Re: Re. Re. Olive understory

Ben,
I would say that the amount of natives in gardens really depends on how your area was developed.  Here in the San Francisco East Bay, the native Oak woodlands are still very much a part of the landscape, and readily volunteer in gardens and will certainly take over to become the climax plant community if left undisturbed.  Other natives that are much seen in my own neighborhood include Toyon/Heteromeles arbutifolia, Iris douglasiana, Ribes sanguineum, Polystichum munitum, Coast Redwood, etc, etc.  All of these are actually locally native here in Berkeley.

As to whether local natives or introduced exotics are better for wildlife?  You need to remember that birds along the Pacific Flyway travel the length of North, South and Central America, and many of the plants in our gardens that come from Mexico and Central/South America would already be familiar and favored food sources for many of these birds.  Hummingbirds are probably particularly appreciate of our more diverse garden plantings, as they extend the range of nectar bearing flowers available to them in mid to late summer, and also into winter, when our locally available native offerings may be dormant or not able to flower due to their environmental cues of colder weather.  I feel it is more important to safeguard remaining wild habitat, than slavishly try to replicate it in our own gardens, which is ultimately impossible to really do in a way that substitutes for preserved habitat.  While I have nothing against all native gardens, gardens that
 combine natives with exotics can be just as favorable for birds and insects.

I feel in good company with fellow landscape designers such as Roger Raiche in this attitude, who once was in charge of the California natives section at the UC Berkeley Botanic Garden, and who would not be without exotics as part of his garden designs for Planet Horticulture, but also takes great pride in having helped preserve wild lands such as The Cedars, which he owns up in Sonoma County.


--- On Wed, 2/18/09, Ben Wiswall <benwiswall@pacbell.net> wrote:

> From: Ben Wiswall <benwiswall@pacbell.net>
> Subject: Re. Re. Olive understory
> To: "medit plants forum" <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
> Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 6:29 PM
> Hey all,
> 
> Thanks for all the good responses!  Karrie, that columbine
> is beautiful: I'll see if Theodore Payne has seeds of
> it. And Sylvia, I actually thought about Camellia sasanquas
> as an understory for the olives, so I don't think its
> too weird a combination.
> 
> I do want to include more California natives in our garden,
> though.  It's not so much for their aesthetic value as
> for their value to wildlife, in particular to songbirds, but
> also in feeding insects which songbirds eat. And lizards,
> mammals, etc., as well.  (The rabbits need no encouragement,
> they're busy eating the lawn). 
>  
> Today is my day off, and so I visited the Rancho Santa Ana
> Botanic Garden for ideas.  The best groundcovers for
> evergreen shade I saw were Fragaria, Heuchera hybrids, Iris
> douglasiana hybrids, Salvia spathacea, and Ribes
> viburnifolium.  I may plant a mix of them and let the best
> plant win.
> Jan, I hear your advice about planting now before the
> olives' roots make it impossible to establish anything! 
> I'd better get busy!
> 
> To those of you in far-flung med. climate countries: is
> there a push for more native plants for wildlife?  Here in
> California it's a growing movement, partly I think
> because for some reason conventional landscapes are almost
> completely devoid of plants native to the state.  This
> wasn't the case back in New York, where most suburban
> gardens have lots of native trees- Flowering Dogwood,
> American Holly, Rhododendron, not to mention shade trees and
> conifers- so although native plants were a topic, they
> weren't a really hot topic.  
> 
> The Med. Basin is an important flyway for numerous birds:
> is there concern among gardeners to make their trip a bit
> easier?
> 
> What's the news on the topic down under?
> 
> Thanks again, 
> -Ben Armentrout-Wiswall
> 
> PS  One area I'm perfectly happy to go non-native is
> with bulbs: Narcissus tazetta and Tulipa clusiana are lovely
> under the olives, and I think I'll try Amaryllis and
> Lycoris as well, maybe some Zephyranthes too.
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