One of the great joys of spring is looking out the window, and seeing all the creatures that admire your garden as much as you do. Birds, bees, butterflies, bats, and beneficial beetles are all happily snacking, and, incidentally, pollinating the plants in the yard.
Our May 17th plant sale is a great place to look for some terrific pollinator friendly plants, that range from the rare and exotic to the local and super effective. Among them, here are some intriguing choices:
For an all round great garden plant, try the Nemesias...
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| The flowers that bloom in the spring, tra la! |
Pictured above is one of the best options for springtime pastels. Nemesias have it all - sun-loving, fragrant, bloom-crazy, and frost tolerant; they are a wonder plant that looks spectacular in a garden bed or in a container. We have a good selection in several colors, including the very hard to find Spring Pastels variety - it comes in shades of pink and lavender and the blooms are slightly bigger and longer-lasting than other Nemesias.
We have a range of plants from near and far....
From relatively nearby, we have Stachys coccinea (aka Texas betony) which has bright red tubular flowers that are excellent for attracting hummingbirds.
From 'way down under', we've got a very pretty Aussie shrub, Prostanthera ovalifolia "Variegata" (aka Variegated Mint Bush), which is attractive to bees, butterflies and birds; it grows about 4' tall and has leaves that are as pretty as its fragrant violet/lavender blooms.
From the Canary Islands, our fearless propagator, Norma, has one of her favorites to suggest - Echium gentianoides. This lovely perennial has true blue flowers and blooms year after year. It is beloved by bees and hummingbirds. Native only to the rocky slopes of La Caldera de Taburiente on the island of La Palma, it is a very rare gem; endangered in the wild,it is rarely seen in cultivation.
And, from Chile.....
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The gorgeous Chilean monkey-flower
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...we have the utterly beautiful Chilean monkey-flower pictured above. We were able to get a limited supply of this exquisite flower. The pink-blush blossoms have a creamy white and yellow throat and are generously dappled with magenta. The flowers are about twice the size of our state's native monkey-flowers, to which they are related. Like all plants in this family, you can cut them back at any time to renew growth and bloom. They are winter dormant.
Or, you could stay home and go native....
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| For a bee, this foothill clover would be a lovely place to land. |
The native clovers - trifolium ciliolatum (foothill clover), furcatum (bull clover) and wildenovi (tom cat clover) make great bee landing pads. The seeds and leaves of Trifolium ciliolatum, aka foothill clover, were used to as a food source by Natives Americans; a wide variety of native bees love them too.
Some studies indicate that California native plants may be the most effective food sources for our local bees - and, of course, that's likely true for the other pollinators as well. Our salvias (white sage, Dara's Choice, Cleveland, Sonoma etc) have great habitat value, as do our ribes, mimulus (native monkey-flowers), and foothill penstemons.
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Would You Like to Learn more about Pollinator Friendly Plants? Come to our plant talk at 10:00 am.
We are very honored to have plant expert extraordinaire, Kathy Echols, giving a talk about which plants are particularly well suited to stuffing your garden with visiting butterflies, birds, and other beneficial wildlife. Born and raised right here in Walnut Creek, Ms. Echols is an internationally recognized plant breeder and propagator. Bring plenty of questions!
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Be sure to also check out Stan Morgan's
wonderful irises ...
Tis Bloom Season& the End for the Iris. Our Iris blooms have come and gone. So Sad ... But, truly it's an ill wind that doesn't blow somebody some good. ... And this time, it's your good fortune. Stan has potted inventory and will be having a clearance sale at the Saturday, May 17th sale. He offers only registered cultivars. All of these distinguished irises have pedigrees, a few going back as far as the 18th century, and one that was being used in the perfume industry before 1500 AD. Some of them are also prize winners, so if you see a pot wearing ribbons, they were earned in regional competitions. For example, the dwarf 'Grape Orbit' from 1984 would be gorgeous in your rock garden..
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Grape Orbit
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