Several weeks ago, Diana, a member of the Gardening With Natives group, submitted this request to the members:  “Do any of you know why people might choose NOT to garden with native plants?”                             

         She continued, “The primary reason may be that most people have never even thought about gardening with natives.  But there are probably many people who have been exposed to the idea, and decided NOT to.”                                                                            The volume of responses to Diana’s inquiry was astounding — I recorded all the answers, and they added up to 21 pages on my word processor!

          This article in the Granada Native Garden Newsletter is a compilation of the opinions that were submitted by the GWN group.  Because of the volume of responses, I have divided this article into two parts:   Part 1 presents opinions, reasons and excuses for why people do NOT grow native plants.  Part 2 will concentrate on what both we and the industry can do in order to promote greater interest in native California plants.

          The opinions stated have been edited by me, sometimes extensively, to fit the objective of this article.  While I generally agree with the statements below, the words, sentiments and opinions are primarily those of the GWN contributors.

PART 1:  Why People Do NOT Grow Native Plants

People Plant What They Like                                                                                         “While many people want their yards to look like a lush, formal garden, not all agree on what ‘lush’ means.  For some, it means tropical, or a wide expanse of lawn.  For others, it means a lot of different plants; or maybe a well-planned and managed native garden; or one filled with edible plants!  In any case, people might consider their yard as a gift to the neighborhood and be proud of their design!”

Bush anemone (Carpenteria californica)

“People choose plants based on what they think will bring them the most joy and satisfaction.  Many people want to create something in their yards which gives them joy, but which also requires very little maintenance to stay beautiful.  There are so many native plants that grow reliably and are never bothered by pests, but people don’t know about them yet.”

“Many people don’t know much about plants, and they make impulse purchases based on what’s in bloom.  Many natives aren’t in bloom at the best time for amateurs to plant them, and people browsing in a nursery stick with what looks good to them.”

“I do not understand why people think California native plants are not pretty.  I guess they have never seen Epilobium blooming, or manzanitas or Ceanothus or madrone or oaks.  But      I also want to add a good word for Baccharis pilularis.  I’ve heard a lot how good it is for wildlife, so I planted it.  Nobody ever mentioned how gorgeous it is when it is in bloom – so dainty and elegant.”

“As long as people can afford the water, they will have less inclination to plant natives which need less of it.”

“We still have abundant water in California, and we have many more people who are new to this environment and realize that they can provide the climate for any exotic they want.”

People Plant What They Are Familiar With                                                                   “People who move to new places love to take the old and familiar with them. This includes plants as well as animals.  In colonial America it was in style to have an English garden.  Going back even further, the English and other major colonizers no doubt traveled to Africa and Asia and brought plants with them back to their home countries and then to the U.S.”

“People grow whatever they are used to, whatever grew where they come from.  But the California industry mostly ignores California native plants as being unprofitable.”

Farewell-to-Spring (Clarkia amoena)

“When I first came to California, there were a lot of plants I didn’t recognize.  It took a long period of adjustment before I began to appreciate their beauty.”

“People are accustomed to buying what they see in nurseries and in other peoples’ yards.”

“Natives require a different watering regimen, and many household systems are not set up for that.  People aren’t necessarily familiar with those regimens, nor how to set them up.  Many natives require less water and care, but many others require some attention in order to keep them looking good.  Most commercial gardeners lack experience and knowledge of native plants, so they just do what they’ve always done.”

People Don’t Plant What They Consider Unattractive
“For some people, the word ‘native’ may connote something unattractive.  If it implies an untended, weed-covered lot – which in reality is probably a place filled with non-native invaders gone rampant – they are not likely to give true native landscaping a second thought.”

“I’ve known people who, knowing my interest in native plants, told me about ‘native’ front yards that turned out to be untended weed patches.  If people have unfavorable precon- ceptions about natives, you have to start out by showing them the plants without letting them know that they are natives.”

“People may consider native plants to be invasive weeds.  So the word ‘native’  might make people think of natives as invasive, that is, undesirable, plants.”

June grass (Koeleria macrantha)

“Many natives look good for a short period, but they are not in bloom for very long and may look ratty at other times.  Thus, they have less appeal, and they might require more work to keep them managed and attractive, and many people are unwilling to invest the time and energy for this.”

“Most nurserymen and gardeners in California know little about the native ‘brush’ – the stuff that needs to be cleared out in order to plant a ‘proper’ garden.  So the industry has no profit motive to develop California native plants.  Besides, California has been developed in times when transportation and water issues were not as critical as they are now, so it has been more profitable to import and sell plants from other locales.”

“When the Europeans sailed up the California coast during the dormant season of California plants, they viewed the landscape as brown and ugly.  This impression was not what they were familiar with from their homelands.”

