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California Native Caterpillars & Their Host Plants

21 Mar

Earl Nickel,
The Curious Plantsman

As conscientious gardeners, many of us have added plants that attract pollinators to our corners of paradise. This includes butterflies of many kinds, including the well-known Monarch, Painted Lady and Anise Swallowtail. But there is even a more surefire way to attract particular butterflies and moths to your garden and that is by planting host plants for these winged pollinators. As we know, when butterflies first lay eggs on the leaves of their preferred host plant, those eggs hatch to become caterpillars, who then have a ready-made supply of nutritious leaves on which to grow and fatten. And surprisingly, these caterpillars can sometimes be as colorful and beautiful as the butterflies they eventually become. Today we take a closer look at this stage of our favorite California native butterfly life cycle.

Monarch

Easily our most famous Bay Area resident butterfly, Monarchs also have one of the most beautiful caterpillars. Large and long, they are immediately recognizable by their yellow, black and white striping. And where do you find them? Why on ‘milkweeds.’ Most famously, they lay their eggs on the ‘Butterfly weed’ (Asclepias species). The various Asclepias species contain a toxin called glycosides and Monarch caterpillars have adapted to be able to eat these toxic leaves. This toxin discourages creatures from making the Monarch caterpillar its lunch. Adult monarchs retain the toxins and if a bird tries eating one it is likely to have an unpleasant reaction, thus learning to avoid this butterfly.

Annie’s carries four native milkweeds – Showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa and A. speciosa ‘Davis’), as well as the Narrow-Leafed milkweed (A. fascicularis) and the curious Nodding milkweed (A. glaucescens). Easy to grow and vigorous, milkweeds love the sun, good drainage and bloom all summer. This native is also a nectar source for a number of local butterflies

Pipevine Swallowtail

Perhaps the most beautiful butterfly in our region, this butterfly has dusky dark outer portions and iridescent blue inner portions. As its common name suggests, this guy prefers only one plant as its host – the California pipevine (Aristolochia californica) or California Dutchman’s-pipe. Though this native vine isn’t widespread, it is very easily grown in our gardens but does grow quite large and sprawling. This Swallowtail is prolific in laying eggs, which hatch to distinctive, chunky black caterpillars dotted dramatically with orange spots. They protect themselves by sequestering acids from the plants they feed on. The adults will feed on the nectar of a variety of local flowers. California pipevine is also a highly prized decorative vine, with small Dutchman’s pipe flowers that are oh so fun to look at.

Anise Swallowtail.

This beautiful yellow and black butterfly is very common in our area. Its caterpillar form is just as striking, a bright green with distinctive yellow spots framed by black borders. It has several host plants, including our native Cow Parsnip (Heracleum lanatum). You can also have great success, as I have, with the common fennel plant.

And we at Annie’s offer both the cow parsnip and a lovely variety of fennel called ‘Zefa Fino’ in the nursery. . Adult butterflies will seek out a great number of native flowers for food. It is one of the easiest and most reliable butterflies in our area. As to the host plants, they are extremely vigorous and more or less take care of themselves. They each get big, so you will have to ‘hunt’ for the tiny eggs when they appear.

Painted Lady

Painted Lady is one of the most familiar butterflies in our Bay Area gardens. A gorgeous orange, with black and orange banding on its upper wings and rows of small black markings on the lower wings, its caterpillar is no less striking. Completely black, with regularly spaced, narrow bands of yellow, black and white, this caterpillar’s unique appearance includes prickly black, branching spikes growing out of each of its body segments

. The main host plant for this gal is our wonderful California Sagebrush (Artemisia californica). This xeriscape plant needs almost no summer water and offers the most shimmering silvery foliage on 3-4′ H&W bushes. Though the flowers are small and indistinctive, this sagebrush still attracts plenty of ‘Ladies.’

California Tortoiseshell

This lovely smaller-sized butterfly has an appearance similar to the Painted Lady. Its black banding is however only along the upper margins of its wings and it possesses no lower black spots. Its caterpillar has a subtle charm, being a patterned gray, with small yellow blotches and less obvious yellow bristles than those on the Painted Lady.

These beautiful butterflies like to lay their eggs on our local California lilacs (Ceanothus) and Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos). That includes the prolific blooming Ceanothus thyrsiflorus and the taller C. ‘Ray Hartman’, though this butterfly likes all Ceanothus species. And Ceanothus species are one of the great native shrubs to add to your garden. A variety of bees and butterflies feed on the flowers’ nectar and songbirds will feed on the seeds that form in the late fall.

Mormon Metalmark

This beautiful butterfly displays a most intriguing pattern, with a chocolate brown body dramatically dotted with white spots. This area is contrasted by bright orange on the upper wings next to the head. Dramatic is an apt description. The caterpillar is also striking in its own right, displaying a purple body and rows of paired yellow spots around the circumference of its body.

You’ll find this beauty munching on the leaves of our native Seaside buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium). Many of you know that California buckwheats are one of the great pollinator plants to add to our gardens. Visited it seems by every bee, butterfly, hummer, beneficial fly & wasp, this prolific bloomer also provides copious fall seed for songbirds. Very durable and easy to grow, Seaside buckwheat is the gift that keeps on giving.

