[ad_1]
Question: I want to grow more native plants for a habitat garden. Can you suggest five natives that are easy to breed?
Answer: First of all, we are pleased that you are interested in native plants for your home garden! Locals are kind, sustainable and ideal for creating living space and increasing the biodiversity of your home garden. They provide food and shelter for many native California creatures, including bees, reptiles, birds, caterpillars, butterflies, and dragonflies.
Here are a few things to consider when choosing native plants for a habitat garden:
- Look for plants that provide food for wildlife in the form of pollen, nectar, and fruits.
- Choose from a variety of flower sizes and shapes to suit different eating habits. For example, hummingbirds and butterflies both access nectar, but in different ways.
- Choose from several native plant species so that they can bloom all year round.
- Plant two or more of the same plants close together. Mass plantings create greater visual impact and are also better suited to attracting pollinators.
- Choose plants of various heights, from ground covers to flowering plants, shrubs, and trees.
Here we focus on native plants that have low water consumption, require minimal maintenance, and add beauty to your landscape. Given Sonoma County’s many microclimates, from cool coastal climates to warmer inland areas, be sure to plant locals that will thrive in the microclimate you live in.
All of the following plants survive our dry summers and rainy winters, grow in full sun or partial shade, and thrive in a variety of soil types. These five are especially good for the Santa Rosa area.
- Pink flowering currant or blood currant (Ribes sangineum var. Glutinosum): The genus Ribes includes currants and gooseberries, with many species being native to California. This fast-growing, medium-sized shrub displays fragrant pink flowers from January to March and provides food for early native pollinators. It later forms berries that ripen in late summer and autumn and provide food for birds and other habitat dwellers. This deciduous shrub works best when given some shade from the hot afternoon sun and can reach 8 to 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide over six years of growth.
- Silver bush lupins (Lupinus albifrons): This woody evergreen perennial provides food for many pollinators and other insects. Striking purple-blue flower tips appear in spring over silvery-green vegetation. This native requires little maintenance, grows 3 to 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide in some seasons, and can have a long life in your garden under favorable conditions. Voluntary seedlings often emerge in later years and add to the beautiful presentation.
- Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia): This evergreen shrub native to Sonoma County produces a cluster of small white flowers followed by bright red fruits in late spring and early summer. Mockingbirds and cedar waxwings eat this fruit during the winter months when the berries ripen. The dense growth of two or three toys creates an attractive hedge or privacy screen. A single Toyon shrub can grow up to 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide, so plan accordingly.
- Naked Buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum): There are dozens of native California buckwheat species; most are excellent garden supplements that aid pollinators and butterflies. The nudum species is named after the tall, leafless, multi-branched stems that are held high above the low-growing gray-green vegetation. In summer, white or pinkish-white flowers appear, which take on a rust-red color with increasing summer. Often times it produces seeds to secure future plants. If you prefer yellow flowers, look for the ‘Ella Nelson’s Yellow’ variety.
- Californian fuchsia (Epilobium canum): This low-growing perennial with orange-red tubular flowers makes a great ground cover. Many varieties are less than 18 inches tall, are distributed via underground rhizomes, and are easy to propagate. Although they are drought tolerant even in the driest summers, a little drip irrigation allows for more vigorous flowering and keeps the vegetation visually appealing. There may not be a better native plant choice for a hummingbird garden. This native often begins to bloom in July and continues through early fall with some blooms.
You can find these native plants and many others at nurseries that specialize in Native California.
Remember that all of the creatures you move into your habitat garden will need water. Providing a convenient source of water, such as B. a bird bath with a solar-powered fountain is an inexpensive and easy solution.
Finally have patience! Many locals grow slowly and mature over a period of years.
For more information on native plants, visit the Sonoma County Master Gardener website: bit.ly/3t8g4TL.
[ad_2]