“Some people think native plants look ratty and brown; but they think eucalyptus is native.”

Western redbud (Cercis occidentalis)

“Some years ago I took a class in which a landscape architect who had done some work with CalTrans said that CalTrans didn’t want to plant the natives he specified because, they said, “natives don’t grow well”.  It turned out that the landscape crews over- watered and over-pruned, so it was basically a training issue.”

“I get the impression that ‘different’ is ‘bad’.  I have a mostly native yard — no lawn, lots of mulch, in a $1,000,000 neighborhood.  I have never got any com- pliments from my neighbors – even when my gorgeous Ceanothus are blooming – only complaints about bees that are going to sting everyone!  Then there are complaints about too many plants.  And there is the garbage and cigarette butts tossed on my yard.  But my hummingbirds, bees, birds, lizards and butterflies are happy – so I am too!”

People Buy What the Stores Sell
“Nurseries stock what they expect people to buy.  The nursery trade has long specialized in plants, especially hybrids and species from other parts of the world, that look good for a reasonably long part of the year or are particularly attractive, and are easy to maintain.  And that is what people look for, regardless of whether they are native or not.  I have spoken to nursery people who say that the cost of bring a hybrid or cultivar to market is too high for the small retail sales that they currently bring.”

Snowdrop (Styrax officinalis)

“Many independent nurseries accept special orders, but you have to know what you want.”

“Many Californian native plants are not in bloom when the customer is shopping.  It helps if nurseries have placards with photos and other information to show customers what the plants will eventually look like.”

“The nursery industry survives because it is able to sell plants that have colorful big flowers that are developed to survive in highly disturbed soils where most of the population lives.”

Our Mediterranean Climate Is To Blame!
“Something that confuses folks is the Mediterranean climate.  We have cool wet winters and long dry summers — there are only 5 places on earth that are like that.  Anyone migrating here has no idea of which plants are adapted to that climate.  And they water like mad in summer when our plants are asleep, and they die from too much water.”

“Native plants in California depend largely on an underground source of water, or a dormant seed bank in the ground.  Some depend on fire to stimulate their growth.  If this seasonal pattern is unfamiliar to people who like a manicured look, they might not appreciate native California plants.”

“People who have relocated to California from other parts of the country often say that they miss the change of seasons.  They don’t notice that there is a noticeable change in the seasons here, but it just isn’t what they are accustomed to.  For example, it is normal for some native plants to drop their leaves and go dormant in the middle of Summer, but this might not what people expect.”

Elderberry (Sambucus mexicana)

“Our Mediterranean climate opens many doors.  Warm, dry weather and the shade alongside a house let you plant camellias, fuchsia, azalea, fuchsias with larger flowers, longer lasting flowers, with a larger color range than any native equi- valent.  In sunny parts of the yard, you can plant a rose garden and enjoy beautiful roses from April through December.  Most of the exotics don’t even need protection from the cold during the winter.   Economics favors this trend to introduce exotics.”

“California native plants evolved to thrive on wet winters, when they are in full bloom, but have adapted survival techniques during the dry season by losing their leaves and aestivate during the late spring and dry summers.  On the other hand, the nursery industry has had many years to develop plants that look good all year long, especially during the summer, and so appeal to the public.  Also, many California natives that are on the market have come from other regions in California where the climate is cooler or wetter, but they might not do well in the dryer regions.  Many natives can be kept looking nice most of the year, but they need a carefully planned watering regime, and this takes time and know-how to establish.”

Gardening Is Not Part of Everyone’s Culture
“Gardening with natives requires either time investigating and learning about native plants, or paying someone who knows to redo the yard.  Many people don’t garden.  They don’t want to, don’t know how, don’t have the time or don’t want to spend the time.  They might buy a few pretty flowering plants that catch their eye, and stick them in the ground, and they look good for a few weeks but later the plants die from being misplaced or neglected.  They want something easy that a hired person can clean up once a week and keep green or doesn’t require any care at all.   Most people in my neighborhood can’t afford gardeners.”

“A lot of people don’t like to garden at all.  They move into a place and just retain the existing landscape.  To begin with, it takes vision to even think of something else being there.  Then it takes the initiative to actually change it.  So often, when people do decide to finally change and they update their yards, they just duplicate what was already there.  Aesthetically, people sometimes want lush green yards.  I personally like lots of edibles.“

“People work all day, and if they do have time to garden, they will use whatever they happen to find at Home Depot or OSH, things that are well labeled and look pretty.   Native plants need to be easier for working people to choose and buy!  If you have to go to too much trouble to find good natives, it’s not good for the movement as a whole.