Silvery Blue Butterfly

There may be no prettier butterfly in our Bay Area than the quixotic Silver Blue Butterfly. A gorgeous sky blue throughout, with delicate white veining and a dramatic black border, this elusive butterfly can sometimes be a bit hard to find. And given that its caterpillar is a plain green oblong creature, it seems like this butterfly is the proverbial ugly-duckling-into-a-swan in the world of butterflies.

Its favorite host plant is the native Yellow Coastal Bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus). Forget what you know about little hybrid lupines. This vigorous herbaceous lupine gets to a robust 4’x4′ and in late spring is smothered in cheerful yellow flowers displayed on tall spikes. A magnet for bees as well as a number of local butterflies, this native provides lots of leaves for Silvery Blue caterpillars. Just give it sun and good drainage.

Orange Sulphur moth

The Orange Sulphur’s appearance may not be dramatic but its soft colors are no less alluring. It displays pale yellow wings with an orange aura, bordered by a ribbed, soft brown color. Sublime. It too has a green caterpillar that is meant to ‘hide’ against the green background of the lupine leaves it prefers.

That would be the lovely Silver Bush lupine (Lupinus albifrons). It too forms a voluminous bush (42” x 42”) and produces soft green foliage with a shimmering silvery cast. It produces 8-12” high spikes of fragrant purple flowers throughout the late spring and summer that attract a variety of pollinators. Give it sun, good drainage and deadhead the flowers for prolonged blooming.

Variable Checkerspot

You might think of this black-winged native butterfly as the ‘goth’ member of the family. Black-as-night wings are generously dotted with rows of white spots, with just a few orange spots on the top wings for a touch of color. That color scheme is carried over to the caterpillar.

Black, with rows of orange spots, it is an eating machine on its favorite host plant – the Sticky Monkey flower (Mimulus aurantiacus). For those of you that hike our north bay regions, you have no doubt come across patches of this hardy sub-shrub. Both its orange-flowering straight species and its yellow, pink and red hybrids are magnets for a variety of local pollinators, while our goth friend will happily munch down on this drought tolerant perennial.

Planting & Caring for Host Plants

Virtually  all of the plants mentioned here are sun-loving (the Cow Parsnip is part shade) so give them lots of light. And generally speaking, they want good drainage. That’s especially important for the Lupines. Within the above group, only the Lupines and the California pipevine are deciduous, though the Cow parsnip and fennel may shed some leaves. Other than providing healthy plants, there are no special care instructions for attracting the butterflies to lay eggs. It is when the caterpillars appear that one needs to pay attention. First off, you don’t want to remove the caterpillars you are hoping to host. And one has to live with the fact that they will be eating a certain amount of the plant’s leaves. When they are fat enough, they will spin a cocoon and gestate until it’s time for the adult butterfly to emerge.

It is worth mentioning that one should not, under any circumstances, use a pesticide, organic or chemical, on your host plants (or any nearby plants). If there are unwanted bugs on your host plant, you can gently pick them off. On this note, Annie’s does not spray its plants with the Bt caterpillar insecticide, meaning it is safe to grow our plants as host plants. However, Annie’s strongly advises that plants you intend to use as host plants, be thoroughly rinsed with water and quarantined for at least one week before setting out into your garden.  In addition, they recommend the plant be allowed to grow for at least one year, so that it has time to grow enough leaves to sustain a hungry caterpillar before allowing it to become a host plant. See more details here.

If birds are eating your caterpillars, you might consider putting a fine netting around the plant. Use stakes and make a little house, making sure not to just drape the netting over the plant as the bird beak can squeeze through the net’s grid and grab a juicy caterpillar. The netting will still let light through and let you watch the progress from egg to caterpillar to butterfly.

A little research on the butterfly you hope to attract and lay eggs will let you know the plants they often seek out for nectar. These plants may first attract adult butterflies, who then spot that host plant you’ve provided for them. That in turn may tempt them to lay eggs there.  Adding nectar-rich plants may also attract other butterflies to your garden too!

Availability

Just so everyone knows, some of the Annie’s Annuals plants mentioned here might not be available on the week that you’re reading this blog article. Some of the plant varieties discussed are only available in our retail nursery in Richmond CA. This is generally due to us only being able to grow small crops or the fact that the particular plant does not ship well. A quick look at that plant’s page will let you know if it’s available. If not, just click the Add to Wishlist button and we’ll notify you when that plant is ready to take home.

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Planting a Pollinators’ Garden 

14 Apr

Earl Nickel,
Curious Plantsman

One of the joys of gardening is seeing the many types of bees, butterflies, and birds that come a-calling to our bit of paradise. Many of these visitors are there to collect nectar, thereby pollinating those flowers. These pollinators play a pivotal role in our local ecology and there is renewed interest in adding plants to our gardens to attract these vital pollinators.

When enough city gardeners plant pollinator friendly gardens, it creates valuable ‘greenbelts’, providing enough food for pollinators to hop easily from one garden to the next in a given area. Now, with habitat loss still on the rise, and with our pollinator friends facing other environmental challenges, providing sources of nectar and a safe haven becomes all the more important.

