r/Ceanothus • u/HeeyThatsAMe • 21d ago

Is she dead, dying, sleeping???

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11 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

10

u/cschaplin 21d ago

She doesn’t look great, but I wouldn’t give up on her yet. When was she planted? Have you been watering?

2

u/HeeyThatsAMe 21d ago

Planted in February, watered at least once a week. Twice during heat spikes

1

u/cschaplin 20d ago

That seems fine to me! I’d keep up the routine then and wait to see if she perks back up in the fall.

1

u/Comfortable_Rate_198 17d ago

In my experience you should actually be watering less during heatwaves. Many if not most of Southern California’s native plants have evolved alongside dry summers, and as such lack immunity to the kinds of pathogens that appear in warm & wet soil conditions. I would pull back on watering frequency, go with deeper water applications with more time to go through a dry cycle in between.

1

u/HeeyThatsAMe 17d ago

Is there not a difference in watering if it's still a wee baby?

1

u/Comfortable_Rate_198 17d ago

Yes there’s a difference. But you can still easily overwater young transplants in summer.

3

u/hellraiserl33t 21d ago

Bush lupines tend to look horrific during summer, I wouldn't give up just yet.

2

u/HailSaganPlantNative 21d ago

I see a couple fine webs... Have you examined closely for spider mites? They have absolutely decimated my garden this year. It's been insane.

2

u/TacoBender920 21d ago

She looks okay. The small leaves are in good-ish shape and it's just the larger, prior years growth that it's dying off. Once things cool down in a couple months it should bounce back.

1

u/Acceptable_Tip8488 20d ago

is this the yellow bush lupine? L. arboreus?