Poppy Lane in May, 2013

            Part 2 of this article addresses what both we and the industry can do in order to promote a greater interest in native California plants.  It will be published within the next few days.

Quote du jour                                                                                                                “We are silence, We are golden,                                                                                        We are billion-year-old carbon,                                                                                       And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the Garden.”                                                                                                   – Joni Mitchell, “Woodstock”

A Trio of Buckwheats (E. fasciculatum)

          When I think of buckwheat, I used to think of buckwheat pancakes and gluten-free flour.  This is not your native California buckwheat.  The former (genus Fagopyrum) is a fast-growing native of Europe, the seeds of which are good for making pancakes, breads and salads, as well as for a garden cover crop.  It is an annual (it survives for only one growing season) with bright green heart-shaped leaves and pinkish-white 5-petaled flowers.

          The latter (genus Eriogonum) is a genuine California native that is really good for birds, butterflies, bees and other insects, and as cover for lizards.  So if you want to attract these fauna to your yard, plant a native Califor- nia buckwheat.  It is an evergreen perennial, so it remains green and verdant year after year.  We have four species growing here at the Granada Native Garden.  The flowers, leaves and seeds are used by small birds and animals, including deer, as well as by butterflies and bees.  Many Native American tribes used parts of the plant for treating headaches, sore throat and diarrhea, and to treat wounds.

            However, it turns out that native California  buckwheats happen to be in the same botanical family (Polygonaceae) as the cereal buckwheat, but they are vastly different in appearance and growth characteristics.  It is usually a medium-to-large shrub, but some varieties grow low to the ground, almost as a ground cover (we have three sizes here at the GNG).  The leaves of some species are short and slender, a good design for conserving water during dry months, while others have rounder leaves.  In fact, the buckwheats at the GNG, being chaparral plants, get absolutely no water outside of the rainy winter season (assuming we have one).  They love full sun, and do perfectly fine in lean soil, such as sand and clay.  Here is a photo of one that came up all by itself last year in the dry, gravelly soil along- side the asphalt path, courtesy of a bird, or maybe the wind, carrying the seeds around.  We have never given it a drop of water, aside from winter and spring rains.

Santa Cruz Island buckwheat

St. Catherine’s Lace buckwheat

The flowers begin to appear just as the spring flora are turning to seed, taking the form of tight clusters of tiny white or pink blossoms.  The blossoms last a long time, turning to chocolate-brown or rust-colored in the Fall; even the dried flowers are attractive, so you might want to leave them on the plant until cleanup time in the Fall.

Las Pilitas Nursery reports that they “have had customers remove rose bushes to plant [buckwheats], as it has more flowers for longer with less care and watering.”  They require very little care; leave the faded flowers on until new leaves begin to appear, or when the rains start, then just clip off the flower stalks back to the new leaves.

Current Attractions at the GNG
•  Four varieties of buckwheat (Eriogonum spp.) are in bloom, attracting lots of bees and butterflies.  We have placed identifica- tion markers at some of them.  You can lift the markers off their posts and find out more about each one, then replace the markers (as long as none of the ID markers mysteriously disappear overnight, which they tend to do).

Hairstreak

Painted lady

• The golden poppies are gone, but they have been replaced by the golden fields of purple needlegrass (Nassella pulchra, the official California state grass, by the way) at the south and north ends of the GNG.                                      •  The native roses (Rosa californica) that were in bloom last month have shed their petals, but the stems are full of rose “hips”, which are the little round fruits that the blossoms develop into.
•  Our buckeye (Aesculus californica) looks dead, but it is only aestivating — the opposite of hibernating.  It will bloom again next Spring.  Look for the big “dead” tree with an ID marker.
•   Next to the buckeye is the toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), full of berries that will turn bright red just in time for Christmas!  Come back then for another look.

Coast buckwheat

•  At the other end of the Garden, the elderberry (Sambucus mexicana) is in full flower, and berries are starting to form.  Each winter we cut it back to almost nothing, but obviously, it doesn’t mind, because you will see how big it gets after just a few months.                                                                 •  July is the month when the little, bright red hummingbird fuchsia (Epilobium canum) begins to blossom.  It is hard to find, but unmistakeable once you do find it.  We will try to add more of it over the next few years.
•  The native grapes (Vitus californicus, Roger’s Red variety) are trying to take over the Garden, but we won’t let them!
•  Western fence lizards (aka “blue bellies”) are scampering all over the place, looking for bugs.