Pollinator Plants

While it isn’t necessary to plant only California natives, plants naturally occurring in our local habitats will be high on the list of destinations for local pollinators. Annie’s is a great place to find a wide-ranging selection of California native plants. One of the best Northern California natives is Sticky Monkey Flower (Mimulus aurantiacus).

We grow a very local selection, Pt. Molate, first discovered in our Richmond headlands. It displays all the outstanding qualities of this type of monkey flower. It’s vigorous, very drought tolerant and long blooming. Better yet, it attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds alike. For something a bit different, let yourself be tempted by the bright pink flowering Monkey Flower (Mimulus lewisii x cardinalis).

Though not quite as drought tolerant and deciduous, it puts on an amazing floral show and attracts a steady parade of hummingbirds and bees. Mimulus bifidus ‘White’ is another excellent drought tolerant selection in the Monkey Flower family. Its large, ruffled white flowers are irresistible to humans and pollinators alike.

California Buckwheat (Eriogonum species) is one of the best plants for a pollinators garden. Not only are the flowers on such lovely species as Red Buckwheat (E. grande rubescens) and Seaside Buckwheat (E. latifolium) absolute magnets for bees and butterflies but the seeds are a valuable food source for local songbirds. Red buckwheat produces sprays of tiny, nectar-rich, rosy-pink flowers in summer. These flowers last well into the fall, gradually turning a golden brown. Low silvery foliage provides an attractive base.

Seaside buckwheat is just as attractive, with clusters of pale pink to white flowers that age to a rusty hue in fall. It is an important larval food plant for the Acmon Blue and Hairstreak butterflies, whose numbers are dwindling due to habitat loss. It sports an attractive 1’ x 2’ compact mound of softly felted, spoon-shaped gray leaves. Both species are tough, drought tolerant additions to any garden.

California fuchsia (Zauschneria californica) is one of the very best natives for attracting hummingbirds to your garden. They adore its plenitude of sparkling red tubular flowers. A prolific bloomer, it showcases an endless number of inch and a half, nectar rich flowers from late spring well into the fall. It first produces 18-36” tall stands of soft silvery foliage that slowly spreads out. Needing no summer water and not fussy about soils, this native is perfect to use as a high ground cover. It’s also a great solution for a problem area or a parking strip. Tough as nails, it only needs a good amount of sun to be happy.

Another great native for a sunny dry garden is the lovely Coyote Mint (Monardella species). One of the best varieties is the local M. ‘Russian River.’ Brought to us by the folks at California Flora Nursery, this selection has proven to be a great performer. When in bloom, it is nearly smothered in 2” balls of lavender-colored flowers. These blooms are magnets for bees and butterflies especially, making it a valuable addition to any pollinators garden.

As a bonus, the leaves have a minty fragrance and they can even be used to make an aromatic tea. This 2’x2′ native thrives under difficult conditions and though very drought tolerant, can still prosper where it gets regular moisture. It blooms all summer long and in milder zones, it can still be seen blooming late in the fall, providing much needed food for butterflies especially.

Speaking of minty plants, Hummingbird Mint (Agastache species) is another great selection to attract hummingbirds to your garden. Annie’s grows three wonderful selections.  A. ‘Blue Boa’ first forms a thicket of lightly textured leaves that exude a strong anise fragrance. In summer, foot high cones of deep purple flowers attract a bevy of bees and hummers.

‘Black Adder’ meanwhile produces slender spikes of purplish-blue flowers, with its foliage offering a delicious licorice fragrance. It too blooms well into the fall. And for pink lovers, there’s the lovely A. ‘Ambrosia.’ Featuring more finely textured fragrant foliage, its flowers offer a changing kaleidoscope of pink and orange hues. These selections top out at about 18” tall and are semi-deciduous.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is one of the great butterfly plants for a pollinators garden. This California native always seems to be in bloom and rarely without a butterfly perched on its flat top cyme of flowers. It is very adaptable but prefers rich, well-drained soil and lots of sun.

It develops a strong root system, allowing it to withstand less than favorable conditions. Colors range from the pastel pink of ‘Cameo’ to the burgundy-red of ‘Paprika’ and the fiery red of ‘Red Velvet.’

There is also the rich yellow flowers of ‘Little Moonshine’, the pure white beauty of ‘Sonoma Coast’ and the creamy pinks of ‘Salmon Beauty.’ Yarrows have a well-earned rep for sturdiness, beauty and for being one of the great plants for butterflies.

Lastly, we have the beauty of Beardstongue (Penstemon species). Two hybrid selections are of particular note. Penstemon x gloxinioides ‘Midnight’ and P. x gloxinioides ‘Thorn’ are surprisingly long-lived, very floriferous and attract both bees and hummers to their tubular flowers.

They each form a dense stand of slender bluish-green leaves and then come early summer, flower spikes arise above the foliage and are filled with flaring tubular flowers. ‘Midnight’ features rich purple blooms while ‘Thorn’ offers lovely, pink tipped white flowers. Thriving in part sun locations, these penstemons are the perfect combination of beauty and endurance.

