Native Gardener’s Corner-Member’s Tips, Tricks, and Techniques

Submitted by guest author Dan Songster, this column is a regular newsletter feature offering chapter members and local experts a chance to briefly share information on many things related to gardening with natives.

Now that fall is past, what plants of interest do you look forward to enjoying this winter in your native garden?

Laura Camp-“Manzanitas are the stars of the winter garden, in my view. Plant them where their white or pink bell-shaped flower clusters, surrounded by evergreen leaves and twisted mahogany bark, will delight you and passersby around Christmas, or in the cooler months of January and February.”

Robin Huber-“My toyons! In a couple of weeks I will be making a Christmas wreath for our front door, inspired by a session at Tree of Life Nursery a few years ago. The only downside is that toyon cuttings don’t last as long as I wish.” 

Alan Lindsay-“I’m always thrilled when I see the bulbs poking their heads up. I have three natives, Brodiaea kinkiensis  (San Clemente Island brodiaea); Dipterostemon capitatus (formerly Dichelostemma capitatum) AKA blue dicks, and Allium praecox (early onion). This winter the Brodiaea has a head start with the onion not far behind.”

Christopher Reed-“Better than Christmas lights, I delight in the rows of hanging red fuchsia flowers that adorn Ribes speciosum at this time of year. Some are already out, despite the lack of significant rain. The lush green foliage that springs from the prickly, seemingly dead stems, gives Christmas holly a run for its money. “

Sarah Jayne-“I look forward not to a specific plant but to the first spurts of fresh green that break through the somber grays and browns of summer. An early starter in my garden is blue-eyed grass, Sisyrinchium bellum, which brightens up the garden everywhere (because it tends to spread everywhere!) and will soon be a sea of purple.”

Rama Nayeri-“I have a 100 square feet pad of concrete that is my ‘garden’ and is usable for pots.  The main plant there that is showy, is Gambelia juncea ‘Gran Canon’ (Baja Bush Snapdragon).”  

Bart O’Brien-“Happy Holidays! Winter – the wonderful season when the vast majority of SoCal plants return to vigorous active growth. 

A few of my favorites: sugar bush (Rhus ovata). If ever there was a gorgeous evergreen all season performer for hot areas, this is it! I love the holiday colors of the flower buds and the thick “tacoid” leaves. Give this long-lived drought-tolerant plant a couple of years to get going in your garden (it’s growing more roots than top growth for the first year or two).

Winter is also prime time for manzanitas (Arctostaphylos) – yet another group of evergreen all season wonders. Starting the manzanita flowering season, in gardens, is Refugio manzanita (A. refugioensis) – one of the many with ear-lobe (auriculate) leaf-bases. Nearly all of the auriculate leaf-base manzanitas are highly localized in nature, but most are readily adaptable to gardens – and virtually all of them are especially profuse bloomers that are visited by a wide range of pollinators (especially bumblebees).

Lastly, Ribes malvaceum, the chaparral currant is at its best during the winter months. It typically starts blooming at the same time (first rains of the season) as Refugio manzanita (both to coincide with the hummingbird migration). Foliage exudes that unmistakable chaparral pungency that I associate with north facing slopes and canyons. The two cultivars from the Channel Islands ‘Christy Ridge’ (from Santa Cruz Island) and ‘Dancing Tassels’ (from San Clemente Island) are especially notable for their profuse and long blooming season as well as production of large blue-black fruits that are greedily consumed by a variety of birds.” 

Dan Songster-“Well, of course toyons with their red berries (which are especially good for us this year) and the manzanitas with their bell-shaped blossoms attracting hummingbirds and bumblebees in early to mid-winter. Also, I have always liked blue dicks-the first bulbs to sprout and bloom. They were one of the first geophytes I ever found and identified in the wild back in the 1970’s when natives were new to me. That nostalgia, coupled with their dependable reemergence every year, a graceful bend in even the slightest breeze, and their peaceful amethyst color, make them one of my favorite winter flowers.”

Note from Dan: In the Golden West College Native Garden this winter, the Shaw’s agave will soon be blooming!

Our question for the coming January/February 2025 newsletter is: “With a world that may sometimes be disappointing and discouraging–how does your native garden bring you some peace of mind?”

Email your responses to Dan Songster at songster@cox.net. Please attempt to keep replies brief so we can include most of the responses.