Propagating CA Natives.

I spent the day going along the Pozo Road and then out by Carizzo Natitional Monument/Soda Lake and then back CAHwy 166. Looking at all the plants, I realized how few had made it into the nurseries. The big stuff is there, but all the little guys that provide texture and fill in the holes are just not there. Most of them are annuals or very smallish perennials, so they do not make economic sense for the nurseries to propagate or buyers to spend 8 bucks on. So, I guess if you want an authentic looking garden you need to gather and propagate your own seed. I made a start. There was this wonderful looking annual salvia that had set seed. I will have pictures on Thursday, since I am still doing it the old-fashioned way. Several different ericamerias were there, but I already had both of them. A couple of small gray shrubs had set seed as well. Did not know their names so it will be interesting to try to propagate. I suspect that the seed probably needs to ripen more, mebbe until the rainy season. There are thousands of plants out there just waiting to be propagated and that is without even doing any cuttings. Ah for the mist bench.

I was at my friends house yesterday and she has LOTS of California Poppies blooming in her yard...and i have none in my area just a few miles from her...so she did a "seed raid" for me...now...when do I plant them?

I have tried moving some native plants only to find they don't survive...right now I am happy to see two clumps of purple wild verbena growing in one secion of my yard...how do I get seeds?? Jo

Chuck, you continue to amaze me with your knowledge of native plants. I lose track of what I bought, much less recognizing the different salvias growing wild!

Speaking of propagating, I have a black sage (S. mellifera) I keep checking to see if the seeds are ready -- it looks awful and I'm dying to cut it back. The dried buds crumble but I don't see anything that looks like seed. Any advice?

Pretty early yet, most of them are still just blooming. I am very new to this whole seed thing, but S. apiana seeds are not very big so I suspect the S. mellifera aren't either. S. apiana was not a very good germinator, less than 50%, so I would sow pretty heavily or do the filter paper routine. The books I have read indicate no special treatment, but I wonder if the seed needs to set a spell before planting, ripening so to speak. Just a guess, but it would make sense. I have been trying to propagate this small Aussie sub-shrub that failed the first time, so this time I tried a half a dozen different ways to what might work. I am wondering if the ZA smoke primer will work on CA natives that are hard to propagate. J.L. Hudson is a big advocate of GA 3 (gibberellic acid). I got some of his seeds that were already soaked. So we shall see. I am headed toward a mist bench and cuttings for the ceanothus and manzanitas, but that is later. I am over my head in seeds right now and the end product is starting to fill up my driveway.

Chuck, honey....the only thing I recognized in that post was "manzanita"....LOL

I am one dumb old lady when it comes to the latin names.

Thanks though...and when I see you at the RU
you can draw me a picture! LOL Jo

Very few natives will survive transplanting from the wild. They start with a big tap root to get to water. Once you cut that you wipe out most of their ability to get water in the short-term. Then they are just like a cutting and need to be treated as such. You are better off trying to find them in the nurseries or buying the seed, if you are into that. Best time to plant truly is in the fall just before the rainy season. The water-borne molds are not growing because it is too cold, the weather is cooler so there is less stress on the plants, the rains and cool weather cause CA natives to start growing, unlike natives in states with summer rainfall. So, if you want to have success with California natives, plant them in the fall, pick easy ones to start with, provide them with excellent drainage, give them summer water the first year at least and then watch the plant, it will tell you when it needs water. Generally cultivars of ceanothus and manzanita are much easier to grow in the garden than the species as they can better handle the summer water. Las Pilitas is a great source of information on most of the CA natives, most of which they do not grow. Just going to Yahoo search and typing in the name will usually get you a wealth of information. Dave's Garden has some and is getting more.

Fremontia is a heart-breaker for most people, it blooms like crazy for three or four years if you are lucky then it croaks. The usual cause is too much summer water. With decent soil it can get by without much of any. When you go by Ted's Place (Theodore Payne's) they do not water at all during the summer and it shows. I do think you have to go that far. You can give most of them some water, in some cases quite a bit, and they will not look so scraggly.

Pruning and cutting back the dead stuff really helps the appearance of most natives and can stimulate growth. Just think of it as doing the job the browsers (deer not computer programs) can not do. Start with pruning only the green branches to see how the plant handles it. Then, if you want, try a woodier branch and see what happens. Plants like ceanothus and toyon can handle lots of pruning and can be pruned to tree form or to shrub form depending on what you want. Some people believe that the toyon with bloom better and set more fruit with more pruning. I want mine to grow tall and act as a screen so I have not pruned them much.

I have some seeds of the Prickley Poppy....which I love...and they grow right up the road from me...but it seem this little pocket I live in doesn't get any of the lovely wild flowers!!

I do have an abundance of Mesquite...and someone just told me that I should trim it a certain way to make it grow taller...I try to clip all the little brances off that will touch my head when I walk around them!!

BTW...I am from WV, Va and FL...so all this new stuff in the west is new to me!! I love cactus and am trying to get a little bit of many types.

Thanks for the info! Jo

Prickly poppies or prickly phlox? I saw a lot of California prickly phlox over the weekend, but none of it had set much seed and none of it was ripe. Looks like I need to go back in a few weeks. Prickly poppies I am not familiar with, do you know their scientific name? Is it Argemone? Just checked with the plant files.

WE tend to call them "Cowboy Fried Eggs"....nice, big white flower with a yellow center..."sunny side up" Jo

I looked at my list of plants and see that I do have one, Argemone corymbosa. It is still in a container waiting to be planted. Got it last year at Tree of Life Nursery.

Trichostema lanatum (Wooly Blue Curls) was a very prominent plant on my little trip. I have attempted to grow this many times without much success. There are three or four out there with a couple looking like they might make it this time.