Pollinator Resources & Websites

See Annie’s “Totally Useful Plant Lists” for our favorite plants for attracting bees and butterflies.  Our local friends at the Pollinator Posse offer two excellent online resources for information on adding pollinator plants to your garden including a wonderful pdf list of their favorite Native Pollinator Plants. The Pollinator Posses is a local resource run by frequent Annie’s speaker, Tora Rocha that works to promote the establishment of pollinator gardens in urban settings. Also, take a look at the Pollinator Partnership website for all kinds of ways to help out our local pollinators (www.pollinator.org). 

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Layered Planting

10 Mar

Earl Nickel,
Curious Plantsman

Many Bay Area gardeners are working with small spaces, where it can be a challenge to find room each season for all the new plant varieties we want to try and grow. It turns out there’s an easy and nifty method for maximizing smaller spaces called layered planting. You may already be familiar with the idea of layering in beds, with ground cover plants in front, then a slightly taller plant behind it and finally a shrub or taller perennial in the rear. Layered planting uses that same principle but applies it vertically to a single small space and it works like this – one or more bulbs under the surface, a ground cover or short plant directly above and then a taller plant in that same space.

Initially, your bed will have the shorter plant – it is best to choose somewhat airy plants for this purpose – and possibly the taller plant planted in the space at the same time (though this can be added later). Then, in spring or summer, the bulb(s) you’ve planted in the ground will surface, pushing up through the shorter plant above it. This layered planting mimics nature, where bulbs or corms naturally push their way up through the plants above them. Most bulbs bloom for a 2-month period and then they’re done for the year. But during this time, you have a dense and wonderfully floriferous planting in a very small area. After they’ve finished blooming, you can fold their leaves down to the ground and rubber band them to keep them in place, until they naturally yellow. At this point, they’ve finished putting nutrition back into the bulb and the leaves can be cut off.

Choosing the Plants

Bulbs

Gladiolus carneus and Glaucium grandiflorum

Although early season bulbs such as daffodils and tulips should already be planted, there are many late spring or summer bulbs left to use in our layered planting scheme. Harlequin flower (Sparaxis) offers a multitude of dazzling colors and has the added benefit of naturalizing in your garden. Annie’s grows two fabulous ones – S. elegans and S. tricolor. One of the most popular spring bulbs is Freesia. Easy to grow and quick to naturalize, they come in a variety of splendid colors. Plus they are possibly the most fragrant bulb ever! All of which means that they are one of the most ideal bulbs for a layered planting scheme. Dutch or Japanese iris are showy bulbs that return every year, with the Dutch iris flowers showcasing purples, gingers, yellows and white while the Japanese species display a range of purple and lavender shades. Gladiolas are another early summer bulb that adds a handsome vertical element, whether you choose the species kind, such as the pretty G. carneus ‘Painted Lady’ or one of the great many hybrids.

For a lower growing bulb, I recommend several varieties of the California native Blue-Eyed grass (Sisyrinchium). S. ‘Devon Skies’ produces exceptionally lovely, one inch purple flowers from late spring through the end of summer. Only 6” tall but slowly spreading to one foot across, it can also be used as a low plant in this layered planting scheme. Sisyrinchium ‘Quaint & Queer’ meanwhile boasts colors that range from mauve and maroon to chocolate and apricot, with pretty yellow ‘eyes’. Both varieties are easy to grow, deer and rabbit resistant and attract butterflies and beneficial insects.

Low Growing Selections

For those plants that you want to stay low, there are three groups – ground covers, low annuals and prostrate perennials. One of the best ground covers is Sun Rose (Helianthemum). Annie’s offers, Helianthemum ‘Belgravia Rose’, which produces a mass of pink-splashed, one-inch flowers that resemble small single form roses. These cheerful blooms seem to float on a bed of small grayish-green leaves that hug the ground but can each spread out to cover a three-foot area. Tough as nails, drought tolerant, and evergreen, it makes the perfect ground cover for a sunny spot.

One of the prettiest ground covers you’ll ever grow is the lush green ‘Little Ears’ (Falkia repens). Hailing from South Africa, it forms a dense mat of 1” glossy green leaves that are lightly cupped, and in summer, sprouts a bevy of small white flowers that bees dig. It likes a little regular water but isn’t thirsty and makes the perfect green understory for taller plants.

For something a bit different, how about selecting a strawberry as a ground cover? The remarkably vigorous Dutch hybrid ‘Elan’ strawberry is extra sweet due to a high sugar content and contains 30-50% more vitamin C than other everbearing strawberries. It fruits spring through fall with many runners, allowing it to spread out and be especially prolific.

 For a beautiful low-growing annual, how about California poppies? Annie’s offers a dazzling selection, from the clean white flowers of Eschscholzia ‘Alba’ through the color spectrum of golds (‘Golden Chiffon’), peachy tones (‘Apricot Chiffon’), vibrant reds (‘Red Glow’), rich pinks (‘Rose Chiffon’) and even a pinkish-purple (‘Purple Gleam’). California poppies are easy to grow, and they have a loose habit, making it easy for bulbs to push up through. They also often self-seed. They’re stingy on water too.