Bicyclists Beware!
“Tribulus” could spell trouble, literally.  Tribulus terrestris, that is, also known as puncture vine.  Actually, the name comes from an ancient sharp, spikey weapon of war.  While puncture vine is actually a fairly attractive weed, it hides small nutlets that have two or three very stiff and sharp spines which are guaranteed to puncture your bicycle tire if you drive over them.  The stuff takes root in the ground next to the bike path, then spreads over the asphalt and lies in wait.  We remove any we find growing along the bike path adjacent to the Granada Native Garden, but that is only a very short segment of the bike trail.

View at the Southwest Entrance of the Granada Native Garden

Because of the comparatively dry Spring this year, the Spring flowers have been short-lived.  Notice how different the poppy bloom last year compares to the same scene this year.  Now that the splendor of the Spring poppy display is going or gone, what is there to look forward to at the Granada Native Garden?

April, 2012

April, 2013

Lots of things come and go over the seasons, and there is always something of interest at the Granada Native Garden.  Here are a few of the current attractions that follow the demise of the poppies!  More detailed information about each of these beauties, and their importance to the environment and to Native Americans, will be features of future articles posted in this Newsletter.  Stay tuned!  (If you don’t already know this, you can be informed by email whenever a new article appears, by clicking the Follow button that appears at the lower right of the Newsletter.)

Clarkia, Primroses and Yarrow
The tables in the center of the Garden are surrounded by Clarkia (appropriately also named “Farewell-to-Spring”), evening primroses and yarrow.  The bright red Clarkia is named after William Clark, part of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition to the American west in 1804.  A couple of specimens were planted here in 2012, and they felt at home enough to spread themselves around.

Yarrow

The primroses are the yellow flowers at the upper left corner. They are supposed to open mainly in the late afternoon and evening so that they can be pollinated by moths which are active at night, but here the blooms seem to stay open well thru the day.  The yarrow is a very persistent member of the GNG community.  It does very well without any summer water, and can appear in either white or pink.  Other varieties come in yellow, but we don’t have any of those here.

Kiss me!

Roses
Clarkia and primroses come and go, but roses are forever.  They are in bloom in the Garden for several months.  These are not your everyday household roses.  They have only one whorl of petals, not several layers, and the thorns are very tiny — not easy to avoid when you are weeding around them or thinning them.  They are actually quite invasive, and need to be pulled out when they get in the way of other things in the Garden.  The yarrow stays around most of the year too.

Buckeye
This medium-size tree is stunning in the Spring, when it displays its abundance of 8-10 inch flower spikes.  But as soon as the California weather warms up, the buckeye goes into its summer phase and loses its leaves, in order to conserve moisture for its next growing season.  So in the summer it might appear dead, but it’s really only “aestivating” until the next Spring rolls around.   

Buckwheat                                                   This can be confusing.  When I think of buckwheat, I used to think of buckwheat pancakes and gluten-free flour.  This is not your native California buckwheat.  The former (genus Fagopyrum) is a native of Europe, and is good for pancakes, breads and salads, as well as a garden cover crop.                                                              The latter (genus Eriogonum) is a genuine California native that is really good for birds, butterflies, bees. and other insects, and as cover for lizards.  So if you want to attract these fauna to your yard, plant buckwheats.                                                                                                                                    Buckwheats come in many sizes, small, medium and large.  The flowers begin to appear just as the spring flora are turning to seed, and the blossoms last a long time, turning to rust-colored in the fall.

Quote du jour:                                                                                                                               “I live in Livermore, and I never knew this place was here.  This is a really neat Garden!”                                                                                                                                                                                – Eric, touring the GNG for the first time with his young son

Granada Native Garden, 801 Murrieta Blvd., Livermore, CA

For inquiries, address:  jimlibjen@earthlink.net

Louann driving the bobcat

The Inspiration                                                                                                                              The seeds of the Granada Native Garden were planted in 2002 when Louann Tung attended a talk by Jeff Miller of the Alameda Creek Alliance.  Jeff talked about returning steelhead trout to the TriValley creek system.  Louann volunteered to head the local out- reach of the Alliance, and the members in attendance decided on the name Friends of the Arroyos, whose intention was to promote the migration of steelhead trout, educate the public about watershed protection, and lead volunteer efforts for the clean-up and restora- tion of the arroyo.                                                                                                                            The following year, Louann was informed that $12,000 was available for watershed improvements, and proposals for use of the funds were requested.

