Winter begins in your own yard - early rains best time for planting California natives

Winter outdoors doesn't have to mean going any further than your own yard.

The start of winter rainy season is the best time to plant in California. Planted in the fall, plants survive more easily the shock of pot to soil. In the cool winter months, new plants can put out below-ground growth that will help vigorous spring growth.

Always plant, however, after the second soaking rain. The first soaking may be a trick followed by a long dry spell, but the second soaking will rarely dry out.

Consider planting California native plants, which are naturally adapted to the local soil and climate, thrive without amendments, fertilizers, or pesticides, look beautiful, and offer incomparable habitat value.

To begin a native-plant garden, start small with a few types of plants. Starting slowly allows the gardener to `get acquainted' with natives at an easy pace. Except for our riparian and high-elevation plants, most California native plants will tolerate the usual requirements for dry-loving garden plants. Sticky monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus, in the snapdragon family) has long, dark-green leaves and a cheerful orange flower that blooms from mid-spring to late summer. Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum, in the iris family), has delicate purplish-blue flowers with tiny yellow centers. These two combine easily in most garden settings. They are available year-round at the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood Recycling Center (HANC), at Arguello and Frederick in San Francisco, where the plants have been started from seed gathered and nurtured by Greg Gaar within San Francisco from native stock - truly native natives.

A larger project, for the more ambitious, is a hedge of native plants, maturing intertwinedly into a living fence and great wildlife resource.

Many native bushes can combine. For beginners we suggest a backbone of California lilac (Ceanothus). Our San Bruno Mountain used to be called `Blue Mountain' because of the Ceanothus blooming there each spring. Ceanothus is found widely in commercial nurseries around the Bay Area (in San Francisco try Sloat Garden and Floor Craft Nursery) in a vast array of growth types from small trees to low groundcovers, and with blossoms ranging from dark blue to white. Purchase 6 - 10 plants for 25 feet.

Now add accents of color and texture. For a grayish-white, feathery effect, with fabulous scent, add California sagebrush (Artemesia californica), also found at the HANC nursery. Another choice is coyote brush (Baccharis pulularis, upright variety) with its shiny, dark green leaves and its softly golden blooms in the very late fall or early winter. Coastal-chaparral plants can also be used - coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica) and toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), both dark and shiny-leafed - coffeeberry with black berries and toyon with red ones. You can sometimes find these plants (and the Ribes below) at Yerba Buena Nursery on the Peninsula and at Cal Flora, just north of Santa Rosa. Other sources are the monthly sales at the Strybing Arboretum and the annual sale of the Yerba Buena Chapter of the California Native Plant Society.

A hedgerow should also have thickness and density. To achieve this we suggest adding the local California current Ribes sanguineum glutinosum, a wonderful deciduous shrub that blooms in early spring with lovely dangling clusters of bright-pink blossoms (available at HANC). It is quite adaptable and will tolerate both water and shade. The turning leaves in the fall are reminders of the seasonal change, with the leaf drop creating natural mulch for the hedgerow.

Arrange the plants snugly, intermixing different species. A usual recommendation for shrubs is about five feet apart, but for a hedge even 10 inches apart can be tolerated. Later, judicious trimming can increase the intertwining effect - but some natives, Ceanothus in particular, do not take to extensive shaping or trimming.

Ground preparation is very easy. Merely pull out existing plants - usually exotic grasses whose roots remind us why grassroots means what it does - and plant your specimens without soil additives, carefully teasing apart the roots a bit before placing them in the ground. (The Ceonothus, however, is again determined to be different - do not disturb its root ball.)

One either digs the usual hole in the ground or with a spade makes a V-wedge, carefully inserting the plant into the space. The latter technique maintains the natural layers of the soil. A long spade makes the best wedge, but this is not a common garden tool.

The first watering can be with diluted vitamin B1, available at most commercial nurseries, to protect from root shock. Thereafter, the rains should keep the plants happy. If we do have a long dry stretch in the winter, water once a week. Through the dry portions of next summer, again water once a week, with less water on the Ceanothus than the others. Within a year or two, native plants will grow by themselves, fuss-free, with little or no further watering.

Two web sites list the main nurseries and local groups that sell native plants:

www.marin.cc.ca.us/cnps/gardens.html
www.cnps-yerbabuena.org/gardening.html

A new on-line nursery can be found at www.baynatives.com

Cal Flora has a sale every fall, but usually doesn't announce it until a week or two before the sale. For more information, check its web site

Local chapters of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) sponsor native-plant sales in the fall. At these sales one can choose from scores of hard-to-find species, from deergrass and monkeyflower to redbud and blue-eyed grass, from orchids and lilies to sedums and buckwheats. One can also speak with seasoned gardeners about un-thirsty alternatives to a lawn, including native perennials, shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses. Plants are tagged and lovingly nurtured from local stock. Sales usually include posters and books explaining the whys and wherefores of native plants.

This year's fall CNPS sale dates are:
East Bay Chapter - Sat. - Sun., Oct. 28 - 29,
(510) 496-6016 or www.ebcnps.org/Plant_Sale.htm

San Francisco Chapter - Thu., Nov. 2,
(415) 668-3126 or www.cnps-yerbabuena.org/gardening.html

Pinky Kushner