Dianthus ‘Thea Mary’ & Geranium ‘Rozanne ‘

Two perennial options are Dianthus (“Carnations”) and Geraniums. Dianthus species or varieties are incredibly tough and long blooming, Lovely white-flowering varieties include ‘Hercules’, ‘First Scent Coconut’ and ‘Georgia Peach Pie.’ Or, if pink is your thing, then ‘Electra’ and ‘Bumbleberry Pie’ are fabulous additions. Most “Carnations” form a low mat of bluish-green, fine-textured foliage, with the flowers thrust above.

Three Geraniums make our ‘beautiful but ever so useful for layering’ list. G. pyreniacum ‘Bill Wallis’ has lacy foliage 10-20” tall and wide, with small but beautiful purple flowers, while G. ‘Orion’ has larger (2”) bluish-purple flowers and a loose foliage habit. Geranium ‘Rozanne’ is so popular we can hardly grow enough of it. Lovely bluish-purple flowers smother the plant all summer long, inviting regular visits by bees and butterflies. All three selections are drought tolerant, with little care required.

Taller Selections

Veronica longifolia , Geranium ‘Rozanne’ & Agrostemma g. ‘Milas’

For the taller selections, you’ll want to choose plants that possess a vertical stature but also display an airier habit. This allows the bulbs and lower plants in your layered spot to get enough light and air circulation. There are many annuals to choose from but 3 easy and beautiful options are Agrostemma, Cynoglossum and Phacelia. “Corncockle” (Agrostemma) is an English garden favorite and one look at its satiny pink or pure white flowers will make you swoon. The 2” flowers sit atop swaying two foot stems, providing a perfect (way) to add verticality to any sunny spot. “Chinese Forget-Me-Not” (Cynoglossum amabile) meanwhile offers up an endless parade of robin’s egg blue flowers, blanketing the upper portions of a 3′ high multi-branching plant. The simple half inch, 5-petaled flowers on this tall forget-me-not will indeed stick in your memory long after it’s done blooming. If darker blue flowers are your thing, Sticky Phacelia (Phacelia viscida) offers intense, Gentian blue flowers from mid spring through early summer. This California native also has a multi-branching form, growing to 30” x 30”. The saturated blue 1” flowers also feature an intricately patterned center nectary, making it one of the prettiest flowers you will ever grow.

Three perennial selections are led by the many types of taller Speedwell (Veronica). Whether you’re choosing Spike Speedwell (Veronica ‘Perfectly Picasso’ or Veronica ‘Purpleicious’) or Garden Speedwell (Veronica longifolia ‘Bushy Boy’), these purple flowering beauties add hummingbird friendly pizzazz to any location. Ranging in height from 2-3′, their multitude of flower spike-tipped branches and vibrant green leaves offer a bit of (purple) heaven.

Sidalcea malviflora ‘Purpetta’ & Agrostemma ‘Ocean Pearls’

 Where the speedwell offers lavender-like flower spikes, Checkermallow (Sidalcea malviflora ‘Purpetta’) displays round and ever so rosy-pink flowers to the lucky gardener who finds a place for this bee and butterfly plant. Related to hollyhocks and other mallows, this 4′ tall perennial is a long blooming and carefree plant to grow. Though a bit shorter, Henderson’s Checkermallow offers the same cheerful open-face pink flowers, on straight as an arrow upright stems.

Finally, there is the aptly named Blue Milkweed (Tweedia caerulea ‘Heaven Born’). Related to the milkweed that is the host plant for Monarch butterflies (Asclepias speciosa or A. fascicularis), this hardy, often evergreen perennial produces the dreamiest star-shaped blue flowers imaginable! It blooms nonstop from early summer through fall and is a food source for many kinds of local butterflies. It takes a mostly vertical form, though its slender branches may wander a bit. It’s all part of the charm of this unique beauty.

Layered Beauty

The great thing about layered planting is that you can choose any number of plants to achieve this effect. Annie’s has new plants coming available every week so gardeners will have endless choices for fashioning their own miniature artistic statements!

Join us in Paradise – Kate’s Frey’s Open Garden!

8 Jun

Don’t miss a fantastic opportunity to visit an incredible garden! Our beloved friend, the fabulous and outrageously talented designer Kate Frey and her master builder husband, Ben, will open their vibrant and life-filled garden in Hopland (inland Mendocino County on Hwy 101) for a workshop and tour on June 17.  The event is in conjunction with The American Garden School, Kate’s (and business partner Christa Mone’s) new garden school. Read on for details and stunning photos of Kate and Ben’s inspiring gardens below!

By Kate Frey
Special Contributor

Profusely planted (and all organic), full of colorful flowers, bees, bird song, and rustic structures created from wood Ben has resuscitated, our garden has many places to explore as well as seating areas to take in the profuse beauty and delicious fragrances. Visitors call it an instant sanctuary and sometimes refuse to leave. It is a garden of life with colorful plantings that support a world of insects and birds as well as delighting our eyes and senses. There are many floral borders, a vegetable garden, unique rustic structures, a hermit’s hut, chicken palace (with the cutest chickens ever), bar, wood library, Swiss Chalet house, and whimsical massive wood columns. Surprises abound! 