Starting from Scratch                                                      Louann, who lives downstream of the Arroyo Mocho, often rode her bicycle along the Arroyo Mocho trail, and was aware of a trashed-out vacant lot across the arroyo from Granada High School – actually a part of the Granada school property.   Louann had a different vision of the location – a spot filled with native oaks and poppies, the only California native plants she was familiar with at the time.  Until then, the area was nothing more than a place where trash and weeds accumulated.  But Louann visualized a place filled with nature, with picnic tables where Granada students and other visitors could spend a peace- ful interlude enjoying lunch and relaxing.                                                                                          Louann’s proposal was approved!  But that was just the beginning.  After many months of searching for a landscape designer with a knowledge of native plants that could survive with a minimum of water, Louann was finally led to Alrie Middlebrook, owner of Middlebrook Gardens in San Jose.  Thus began Louann’s education about native plants, a grand design for the Granada Native Garden, and a friendship between her and Alrie!

Build It and They’ll Come                                                   And they came!  One thing led to another.  Together with the original grant money, plus almost $800 of volunteer donations and additional donated materials from local quarries and native nurseries, as well as almost 1,100 hours of volunteer time, the Granada Native Garden gradually became a reality.  Mulch was spread over the 1/3-acre site in October, 2003.  Installation of plants began in April, 2004.  With the backing of the local Mormon church, Trent Egbert made the construction of the picnic tables his Eagle scout project.  Discarded fragments of brightly colored tiles were  used to create mosaics of three endangered species – burrowing owl, steelhead trout and red-legged frog – to form the table tops.  Broken pieces of sidewalk concrete were used as foundations for the benches.  
            Over the next couple of years, the new plant- ings were nurtured with water delivered by means of a hose dragged from a hydrant at the high school, across the arroyo and to the Garden.                                                                                                Of course, by January and February of 2005, non-native weeds were taking over the lot, complete- ly overcoming the native grasses.  Eventually the weeds were largely suppressed by covering the entire Garden with cardboard and more mulch, with the assistance of more volunteers.                                             The pleas- ing ambience of the Granada Native Garden is currently maintained by the continued vigilance of weekly volunteers who help with weeding, trash pickup, and the restoration of the tables and benches.  Livermore’s own Alden Lane Nursery is a major supporter of the Garden by their  contributions of new and replacement plantings.

Volunteers Keep the Vision Alive                                                                                      In the meantime, the Granada Native Garden has been a seed of inspiration for the growth of native California plants in Livermore.  A year after the Garden was installed, Louann felt confident enough about her knowledge of native California plants to begin teaching a course at Las Positas College on landscaping with natives.  Finally, in the Fall of 2011, she and Dave, her husband, fashioned a garden of 100 species of native plants in their own yard.  Their garden becomes a destination for the annual “Bringing Back the Natives” tour in the Livermore area.                                                                                                 The Garden was originally dedicated to the students of Granada High School, but easy access directly from the campus to the Garden is no longer possible.  However, it is easily accessible to all members of the local communities by means of the Arroyo Mocho Trail; less easily from the parking lot in the Nob Hill shopping center.  In any case, the Garden serves the community as a resource for learning about plants that are native to California and are able to survive in a climate with an increasingly limited source of water.  Also, it is fascinating to learn how these very plants were vital to the everyday life of Native Americans, for food, utensils, tools, and many other uses.                                                                                                                             And, if one can block out the buzz of traffic on the adjacent artery, one can use the Garden to sit and think, read or study, or just sit and be enveloped by the gentle experi- ence of Nature – a world so much more restorative than the harsh world of concrete and asphalt that so often surrounds us.            Thanks, Louann!  Happy Mother’s Day!

Quote du jour                                                           “Sometimes I like to sit and think, and sometimes I just sit.”                                                  Satchell Paige, US baseball player, 1906-1982

Granada Native Garden, 801 Murrieta Blvd., Livermore, CA

For inquiries, address:  jimlibjen@earthlink.net

Lupine at home in a field of poppies

The Backstory                                                                                                                               Some couples just look good together.  So it is with golden California poppies and purple lupines.  Poppies and lupines constitute a classic wildflower combination for gardeners as well as for artists!                                                                                                        In fact, the colors of the University of California, blue and gold, were chosen because the fields around the first campus (in 1868) reportedly were replete with blue lupines and golden poppies.  (A few years ago, a hillside in north Livermore was also covered with lupines.  It was a glorious site!  Now it is covered by a parking lot, albeit with solar collectors above.  I guess this is one form of progress.)                                                           Last year, a single purple lupine (Lupinus succulentus) found its way into the woodland section of the Granada Native Garden.  This year, its progeny are spreading themselves around among the poppies (lupines may do better when they self-seed than when we try to help them).  Hopefully this display of color will become a regular annual attraction at the Granada Native Garden.                                                                                         Lupine (also spelled lupin) comes in other colors besides blue and purple, such as yellow and shades of red or pink.  Lupine is also frequently planted along road cuts; this Spring there was a good show of yellow lupine along the widening and re-alignment of Rt. 84/Vallecitos Rd.

