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Now is the time to start planning your gardening for the coming year, and your DKY CNPS chapter is here to
help! We have a wonderful selection of plants for the Annual Plant Sales. The Chapter needs your help in getting
ready for the sales, though.
(1) Help make new informational signs: Our plan is to create new informational signs for each species and to
put them in nice new (and sturdy) holders. We will follow a standard template for the information, and would like to
have some good new photographs. Much of the information and many photographs will be available on the internet.
We want the information to be sufficient to help prospective buyers to decide whether this species will fit their needs;
and we‘d like the information to be engaging enough to excite prospective buyers about the opportunity to grow the
plant. Call or email Nancy Morin (882-2528, nancy.morin@nau.edu) if you are willing to help with this task.
(2) Make plant labels: We would like to have the individual plant labels all made in advance and placed in the
pots before we set up. Labels, pens or pencils, and a list with names of plants and how many of each label are
needed, will be provided. Call or email Mario Abreu ((964-4352, abreu@mcn.org) if you are willing to help with this
task.
(3) Set up, take down, or help during the day: Staffing the sale is a lot of fun—you get to meet old and new
friends and spend all day talking about plants. If you are willing to help, call or email Mary Hunter (875-1150,
dardmary@wildblue.net).
Many native plants will survive on a low water regimen, yet look better
with some water. Others stay looking good with remarkably little water.
Here‘s how some of them did at my place, one mile from the ocean, in
late August. Mind you, this is with no water (other than fog drip) for at
least three months:
A low Manzanita, Arctostaphylos nummularia ‗Bear Belly‘, Baccharis
pilularis prostrate form, and Ceanothus gloriosus look good all summer
without water. Coast buckwheat, Eriogonum latifolium, and golden
yarrow, Eriophyllum staechadifolium, can hardly be described as green,
being more of the fuzzy gray persuasion, but they also looked good.
In part shade, the grass-like sedges, Carex species, yerba buena,
Satureja douglasii, and woodland strawberry, Fragaria vesca, were bright
green with irrigation every two weeks.
Seaside daisy, Erigeron glaucus, and the gum plant, Grindelia stricta,
looked fairly good, but would look lusher with a bit of water. The gum plants
growing next to low, spreading shrubs looked greener than those growing in
isolation.
It really can make a difference to plants if they have their roots shaded.
Massing plants and putting taller perennials in with spreading plants can help
all the plants to look their best. Mulch can help, as can watering early in the
morning or in the cool evening.
Well-established native shrubs can stay fresh-looking in summer even in
hotter inland areas if their roots are protected from the sun‘s heat. Well
placed boulders and garden art can also help. If growing natives in Both photos Grindelia stricta,
containers for the long term, it‘s best to use large, deep planters. With a deep Manchester, photos by N. Morin
root run for the plants, they will stay lush and healthy, and you need not water
every day.
August was a difficult month for me, but small gifts come to us in unexpected ways. One day I
got a call from a woman who wanted to grow phacelias to attract bumblebees. We talked about
Phacelia californica, a coast perennial with gray-green leaves and clusters of tiny flowers in either
white or lavender. We discussed Phacelia bolanderi, a perennial from woodland edges, having
larger, lavender-blue single flowers.
We also talked about bumblebees, and she told me this story. Her daughter,
who learned to talk when she was not yet two, had something to say about
bumblebees. Her mother found her with two bumblebees cradled in a carefully
closed, tiny hand.
When her mom expressed concern that the bees might sting, the little girl said,
―They won‘t sting because they‘re tired bumblebees.‖ Sure enough, when she
opened her hand, the two bees crawled out very slowly.
Years later, that mother read Bumblebee Economics by Bernd Heinrich, who has
written so beautifully about ravens. She learned that bumblebees can indeed
become tired if they have expended too much energy and had too little to eat. The
worker bees also die off in autumn, and while in decline they certainly appear to be
tired. The child had observed bumblebee behavior and knew that they sometimes
get tired.
Wasn‘t that story a wonderful gift? So my message to you is this: Cherish life‘s
small joys; read Bumblebee Economics; plant some phacelias.
Baccharis pilularis, coyotebrush, is also coming into bloom. This plant is one of the most widespread shrubs along
the coast. Many species of invertebrate live on it, and these attract birds. It is deer-resistant and fire-resistant. Our
prostrate coastal variety forms tidy mounds. It will be available at the Plant Sales.
Transitions
We regret to report that three chapter members have relocated to other parts of the state. Roz Bray, a weed
warrior who coordinated regular pampas grass bashes on The Sea Ranch, has returned to the San Francisco
Peninsula. Elaine Mahaffey, stellar field trip leader and
author/illustrator of Wildflowers of The Sea Ranch, has moved to the
coastal belt of Humboldt County, where she will be able to spend
more time with her daughter‘s family.
Peter Warner, that consummate California plantsman and
ecologist, has moved back to Sonoma County and is currently
residing in Sebastopol. These folks have all moved to areas with
outstanding CNPS Chapters, so we hope they will continue to stay
involved. Mimulus moschatus, Manchester, photo N. Morin
5 September October ‗09
DKY Lighthouse Day a Success
Thanks to the DKY Chapter members who met at the
Point Cabrillo Lighthouse in the morning and the Point
Arena Lighthouse in the afternoon on August 8 to
remove weeds. Mario Abreu and Art Morley hauled out
7 32-gallon bags of Cape ivy from the gulch north of the
Point Cabrillo Lighthouse.
Mario, Nancy Morin, Lori Hubbart, and Mary Hunter
spent a wonderful, clear afternoon gathering bags 22
32-gallon bags of iceplant from the bluff west of the
Point Arena Lighthouse.
Trees Bulbs
Abies grandis grand fir Brodiaea elegans harvest brodiaea
Pseudotsuga douglasii Douglas-fir Brodiaea pallida
Sequoia sempervirens coast redwood Brodiaea purdyi
Tsuga heterophylla western hemlock Calochortus uniflorus
Ferns Dichelostemma ida-maia firecracker
Blechnum spicant deer fern brodiaea
Polystichum munitum sword fern Triteleia hyacinthina white triteleia
Woodwardia fimbriata giant chain fern Triteleia laxa Ithuriel‘s spear
Zigadenus fremontii star lily
(continued on p. 7)