Two workshops (9:30-10:45 and 11:00-12:15, see bottom of page) will cover garden design, developing healthy soils, efficient irrigation systems, plant care, and some great plant varieties. The garden is open for touring 10:30 until 2:00. We will be available to answer questions. Bring your lunch! 

What is a garden and what is it for? The answer announces itself again and again when I go into my garden, into what was just a bare, flat rectangular acre under an often-blasting sun. Now, dueling hummingbirds, the quiet melodies of goldfinches, iridescent bluebirds, courting titmice in the arbor, battling tanagers, velvet upholstered bumblebees, and Osmia bees in the Phacelias greet a garden stroll. The perfume of daphne, osmanthus, akebia, roses, coffeeberry, buckeye, honeysuckle, and mock orange follow one through the seasons and is everywhere.  Plants and flowers drape and embrace rustic structures. In the vegetable garden, brilliant chards and deep blue kales beckon in the cool mornings, and a rainbow of tomatoes decorate the hot afternoons. Everywhere is sensation, scent and life. Nature has woken up and it resides in our garden, marching forth until the frosts of November render a quiet landscape.

 I used to judge the merit, interest and beauty of a garden by the structure of the design and the composition of form. Now my goal is to create healthy, dynamic gardens that create a moving and inspirational experience for all who visit: gardens that act on our senses with the layered forms of plants, flower color, scent, and that are filled with life. 

The wildlife that visits the plants and flowers is an integral part of the beauty and vitality, a tangible aspect of it that can’t be separated from concepts of design. Pollinators are a main focus of our home garden and much of it is planted for their needs. A profusion of flowering plants offer pollen and nectar resources over a long growing season.  Pollinator gardens are necessarily flower filled gardens, delighting us while supporting bees, but also beneficial insects, butterflies, hummingbirds, and birds that fed their nestlings insects.

 Our garden is densely planted, and the plants form an impressionistic froth of form and color. Foliage intermingles and provides a profusion of ever-changing bloom.

The east side of our house, a protected space from the hot sun and full of plants that need afternoon shade. 
A green Victorian door and Millie the garden dog guard the vegetable garden and the Hermit’s Hut, and is surrounded by a haze of bronze fennel, perennial sunflowers, old-fashioned roses, crimson Salvias, mauve Teucriums, Oreganos, California Fuchsia, and the orange Kniphofia ‘Yellow Cheer”.
Vegetable gardens should be surrounded and guarded by flowers. Ours in May.
 Ben’s famous hermit’s hut.
 The arbor in summer.
The garden in September with Louie and Millie the garden dogs expecting some excitement amidst the resident hummingbirds and finches.

Please come and visit us June 17, 2017!

Session 1: 9:30- 10:45 Workshop: RSVP on website

Session 2: 11:00-12:15 Workshop: RSVP on website

10:30-2:00 Open Garden: RSVP on website 

Make it a day!

Additionally, The Garden Conservancy is having a Garden Open Day in Mendocino County on June 17th, and there are a number of unique and bucolic gardens to visit 50-55 minutes away in Anderson Valley.  The GC event is completely separate from ours, so please buy tickets on their website or at individual gardens on the tour: 

https://www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days/open-days-schedule/mendocino-county-ca-open-day-2

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Top 10 Reasons to Love Verbascums!

25 Jun

Do you grow Verbascums? If you haven’t yet, it’s totally understandable as you rarely see them in front yard gardens, you never see them in garden centers, they’re not sold by the branded plant companies, they don’t bloom in 4″ pots and are rarely sold in gallon containers. Under-recognized, they are often the unsung heroes of my gardens and one of the first plants I recommend to beginning gardeners as well as long-time gardeners.

In my opinion, everyone should grow Verbascums, common name “Mullein”, and here’s why!

1) They’re so EASY my dog could grow them.

AUGIE & Verbascum 2 NO HAT

If Augie Doggie can grow Verbascums – so can you!

You can grow most Verbascums anywhere – from sun to shade and they’re not fussy about soil. Growing in infertile soil to loamy, compost-rich soil, they’ll even grow in clay with no complaints. Deer don’t eat them, snails don’t eat them – they’re completely pest free.

2) They’re DROUGHT TOLERANT requiring little water once established.

3) They provide that often neglected but so important vertical accent to your garden. And some do it fast, blooming just a few months after planting.

4) They are LOVED by bees! Bumblebees, honeybees, you-name-it bees.

Verbascums are positively irresistible to bees of all stripes!

5) Verbascums self-sow! Not hideously but just the right amount to complete the garden. They just seem to know where to plant themselves to make your garden look more interesting and feel more garden-y. And hey, free plants! Now I know that some folks complain over self-sown volunteers. Here’s what I say: A: They’re a cinch to remove if you don’t want one in that spot and B: well, you’re already weeding your garden, right? What’s a few more volunteers?

Self-sown Verbascum nigrum ‘Album’ growing out of rock wall.

6) There are so many different varieties to choose from! There are perennials and biennials (biennials bloom the fastest – within a month or two here in California, like annuals). What’s so rewarding about the perennial Verbascums, especially here in long growing season California, is that they are “cut and come again” or repeat bloomers. After blooming for up to two months, you just cut the spent flower spikes down to the foliage and they’ll soon bounce right back with more gorgeous bloom spikes.