A Case of False Incrimination                                                                 Lupines are strikingly pretty Spring flowers.  Aside from that, the name “lupine”  comes from the Latin “lupus”, which means “wolf”, because lupines grow in deficient, low-nutrient soil, and they were (incorrectly) blamed for the low quality of the soil!                                        In addition, the interesting shape of the leaves (several slender leaflets radiating outward from a central point, aka “palmately compound”), and covered with soft hairs in some species, might have reminded some people of a wolf’s paw.  (But this is just my theory.)           Actually, lupines are legumes (members of the pea family), and like most of the members of that family, their roots have nodules that contain a very special bacterium, Rhizobium (as in the photo on the right).  These bacteria are able to convert atmospheric nitrogen into nitrate, a form that can be absorbed and used by the plant.  For that reason, legumes are commonly planted as a “green manure” crop in order to renew the nitrogen content of the soil in a garden.  (This is done by planting the lupine in the desired location, then digging it in or plowing it under while it is still green or after flowering.)  So rather than depleting the soil, lupines actually restore it, especially for growing crops that have a high nitrogen requirement, such as cucumbers, squash, broccoli and spinach.                                                                                                             Some species of lupines are named bluebonnet, because the shape of the flower petals is said to resemble the bonnet worn by pioneer women to shield them from the sun. 

Edible or Not Edible?                                                                                                         Like other legumes such as peas, beans, peanuts and soybeans, lupine seeds are a good source of protein, containing all of the essential amino acids required for complete nutrition.                                                                                                                                However there are  more than 100 species of lupine identified in California, and they vary in terms of their suitability for food.  The seeds of some lupine varieties contain toxic alkaloids and isoflavones which can be dangerous to livestock, especially sheep.  And like peanuts, lupine seeds may cause an allergic reaction to those who are allergic to peanuts.  The juice in the leaves and stems may be a notable skin irritant.                                            In spite of this, lupines constituted a significant part of the Native American diet.  The toxic components were removed from the leaves and seeds by boiling, as was the practice with many other plants that contain toxins.  Quail are especially fond of the seeds, and lupines are an important larval food for some local endangered butterflies, such as the Mission blue and Lange’s metalmark.                                          Notice in the photo at the left that the flower of the lupine becomes fruits that resemble pea pods, typical of plants that are in the pea family (Fabaceae).  (You can enlarge the photo by clicking on it.)

PostScript                                                                                                                            The showy display of color we usually expect at the beginning of Spring – the blue and purple and white California lilacs, the magenta redbud (also a member of the Faba- ceae), and the yellow flannelbush – seems to have been short-lived this Spring.  My guess is that the relatively dry Spring we have had is responsible.  And the lupines too!  Maybe this is going to be the new normal.

Quote du Jour                                                                                                                               “I wish I could awaken through some magic of the written word a desire for wildlife conservation among those who care not about it.”                                                               Raymond F. Dasmann, The Destruction of California, 1966

Granada Native Garden, 801 Murrieta Blvd., Livermore, CA  94550                             http://www.granadanativegarden.wordpress.com

Current Attractions                                                                                                                      It’s definitely Spring when the manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.) and the western redbud (Cercis occidentalis) are in bloom!  Together, they make a lovely couple.  Both are genuine California native plants and would look good in any front yard.  Or back yard.  (Full disclosure:  Manzanita and redbud are current inhabitants of the Garden, but the above specimens are in my front yard and were photographed in mid-March, 2013.)                       At this time of the year, the bright yellow golden currant, the lavender-hued purple sage, and the deep blue ‘Dark Star’ California lilac are also inviting visitors with cameras!

Plant Communities
          A plant community is a population of different plant species which grow together where they share the same environmental needs:  climate, soil type, soil depth and exposure to sun or shade.                                                                                                        Because California has such a wide variety of these conditions, it is said that California has more  plant communities than most other locations in the world — at least 30 different plant communities and sub-communities.                                                           The Granada Native Garden is guilty of presuming that four of these communities can be  crammed into this 1/3-acre site.  And the boundaries of these communities would certainly not be as clearly defined as our map of the Garden suggests.  However, this is a demonstration garden, so we hope that you will forgive us if we attempt the unlikely!

