Plant of the Week: Farewell To Spring

Around February, my garden came under attack from little sprouts of Clarkia amoena.  Soon enough, a jungle of massive Clarkia plants created a new topography, towering over the Eriogonum grande rubescens, hiding the Dudleya hassei flowers and hey, wasn't there a Manzanita somewhere over there? 

The almost neon flowers stun passersby, except the new populations of bees busily darting about with pollen crumbs smattered all over them!  The flower color varies, but most commonly pink with magenta-brushed petals sets the stage.  Salmon in the first photo and white with bursts of pink blush add variety.

Thankfully, Clarkia amoena is an annual, which means they'll grace us with their presence for late Spring, early Summer and then fade away.  Besides using the fabulous dried seed heads in unusual floral arrangements, I had hoped that leaving them standing in the garden would also feed some local birds.  Obviously they weren't interested, judging by the number of plants I now have.  Oh well, more for me!

Many different Clarkias can be found throughout California and serve as a new wave of color after the Poppies and Lupines say their goodbyes for the season.  The Pink Ribbons Clarkia can be especially festive!.

Sun:  Full sun to part shade
Soil:  I guess anything in between the extremes, but I've successfully had plants grow out of adobe-like clay
Plant:  Sow seeds in the Autumn.  It might be too late to find plants, but try Annie's.  Put this one on your must-have list for next year!
Buy it:  I'll gladly give seeds to anyone who wants them!  I'll be up to my ears this year!  Larner's also has some lovely Clarkia seeds of many different varieties.
Good for:  Causing a riot in the garden!  Filling in space when plants are young, continuing the show when the Poppies have faded, pink gardens, bee and butterfly gardens.

Me, too! Me, too!

I've been jealously viewing everyone's gorgeous photos of the wildflowers blooming on their respective blogs, so naturally I had to take a day trip to Sonoma and see a few for myself (tough life, huh?).  

Soon enough, I happened upon a serpentine meadow in the hills above town.  I'm guessing it's serpentine because the soil is quite rocky, there aren't any shrubs, the plants look stunted in growth and it's in an area that I would consider chaparral (or my trusty friends at Las Pilitas would, anyway).  Serpentine soils pervade California and are characterized by their lack of minerals that plants typically require to survive.  Unless, of course you're a California wildflower adapted to grow there!  The photo at the top shows a gaggle of happy Lasthenia californica, or Goldfields.  Usually these can be spotted from the road as a low sea of sunshine.

 
The Lupine made a strong showing, as the small Bumblebees looped from flower to flower in this small meadow.

It's not a party until the poppies arrive, right?  While they bloomed so beautifully, they didn't take over, which allowed the clover, Dichelostemma, and oddly enough, some white Forget-Me-Nots to all play nice.  Ah, a sun-drenched day in the country!  I love Spring!

Waiting for the Big Show

Oh, the suspense!  Everyone is budding up for Spring and it's getting so hard to be patient!  Take this Dudleya hassei branch, for instance.  It's so rewarding to have seen it quadruple in size the past year and it will be quite the celebration when he blooms!  I'm hoping a hummingbird will come to join the party.

The Carpenter bees will be so excited when this Collinsia heterophylla comes out to play.  It reseeded from last year!

The Prunella vulgaris has swiftly taken charge of the garden and will grace this shady bed with purple spikes.

But I'm in awe of this little treasure- a Columbine that I had left for dead.  Apparently, it just needed a year to get established because it's sending up its little red rocket blossoms.  It's hard not to be cautiously optimistic about it, though.  With powdery mildew on its way, I'll just enjoy what I've discovered for now and worry about what comes later!

Happy Spring!

Brainstorm: Seedling Portrait Database

 Calandrinia ciliata (Red Maids) ?!

As I inspected the garden and my seedlings this morning, I had an idea.  How am I supposed to know if that thing in the front yard is a Red Maids or some invasive nasty?  That sprout in my Lupine container:  Lupine or...?  And those wilflower mixes- what a confusing mess!  Ok, so patience is one avenue (which when it comes to propogation, I have none). 

But what about starting a database of seedling photos for wildflower species?  Those that want to participate could submit sprout portraits to a wiki and label the California wildflowers they have experience growing.  Maybe include tips or germination information.  I'm sure that it is possible to find this information already for each species, but is there one place where you can cruise through seedling photos yet?

Lupinus succulentus or Arroyo Lupine seedling (I think)

Town Mouse's post about her experience starting seeds really mirrored my own and struck quite a chord.  I think our blogging community has been so supportive and I so enjoy learning many wonderful new things from all of you!  I also believe in the gospel of planting native and think there should be more resources out there for folks who want to get their feet wet (or hands dirty?).

I'll keep you posted on the progress of this new resource, but please tell me if there's something else out there that I can add to or if you have ideas as to how this should take shape.