7) They never look bad. You’d really have to try hard to make them look bad.

8) They combine so well with so many – they look great in cottage gardens, rose gardens, understated gardens, drought tolerant and rock gardens.

8.5) Did I say they self-sow? If you love them as much as me, know that you’ll never have to do without the surprising charm they bring to your garden.

9) They’re medicinal and aha! You can smoke it! 

10) And my favorite thing about Verbascums is that when they bloom (and they bloom a lot), you feel so successful and happy with your garden, even though you’ve done nothing to maintain them!

Now, let’s highlight some of our favey-faves:

Verbascum nigrum ‘Album’ – This one’s perennial, living for many years, happy in sun or shade, creating a lovely, robust rosette to 30″ across and featuring felty, rich-green, spade shaped leaves. Not long after planting from 4″ size, they’ll begin to bloom with numerous erect spikes to 3′ tall or up to 4′ tall in shadier conditions. Densely studded spikes of creamy white 1″ blooms sport surprisingly flashy fuzzy bright caterpillar-like violet stamens ending in neon-orange anthers. Repeat bloomer! Hardy to USDA zone 5.

Verbascum chiaxii Album Habit ADJ CROP

Verbascum chiaxii album My garden 06-15 ADJ .jpg

Verbascum chiaxii ‘Wedding Candles’ – Much like V. nigrum ‘Album’ above, except that it creates these outrageous candelabras. May not live more than 2 years but self-sows reliably. Repeat bloomer! Hardy to USDA zone 5.

Verbascum chiaxii 16 candles my yard ADJ 06-15

Verbascum 16 candles - Ploygonum orientale & Brugmansia Charles 06-15 ADJ

Verbascum nigrum – Long-lived like the white variety V. nigrum ‘Album’, this one’s an especially pleasing bright primrose (not golden) yellow with the same cool violet and orange eyes. Repeat bloomer! Hardy to USDA zone 5.

verbascum_nigrum

Verbascum nigrum my Garden B 06-15 ADJ

Verbascum nigrum & JapananeseSilverleaf Sunflower OCT 13b ADJ

Verbascum ‘Southern Charm’ – Probably our most popular Verbascum because it comes in such sophisticated shades of chamois, dusty rose, soft primrose and apricot centered with fuzzy purple eyes. Grows from 2′ to 30″ tall, it’s almost ever-blooming if you cut spent spikes. Prefers sun to half-day sun here along the coast. Lives 1-2 years generally, but self-sows. Hardy to USDA zone 5.

Verbascum Southern Charm CLOSE PRETTY CROP

verbascum_southern_charm_rose1
Verbascum Southern Charm & Garden angle BEST ADJ & CROP

Verbascum olympicum – The grand marshal of Verbascum-land! You want drama, we got drama. This one grows up to 8-10′ tall with a positively immense candelabra of golden yellow spikes easily 3′ across. Huge foliar rosette of wavy, gray-green, felted foliage to 3′ or more across. Thrives in poor soil. Not a cut and come again Verbascum but blooms for months. Traffic stopper extraordinaire!


 VERBASCUM OLYMPICUM HABIT SHOPPED CROP

Verbascum olympicum FOLIAGE

Verbascum bombyciferum ‘Arctic Summer’ – Speaking of traffic stopping, this drop dead gorgeous Verbascum creates a basal rosette up to 5′ across with stunning large silvery leaves that are wavy-edged and coated in a soft down. Wonderfully tactile and a bold garden statement plant! Loads of branching spikes 3-5′ tall – up to 20 at a time – emerge blanketed in a snowy white fleece from which large bright yellow 1.5″ blooms appear. This one requires good drainage, best on the edge of a bed or in a container, and prefers (which means it will die without) very low water.

verbascum bombyciferum_close

Verbascum arctic sumer FOL ADJ & CROP

Wigandia & Verbascum 'Arctic Summer' CROP

Verbascum sp. ‘Cotswold King’ – Probably our second most popular Verbascum. Considered a biennial, it’s our fastest-to-bloom, flowering within a month to month and a half if planted in Spring or Summer, so really it acts as an annual here in California because it will die after blooming. But what bang for the buck! Growing quickly to 4-5′ tall, it has the largest and most amusing scented flowers. To 2″ across, bright lemon yellow and cartoon-like, they remind me of Yosemite Sam! Each plant bears up to 10 erect spikes and blooms for several months. You’ll be glad this one’s a reliable self-sower as it really brings a fun and cheerful quality to your garden.

Verbascum Cotswold CLOSE 04-11-14 ADJ jpg

Verbascum Cotswold ADJ

Papaver Orange Chiffon - Verbascum Cotswold & Delphinium HORIZ ADJ & CROP 05-15

So go forth my gardening friends and do try one of these good natured, effortless garden accents. They’ll tolerate neglect and give so much back. But ha, of course it’s me talking, so what will I say to make your Verbascums grow perfectly (all except for V. ‘Arctic Summer’)? Yes, compost! Side dress with a 1/2″ to 1″ of some good compost after planting and each Spring thereafter for extra robust growth and flowering. And yes, even if you’re planting them in a low-water garden.

Thanks for tuning in!