Oak Woodland                                           In this community you may find several types of oaks, mainly the valley oak, coast live oak, blue oak and interior live oak.  Other trees include the sycamore and buckeye (shown at the left, in flower last May).  Associated with these trees are understory plants such as manzanita, coffeeberry, currant, gooseberry, redbud and toyon, as well as wildflowers such as poppies, lupine and goldfields.                               The oaks are especially important members of this community, because of their unique double root system.  Deep roots pull up water from the water table and share it with their companion plants.  Shallow roots serve the nutritional needs of the trees by absorb- ing nutrients from decomposing forest floor litter.                                                                             The oak woodland community may be of the foothill type or the riparian type.  The foothill woodland community (now termed central oak woodland) formerly occupied a number of valleys in California as well as the foothills, but the flat land was easier to clear for farming and the trees were easier to harvest; the hills, not so much.  The riparian wood- land community lines many of the creeks and rivers of the Central Valley, and tends to exist where it was inconvenient for both humans and cattle to tread.  In  either case, many of these native trees require a source of water within 70 feet, and if their roots are able to achieve that depth, they thrive.  At the Granada Native Garden, the valley oaks, sycamores and buckeyes seem to be doing alright, but a cottonwood didn’t make it; we have replaced it with a “baby” box elder.

Redbud, in bloom

Riparian                                                                               “Riparian” means “living on the bank of a river or stream”.  In some cases, water might pool up in low lying areas for up to 3 months in late winter or spring, but if some plant likes it there, it thrives.  Sycamores and black walnuts are especially domi- nant in the Livermore area, but cottonwoods, redbud, willows and maples are also common.   Before 1850, riparian woodland covered 900,000 acres in the Central Valley; now only about one tenth of that remains.                                                                     At the Granada Native Garden, the woodland and riparian communities are adjacent to one another.  Ironically, a creekbed (see the map) simulates a water source that one would expect to find flowing thru a riparian community during at least part of the year.  But in reality, the only water we expect to find there is that which collects at its lowest point during periods of heavy rainfall.

Grassland                                                                                                                            At the Granada Native Garden, grassland occupies a long strip down the center of the Garden.  In California, grassland is thought to have originally covered much of the Central Valley and served as a major marshland for waterfowl.  But by the middle of the 19th century it had been almost completely drained and plowed, and many of the native perennial grasses had been replaced by nonnative annual grasses and covered over by agriculture and development.          Purple needlegrass (the California State grass), deergrass and June grass (shown at the left) are the most prominent members of the Granada Native Garden grassland, but other less conspicuous grasses punctuate the community.  Many of these are often used to replace the typical residential lawns and landscapes, as well as rushes and sedges, giving them a more Californian (and more interesting) personality.  Numerous wildflowers added a colorful display in the spring and early summer.  These provide a vast food reservoir for insects, native bees, butterflies, beetles and flies.  According to one Native American elder, butterflies were so abundant in the grassland that “they would come in clouds and you could reach out and touch them.  Sometimes they would land on you.”

Chaparral                                                                                                                                      A long berm along the eastern border of the Granada Native Garden is dedicated to the chaparral community, a unique habitat populated by woody shrubs and evergreens that are highly adapt- ed to fire.  At this Garden, the species originally planted there are flannel- bush, California lilac, sagebrush (the trio shown at the right), sage, buckwheat, bush poppy and yucca; more recent arrivals are chamise, matilija poppy and  nightshade.                                         In the past, wildfires were common but infrequent in the California landscape (probably once every 30-150 years), and it is thought that chaparral species have evolved a number of mechanisms to enable them to survive exposure to fire, such as delaying seed germination until the first spring after a fire.  Although fires, whether occurring naturally or intentionally set by humans, actually have many beneficial effects on the environment, fires now occur more frequently because of the increased presence of humans, and ecologists have some concern about the ability of chaparral plants to tolerate the effects of more frequent fires.

Reportedly, there once was a hillside in southern California, near Pasadena, that was so massively blanketed with California poppies that it was visible from ships more than twenty-five miles out to sea.  The display of poppies at the Granada Native Garden isn’t nearly that dramatic, but Spring is the time of the year when the Granada Native Garden attracts the most attention from passersby.                                                             

The annual display of golden California poppies across the state’s vast hillsides makes the flower a fitting symbol for the Golden State.  The 1,745-acre Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, in the high desert area near Los Angeles, is devoted almost entirely to the poppy.  It was proclaimed the state flower, unofficially by the California Floral Society in 1890 and officially by the state legislature in 1903.  April 6 is celebrated as California Poppy Day; one week in May is even designated as California Poppy Week.

Furthermore, this poppy is particularly adapted to the California climate.  It is drought-resistant and freely reseeds itself, to appear in the spring year after year, especially in soil disturbed by anything from footprints to farming activity.  Its flowers can be seen as early as February and may linger until the beginning of fall.  During this time it attracts pollinators such as bees and hummingbirds; it‘s comical to watch a bumblebee alight on a blossom and bend it over with its weight!  The seeds are especially favored by mourning doves and quail.

