Category: Gardening with Native Plants
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Befriending the Bumble Bee
Did you know that honey bees were imported from Europe and are not native to the United States? In California, we have about 1,600 species of native bees, and 26 of these are bumble bees. The bumble bee is the largest and gentlest of all the known species of bees. The queen bumble bee hibernates in the winter,…
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Buckwheat Buddies
Some folks who planted their free California ‘Dana Point’ buckwheat are searching for plants to keep their buckwheat company. This is a great idea because California native plants help each other thrive as they share micorrhizal fungi through their roots. When California native plants share space, it makes life easier because they don’t need much…
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My Interview with the LA Times
Jeanette Marantos, garden reporter for the LA Times, called me in mid-February as I was returning home from a landscape restoration project I work on in Trabuco Canyon. Marantos asked me to provide a short list of the best native plants Southern Californians can plant in their home landscapes, and also why it is important…
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How Many Trees on the Planet?
For many years, scientists could only guess at the number of trees on earth. But in 2015, Thomas Crowther and colleagues at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies used a combination of satellite imagery, forest inventories, and supercomputer technologies to produce a global map of tree density at the square-kilometer pixel scale. The…
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Bring More Hummingbirds, Orioles, and Warblers to Your Home
How can you get more birds visiting your garden? Go to Audubon’s guide for plants that attract birds. When you click on this link, you will be directed to the Audubon Society database that recommends plants that help birds thrive where you live. Enter your 5-digit zip code and explore the best plants for birds in your…
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Where Do Western Monarchs Spend the Spring?
Despite the fact that Western Monarch butterflies are universally loved, their numbers have plummeted in recent years. What can you do to help? Join the Western Monarch Mystery Challenge–a campaign created to increase awareness of locations where Western Monarchs spend the spring in California after leaving their coastal California overwintering sites. If you see a…
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Join the Great Backyard Bird Count
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is partnering with National Audubon Society to encourage all of us to go outside this weekend and count the birds we see in our backyard or favorite place. I spent about 30 minutes this morning with a pair of binoculars and my Birds of California Field Guide by Stan Tekiela. I counted…
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Saying Good Bye to a Billion Birds
Did you know that in 2016, North America had more than a billion fewer breeding birds than 40 years ago? What is contributing to the decline in bird populations? Scientist Doug Tallamy has discovered that when non-native ornamental plants are installed in the landscape, insect populations plummet because insects are co-evolved to feed from native plant…
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Caring for Buckwheat During a Dry January
If you picked up a four-inch California buckwheat at A Buckwheat in Every Garden event last fall, hopefully you planted it and watered it deeply, then spread a light layer of mulch to keep the soil moist. We received plentiful rain in November and December. However, except for a fraction of an inch of rain…
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First They Sleep
Have you heard the old adage about growing newly-installed plants in the landscape? The saying goes like this: “First they sleep, then they creep, then they leap!” Is your new ‘Dana Point’ buckwheat sleeping, creeping, or leaping? Some homeowners who planted their free buckwheat report bunnies feasting on the tender new growth. If this has…
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Growing Buckwheat in the Garden
When cooler winter temperatures arrive in Southern California, residents wear sweaters and scarves to stay cozy. Buckwheat changes in the winter too, as the creamy white flowers turn a reddish brown when the flowers go to seed. The ‘Dana Point’ buckwheat has a compact nature suitable for the home garden and is fairly easy to…
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Buckwheat in Winter
Pictured here is a large expanse of California buckwheat growing healthy and wild in O’Neill Park in November, just before the rainy season began. Notice how the flowers have turned a rusty reddish brown as this shrub reflects the changing seasons. The buckwheat flower is turning to seed as winter approaches. California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)…