Annie

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Which Papaver Are You?

20 Feb

Here at Annie’s , we love our giant Papavers and we grow over 30 different varieties. Call us crazy, but we have a theory that there’s a Papaver for every personality and every garden!

Papaver ‘Drama Queen’

Papaver 'DRAMA QUEEN'

Crazy colorful and wild at heart, Papaver ‘Drama Queen’ isn’t afraid to say: “Don’t mess with me fellas! This isn’t my first time at the rodeo!” Beautiful, brazen and so far over-the-top, the garden falls into silence the minute one of its buds pops open. All of its Poppy friends hide their wire hangers when it comes over.

Papaver ‘Cupcake’

Papaver 'Cupcake'

So sweet and sunny and perfectly princess pink, pretty Papaver ‘Cupcake’ always sees the compost pile as half full. So dang upbeat, it’s infectious – it can even make people who hate pink spontaneously burst out into song.

Papaver ‘Venus’

Papaver 'Venus'

Like a gift from the Poppy gods, ‘Venus’ is a cross between a neo-classical goddess and a cheerleader on steroids. When it lifts its massive salmon-pink pom-poms skyward and shouts: “Give me a P!” the crowd goes wild. 

Papaver ‘Single Black’

Papaver 'Single Black'
Like Stevie Nicks in her witchy phase, Papaver ‘Single Black’ swirls around the garden in a cloak of deepest maroony-black petals. People rely on it to add a touch of danger and intrigue wherever it’s planted and it never disappoints. Naughty and nice planted with frothy white “Venus’ Navelwort” for maximum rock and roll!

Papaver ‘Falling in Love’

Romantic Papaver rhoeas 'Falling in Love'

Walking around with its head in the clouds, every day is Valentine’s Day for ‘Falling in Love’. Soft and bubbly, it loves surprises and rewards admirers with a loveable mix of bicolored pink and white, scarlet-orange, rose, pink or peach blooms. Sure, some of its less showy and more bitter garden rivals call it “Flailing in Love” but it doesn’t care. It knows life is too short to give your heart to just one suitor.

Papaver ‘Queen’s Poppy’

Papaver 'Queen's Poppy'

Do you like to wear capes? Do you keep your family jewels in a tower? Then most certainly ‘Queen’s Poppy’ is for you! Positively regal – and immense! – 5″ cherry pink blooms, conferred with a white Maltese cross at the base rise up and rule the garden in late Spring. Reseeds reliably so that successive generations can ascend the throne.

Check out all of the different varieties we grow! 

Watch a SLIDESHOW of all our favorite Poppies!

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Bestill our Hearts – Kate Frey at the Nursery!

30 Mar

NEWSFLASH!! The incredible Kate Frey is coming to speak at the nursery for our AMAZING SPRING PARTY on Saturday, April 9 at 11 am! Kate will be giving a presentation on “How to Create a Pollinator Paradise in your own Garden.” As pollinators the world over are struggling, we think this is an extremely important talk – you must come!

Once there was a princess in Cretan Greek mythology who was changed into a bee after she learned how to collect honey. Her name was Melissa.

Bee Goddess, Q. Cassetti, Trumansburg, New York, 2010, Mixed Media

Last year, Kate invited all of us at Annie’s to visit the thrilling “Melissa Garden” she created in Healdsburg, CA for “bee-stewards” Barbara and Jacques Schlumberger. The Melissa Garden was created as a bee sanctuary extraordinaire where hives are treated as living beings. The bees are raised in innovative hives under natural conditions and provided with an exuberant garden brimming with year-round nectary flowers. I don’t think anyone else has created a garden quite like this anywhere in the world. I highly encourage you to check out this enchanting world Kate has created. The garden is open once a month to the public. Do visit it yourself and be inspired as much as we were! (Or, if you live far away, you can watch the SLIDESHOW from our visit last July).

The Melissa Garden, Healdsburg, CA

I first met Kate in the mid-1990’s when I visited the organic gardens she designed at Fetzer Winery in Hopland. It was, simply, the most awesome garden I had ever seen. Awestruck and delighted, I felt giddy. The air was alive with butterflies and bees zooming around and each plant was a glorious, perfect specimen.

Kate and her garden was the goddess Melissa come to life!

Gorgeous black compost blanketed the ground – grapeseed compost from the winery, one of Kate’s fantastic secrets for extraordinary plant growth! I was an instant convert and started using it my own gardens with awesome success. We began offering it at the nursery and it now has a devoted following – all thanks to Kate!

I see Kate as a goddess, I really do. Not only that, she looks like a princess.

Princess Kate meets The Queen

Kate's Gold Medal Garden at The Chelsea Flower Show

Over the years, Kate has sprinkled her magic around the world. She has twice won the gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show and met the Queen! In 2009 she created a sustainable garden in the World Garden Competition in Hamamatsu, Japan. Her latest adventure is creating a sustainable and organic food garden in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Kate Frey!

Kate and Annie at the nursery

This is really a great opportunity to meet our wonderful Kate in person. Plus she’ll be sharing her favorite varieties to create your own Melissa Garden! How can you resist!

Visit Kate and her husband Ben’s BLOG to see more of their incredible gardens!

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