          The poppy was an important source of food and oil for the indigenous people of California, who also used the pollen as a colorful cosmetic; after walking thru a field of poppies, you will probably find bright smudges of golden pollen on your clothing.  Different tribes used parts of the plant for different purposes:  to alleviate toothaches, as food, to heal babies’ navels, and to induce sleep.

           The blossoms may become smaller and paler in color as the summer wanes.  If you are ambitious enough to cut them back to the first set of leaves after the first blossom dies, they may produce a second bloom.  Each plant has a carrot-like taproot (it’s even bright orange!) which may persist and leaf out again from year to year.  Occasionally, a white genetic variation will appear in a field of golden poppies (see below ↓ ).

          While oriental poppies share a dubious reputation as the source of opium, containing alkaloids such as morphine and codeine, the California poppy does not share this characteristic and is not addictive.  However, it does possess certain chemical compounds that have a sedative effect.

The flower was named in 1816 as the first member of the genus Eschscholzia by the German botanist Adelbert von Chamisso, after his fellow botanist Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz.  Fittingly, among other names that have been given to the California poppy are copa de oro (cup of gold) and dormidera (the sleepy one); in the latter case, this name does not derive from its sedative properties, but from its tendency to open its petals late in the morning and to close them again in the evening.  This strategy probably serves to conserve water during the heat of the day, along with its finely divided, fern-like leaves.  Spanish explorers named the coast “Land of Fire”, not only because of the bright color display, but also because of the hot, dry climate and frequent fires caused by lightning strikes.

It is commonly believed that it is against the law to cut or damage the California poppy.  However, this law only applies to damaging any plant growing on state or county property, except by authorized government personnel or contractors, or on private property without permission of the owner.

Welcome to the Granada Native Garden!                                                                                    In 2004, the Friends of the Arroyos and Granada High School students built a native plant park called the Granada Native Garden.  This park is divided into various plant communities:  chaparral, oak woodland, grassland meadow, and riparian habitats.  Picnic tables, benches and three outdoor educational panels were also installed.  We hope that this Garden will be not only an outdoor classroom, but also an opportunity for all Livermore residents to recognize the environmental importance of native plants, and to reduce their household water use by incorporating native plants into their landscaping.                                     The illustration below shows the location of each of the four plant communities or habitats.  On the right of the illustration is Murrieta Blvd.; the Arroyo Mocho bike ‘n hike trail is on the left.  The top of the illustration is the north end of the Garden, toward Stanley Ave.

 How to Get to the Granada Native Garden                                                                      On foot, you can take either Murrieta Blvd. or the Arroyo Mocho trail.  Unfortunately, there is no park- ing available at the Garden itself, but parking is available in the Nob Hill shopping center across the street.     If you park there, you are advised to walk a short distance to the pedestri- an crossing east of the shopping center, cross Murrieta Blvd., then walk back to the Garden.

What You Will See at the Granada Native Garden                                             The Garden is populated strictly with California native plants, but not all are necessarily native to this part of California.  Likewise, not all of the plants are in bloom at the same time of the year, and some have blossoms that are not conspicuous.  But all of them have some characteristics that make them interesting in one way or another, and all of them subsist on no artificial irrigation or, in some cases, a little summer water applied by hand.                                                                                                                                           Three picnic tables form a focal point for the Garden, as well as a place to sit and take in the environment, or to share a conversation with friends or a picnic lunch with your family.  The tables are decorated with mosaics depicting endangered species:  fish, frogs and birds.  This area contains some of the more colorful plants in the Garden.                              Beyond the table area, paths lead to the other end of the Garden which is less formally planned, and, to a certain extent, is still being developed with new plantings as time goes on.

Identification Markers                                          When a particular plant is showing off its flowers, fruit or foliage, we try to place an identi-fication marker near the plant to tell you what its name is.  Often the plant also has some inter-esting facts about its importance to the environ- ment, its use by Native Americans, its folklore, or other details.                                                               The ID marker is a plastic tube with a brown cap, slipped over a stake set in the ground.  These markers are often mistaken for irrigation outlets (of which there are none in the Garden).  But the tube may easily be lifted off the stake so that you can read it conveniently and learn about the plant.                                                  Because of past vandalism problems, we don’t leave the ID markers in place per- manently, or they tend to “disappear”.  We only ask that when you pick one up to read it (and we hope you do! ), you are careful to put it back on its stake.

You Can Help!
Louann, Jim, Mary Ann, Kerry, Dave and Kirpa help to maintain the Granada Native Garden.  You can help too, by letting us know how to improve the Garden, by responding to this newsletter, or by stopping by to chat when we are working.  Or if you happen to notice any vandalism, graffiti or unappropriate activity taking place, please call the Livermore Police at 925-371-4987.