Re: No Summer Water

This week I was in San Diego and went to Quail Botanic Gardens for the first time--I know, I have no excuse!

There is a boardwalk that leads to a lookout tower with natives all around. It smells great and I appreciate the beauty of the natural landscape (one that makes me a little homesick). What a contrast to the homes you can see in the distance that are popping up all around. Thirsty lawns boarder them on all sides. I asked my friend why they aren't leaving the natives? She explained everyone is afraid of fire.

Is it too much to do controlled burns? I lived in Davis where burns happened in the summer.

I may be changing the subject, but for all those out there in southern California, is this what everyone is thinking out there?

Cheers!
Bridget
Seattle, WA

On Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 12:10 PM, N Sterman <T*@plantsoup.com> wrote:
Wow, Diane, your list goes to show the difference in overall precipitation between north and south.  I am an hour north of the Mexican border and I've never been able to keep Lobelia tupa going in my garden - it is just too dry.

Several of the plants you list I don't grow at all but and some others you have in flower now are dormant or heading into dormancy in my garden:

Lithodora,

Acanthus spinosus,
Allium flavum
Eschscholzia californica,


Nan



On Jul 26, 2008, at 11:06 AM, Diane Whitehead wrote:

I have a couple of areas that receive no summer water. Usually they start the summer with soil damp from winter and spring rain, but this spring was drier than usual and a few plants that usually look fine look dead.

Shrivelled or totally dry leaves:
Thymus Spicy Orange,
Helleborus x hybridus,
Paeonia mascula, P. caucasica,
Salvia arizonicus

Leaves looking good:
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi,
Brachyglottis greyi,
several Cistus,
Lithodora,
Euphorbia characias,
Teucrium fruticans

In flower now, looking good:
Acanthus spinosus,
Allium flavum,
Castilleja,
Epilobium (fireweed),
Erysimum 'Bowles Mauve',
Eschscholzia californica,
Grindelia (a seashore local native with intricate gummy buds and bright yellow daisy flowers ),
several lavenders,
Lobelia tupa - (much smaller than it is when watered),
Lotus corniculatus ( also naturalized along our highways),
Lychnis coronaria,
Malva moschata,
Pelargonium quercifolium ( a hardy South African),
several penstemons,
Spartium junceum,
Stachys byzantina
Verbascum dumulosum

one self-sown snapdragon is looking great, but a second one is not.

Diane Whitehead
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
maritime zone 8, cool Mediterranean climate
mild rainy winters, mild dry summers




Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index