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The Manzanitas of Henry Coe

 

 

Hangin’ with the manzanitas

miles and miles of beautiful grasslands and oaks

This past weekend we finally ventured up to Henry Coe State Park in the hills east of Morgan Hill. For years we have talked about camping and hiking at Henry Coe, Northern California’s largest State Park renowned for its serene backpacking trails, impressive wildflower shows and creepy tarantulas. Thanks to our Spring rains, we were treated to a vast assortment of flowers, including buttercups, lupines, ground irises, blue-eyed grass, poppies, lilies, and many more.

One of the many towering manzanitas at Henry Coe

More interesting to me, however, were the monstrous tree-like manzanitas lining the trail to and from Frog Lake. Many of these suckers were 25-30 feet tall.  As an unabashed manzanita maniac, I was reveling in the magnificent display, swinging from low-lying branches and caressing the smooth reddish-brown trunks. I’m not sure how the rangers feel about tree fondling, but I would not be denied. According to coestatepark.com, there are three types of manzanitas growing at the park: Eastwood, BigBerry and Common. I believe these gentle giants to be the BigBerry variety (Arctostaphylos glauca). I’m already looking forward to a return trip to the manzanita forests of Henry Coe.

 

Trunk close-ups:

Caught in the act

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Bloom: April ’14

Backyard, April 2014

Front yard, April 2014

The Garden Tour has come and gone, but the floral display remains in full swing. In addition to the long-blooming monkeyflowers and alum roots, penstemons, sages, buckwheats, asters, and daisies have begun to display copious amounts of flowers. Yellows and purples predominate, but the whites of yarrow and the oranges of poppies and monkey flowers add some much needed contrast. The blooms on manzanitas, ceanothus and currants have subsided, but their ample new leafy growth looks nice juxtaposed with their colorful perrenial and annual neighbors. The rock wall inhabitants — dudleya, buckwheats and cliff maids — are all thriving, and should be flowering soon. Some peak performers:

Dwarf Wooly Daisy (Eriophyllum lanatum ‘Siskiyou’)

 

Seaside Daisy (Erigeron glaucus ‘Sea Breeze’)

 

Foothill Penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus ‘Catherine De La Mare’)

 

Monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus ‘Pt. Molate’)

For the full set of Spring photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/8742964@N08/sets/72157643163691855/

 

Going Native Garden Tour Recap

Yesterday’s native garden tour was a huge success. We had 102 visitors, which exceeded expectations given that our garden is located on the extreme northernmost boundary of the tour. Thank you to everyone who visited the garden and were so complimentary. I always enjoy conversing with other native enthusiasts. Thanks also to my wife and family for their assistance greeting guests and getting the garden prepped. I would not be where I’m at without their constant support.

Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Guests really enjoyed the wide variety of colors on display, the water feature and even the plant labels. Favorite plants included: Penstemon ‘Margarita BOP’, assorted monkeyflowers, Island Bush Poppy and Ceanothus ‘Diamond Heights.’ One of my few non-natives, the ‘Elfin’ thyme that creeps amongst the patio flagstones, was also a crowd pleaser. Most questions involved watering and maintenance requirements for various plants. Several people also wanted to know where I purchased my plants. All of these questions gave me ideas for future blog posts.

For any questions, do not hesitate to contact me at ManzanitaManiaBlog@gmail.com

Happy Hosts:

 

 

 

Poppy Proliferation

The mother of all California Poppy volunteers has taken root in my driveway

In Bloom: March ’14 (Part 2)

‘Canyon Snow’ iris

This is truly an exciting time in the garden. Daily visits reveal new blooms, singing birds and myriad insects busily darting about. These same visits also bring to light plentiful weeds, aphid infiltrations and half-eaten avocados littered underneath their parent tree. You’ve got to take the bad with the good, I suppose, but let’s focus on the positive. Here in late March, the coral bells and ceanothus continue to shine, but many other plants are beginning to awaken. Irises, monkeyflowers, sages, buckwheats, yarrow and others have begun to flower. The giant coreopsis, now in its second year, has sprouted its numerous yellow daisy-like flowers. Also, the island bush poppy, easily one of  my favorite natives, continues to flower profusely and to send beautiful large grey-green leaves skyward. I have included some photos below, but for a more comprehensive display of garden happenings, I invite you to visit my Flickr photo sets, which I hope to update regularly. https://www.flickr.com/photos/8742964@N08/sets/72157643163691855/

Pacific Coast Hybrid iris

‘Eleanor’ monkeyflower 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

red monkeyflower

 

island bush poppy

hummingbird sage

SF Flower & Garden Show

Our favorite demo garden, featuring many natives and an amazing “vine sphere”

Yesterday, Marcia and I attended the annual San Francisco Flower & Garden show, which took place down the street from us at the San Mateo Convention Center. Since our last visit 3 years ago, the show seems better organized, and there appears to be more of an emphasis placed on drought tolerant plants and garden designs. This makes perfect sense given California’s current drought status.

