Do You Know Your Plant Community?

Living here on the Central Coast is truly an adventure in paradise: clear blue skies, beautiful grassy hills and oak-studded valleys, and an incredibly mild climate that is the envy of the rest of the country. 

Visitors often marvel at the variety of plants we can grow here… from citrus to cactus, roses to redwoods, and orchids to oaks. Although we may like to gloat about the vast variety of exotic flowers, tropical shrubs and swaying palm trees growing around town and available at many of our local nurseries, they may not be the best choice for home planting. 

In fact, learning about your particular micro-climate and the plants that have thrived there for centuries, can really help inform your choices. 

Your yard may not resemble Hawaii (where they experience an average annual rainfall between 85-200 inches), but it can still be a colorful and inviting landscape. No matter what your style is: container, cottage, naturalistic, formal, or a combination, there are sustainable strategies for all of them.

Our distinctive Mediterranean climate is only found in five areas of the world: southern and southwestern Australia, central Chile, the western cape of South Africa, around the Mediterranean Basin, and along the coast of California. 

Characterized by dry, warm summers and cool, moist winters, plants that grow in these environments have adapted to survive by conserving energy during the long hot months and then springing to life after winter rains. 

Some grow on rocky slopes, others prefer sandy bluffs or the gnarly chaparral. No matter where they grow, they support an extended family of insects, birds, reptiles and mammals, and provide the substantial (and vital) base of nature’s food chain.

Communities and Neighborhoods

Learning about the unique California plant community where you live will make your landscaping plans more successful, and time spent in the garden more enjoyable. 

In nature, groups of plants that have adapted to a similar environmental conditions are known as a “community.” On the central coast, the most prevalent communities are mixed chaparral, oak woodland, and coastal sage scrub. Characterized by tough small leaves and hard stems, many of these plants are adapted to fire and some even need fire to break open seed coats, or can regrow from burned stumps.

Majestic and ancient Valley oaks, with their elephant-skin bark and lichen-draped branches, remind us of the Native Americans who made this region their home for thousands of years and relied on acorns as the staple of their diets. 

They found uses for nearly everything that grew around them: clothes, shelter, tools, medicine and food. We always encourage gardeners to learn about the local “ethnobotany” of their area—it’s a fascinating window into our “roots” that can help inform our future choices.

Planning for the Future

Although many of our natural areas have been grazed by livestock, converted to agriculture, or paved for roads and cities, there are still examples out there to inspire any home gardener to blur the lines between their yard and the natural landscape. 

Nurseries and growers are working to create a diverse palette of plants adapted for our area. For example, grasses are no longer just for lawns. Beautiful native wild ryes, fescues and deer grass are becoming popular in the thoughtfully designed low-water landscape and capture the late afternoon sun and breezes with their movement, texture and colors. 

Add in some local sandstone boulders and fragrant sage plants, and you are on your way!

With the reality of climate change and low rainfall, now is the perfect time to re-think the “traditional” garden design and plant choices. 

Changes don’t have to be radical: maybe choose a “wild rose” (Rosa californica) instead of a tea rose, or plant a Santa Cruz Island ironwood tree with their showy ivory and rust colored flower heads and shredding grey and red bark. (Did you know that they are official tree of Santa Barbara County? )

 A selection of native and low-water plants are now available at local nurseries such as Windmill Nursery in Buellton, with fall being the optimal planting season. The Garden Growers Nursery at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Manzanita Nursery in Buellton, and Las Pilitas Nursery in Santa Margarita sell primarily natives and are open to the public. Additionally, several excellent wholesale nurseries such as Native Sons in Arroyo Grande, provide a wide variety of natives to the retail trade, and plants can also be special ordered.

We all have a need to connect and grow with nature: from an herb garden on a balcony to planting an oak tree for future generations to enjoy. Whether you want to create a place for kids and dogs to play and explore, for entertaining friends, to enjoy a quiet respite, or attract more birds and butterflies, understanding and using the clues from your local plant communities are the key to success. Now grab your hat and gloves, and happy gardening! 

Summertime favorite: Wild Rose (Rosa californica) growing near the Santa Ynez Botanic Garden in Buellton

Gotta Love Hummingbird Sage!!

Have you ever forgotten to refill the hummingbird feeder and then realized you were completely out of food? All the while you watch the hummers darting around the yard seeking that elusive red syrup in their frantic panic dance? What a relief to know that those precious zippy little birds can be attracted to your yard with ease simply by planting a few of their favorite nectar plants!

Hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea) is a local favorite for our little feathered friends, growing naturally throughout the central coast in the oak woodlands and chaparral, and usually found in the dry shade of oak trees or tucked into shady glens. As the name implies, the hummingbirds love the striking red flower stalks with individual tiered whorls of tubular blooms…one of the hallmarks of the salvia and sage families. The blooms are covered with a sticky resin that helps makes it one of the most fragrant sages around, and children love to inspect them up close to see those tiny resin beads, feel their velvety softness, and inhale that rich aroma.

Hummingbird sage makes a striking ground cover and tends to spread for a nice addition to a meadow garden, and needs just a little summer water to keep it looking good. Cut spent flower stalks back and these semievergreen herbaceous perennials will come back next season. It does better with partial shade and can tolerate oak liter under the trees. 

Here on the central coast, we enjoy the year-round resident Anna’s hummingbird with that brilliant rose-red head and throat on the males, but we also can be visited by Allen’s hummers during their fall migrations to Mexico. The amazing Rufous breeds all the way up in the Pacific northwest and elusive Calliope hummingbird is the smallest bird in North American at only 31/2 inches! It’s challenging to identify which hummers are visiting your yard, but a good pair of field binoculars can really help.

Bring on the Red

If you have observed hummers in your yard, you have no doubt noticed how they are perfectly designed for tubular flowers: those long, thin needle-like beaks help them sip up some drops of nectar at the bloom’s base, and they may even get a dusting of pollen on their heads in the process. Zipping from flower to flower, they then deposit the pollen as they feed and provide valuable pollination services for the plants. Although they visit a variety of plants, those with red and orange flowers seem to catch their attention most often, perhaps because bees do not recognize red flowers easily. They also grab tiny insects and spiders as they feed, so be careful not to use insecticides on nectar plants. 

In addition to sages, there are plenty of other choices for the home gardener interested in attracting hummingbirds. A year-round source of blossoms on ground covers, annuals, shrubs and trees all contribute to the hummer’s diet. And as an added bonus: these same flowers also attract butterflies and beneficial insects to your garden. Complete your hummingbird habitat haven with a consistent water source and you are all set to toss those empty hanging feeders. By planting a variety of Salvia and Penstemon species, you will provide natural hummingbird food as well as have beautiful, water-wise plants in your garden to enjoy all summer.

Here are some additional perennial hummer favorites:

Heuchera, coral bells

Mimulus cardinalis, scarlet monkey flower

Zauschneria (Epilobium), California fuchsia

Ribes, current, gooseberry

So next time you find yourself out of feeder food, plant some Hummingbird sage and companion plants instead and watch hummingbirds flock to your yard. All the plants mentioned can be purchased at local and native plant nurseries. And next time you go for a hike or drive, keep your eye out for patches of wild sage in the foothills for a real treat!