading right; 2 inch, 4 inch, SC (short for super cell), treeband, D16 (smaller deep pot), D40 (gallon equivalent deep pot), 1 gallon and TP1 (tree pot).

Posted by KH

8/21/08