I was pleasantly surprised by the strong presence of natives at the show. Three of the demonstration gardens prominently featured native plants, and there was a whole “eco-friendly” lecture series advocating the use of native plants. We were fortunate enough to attend one of these talks by Bart O’Brien, a noted horticulturist with decades of experience championing native plants. Bart has served as director at the Rancho Santa Ana (Claremont) and Regional Parks  ( Berkeley) Botanic gardens, the state’s two most beautiful native installations in my opinion. Additionally, he co-authored “California Native Plants for the Garden,” an award-winning publication widely considered to be the foremost California native book in circulation. This was my first purchase and still my go-to resource. I regret not bringing this book to have him sign it. Wait, have I become a Bart O’Brien groupie?

Aside from Bart’s talk, we enjoyed browsing the myriad booths hawking everything from spas to garden tools. We made several purchases, including a Batman birdhouse (Marcia’s choice), a moustache garden stake (my choice), and a Vietnamese Cilantro plant. Pretty random, eh? Here are some photos of our new garden decorations in action:

Our new outdoor only cat

Batman birdhouse keep a watchful eye on the natives

Our Seaside Daisy just got a lot cooler with the addition of this fine ‘stache

In Bloom: March ’14

Many varieties of Coral Bells (Heuchera) flank a shady sitting area

With six weeks until the garden show and two weeks until the official start of Spring, the garden is beginning to come to life. Bolstered by alternating periods of rain and warm sunshine over the last month, plants are displaying copious amounts of blossoms and fresh green growth. This is probably the healthiest and most well balanced the garden has looked to date — just in time for the public viewing next month.  Coral Bells (Heuchera) and flowering currants (Ribes) are peaking right now, providing quite a display of creams and pinks. Also blooming:  California lilac (Ceanothus), manzanitas (Arctostaphylos), California phacelia (Phacelia), monkeyflowers (Mimulus), beach and woodland strawberry (Fragaria), island bush poppy (Dendromecon), California buttercup (Ranunculus), penstemons (Penstemon) and cliff-maids (Lewisia). Some eye candy:

Island Bush Poppy (Dendromecon harfordii)

Ceanothus ‘Dark Star’

Cliff-maid (Lewisia cotyledon ‘Magenta’)

Woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca)

California phacelia

Point Reyes kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi ‘Point Reyes’)

Red-flowering currant (Ribes ‘Barrie Coate’)

Native Plant Profile: Toyon

A sun-soaked toyon adds color to a drab fall landscape in Edgewood County Park

Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) is a large evergreen shrub common to chaparral and woodlands throughout the state of California. It has the distinction of being the only native plant that still goes by its original Native American name. The Ohlone and other tribes held the toyon in high regard and utilized the plant for food and medicinal purposes. Inconspicuous for much of the year, toyon truly shines in the fall and winter when its plentiful bright red berries decorate the limbs, providing a colorful display and a feast for hungry birds.

A homemade toyon arrangement put together by my mother this Christmas

Toyon has many uses in the home garden. Because of its large size and dense evergreen growth, it is often used as a screen. With its abundance of small, cream-colored flowers in summer and its bright red (or gold) berries in winter, toyon can also be an aesthetically pleasing large shrub or tree. Cut limbs with berries can even be used for a Christmas arrangement. Wildlife gardeners also value the toyon because of its appeal as a food source for many types of birds.

‘Davis Gold’ toyon in December 2011

‘Davis Gold’ toyon in December 2013

I chose to plant a toyon in my garden for all of the reasons mentioned above. Plants prefer full sun where they may grow to as much as fifteen feet high and wide. In my garden, however, I was only able to offer partial sunshine. The adjacent avocado tree shades the plant for much of the day, which has led to a more sparse growth habit and diminished flower production. I opted for the ‘Davis Gold’ cultivar, which has yellow berries rather than red, and is said to be more disease resistant. I give the plant a deep watering every three weeks or so in the summer and it seems to be happy. In two years, my toyon has grown to nearly eight feet tall and four feet wide. Given ample space and proper care, the toyon can be a valuable addition to the home garden. Plant one — the birds will thank you.

‘Davis Gold’ berries

Going Native Garden Tour 2014

Backyard in May 2013, 5-6 months after planting

   The Going Native Garden Tour is an annual Spring event organized by the Santa Clara Valley chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Private gardens in the South Bay and Peninsula that showcase native plants are opened up to the public for viewing in late April, the time of year when most gardens are in their most colorful, floriferous state. When I first began planting natives in Fall 2011, I set a goal to one day be a part of the garden tour. Up to this point, however,  I have not deemed my gardens presentable to the masses based on what I considered to be fundamental design flaws (yes, I am very hard on myself). I wanted to be confident with my work and more knowledgeable about the subject before opening myself up to judgment of fellow native enthusiasts.

Redesigned front yard in December 2013. Hopefully it will be much more exciting next Spring

Finally this year, after the long awaited completion of the backyard and modifications to the front yard, I felt comfortable in participating in the garden tour. About a month ago I applied for entry into next year’s event, and shortly thereafter, a committee of native experts toured the property to ensure that the gardens were up to standard. The verdict arrived last week, and much to my delight, the gardens were accepted into the April tour, and will show on Saturday, April 26 from 10am to 4pm. Mark your calendars everyone.