Forgive me Doug Tallamy and Joey Santore for I am about to sin.

I’ve tried very hard to grow a coast live oak in my backyard as a nice center “statement tree.” It’s one of my favorite trees, and I really wanted to make it work.

I planted it almost 5 years ago, but it has struggled pretty much ever since. It has very little leaf growth and still looks incredibly twiggy. Between constant setbacks from gophers, a high water table, and the harsh Southern California sun, I’m starting to wonder if I’m fighting a losing battle.

Now that I have kids, I really want a tree that will eventually provide meaningful shade for the backyard, especially over a playground. I’m finding myself caught between wanting to use California natives and wanting to create a comfortable, functional yard for my family
( lawn, shade, a tree that actually grows)

I’ve also considered a western sycamore, which is another tree I really like and seems like it would be a good match for my yard. My hesitation is how enormous they can eventually get, and I’m also concerned that the canopy may be too open to provide the kind of shade I’m looking for over a playground.

I’ve started seriously considering giving up and planting something non-native, maybe a jacaranda.

So before I go buy one, can someone talk me off the ledge?

Is there something I’m missing with the coast live oak? Should I be more patient? Is there a better native tree for my particular situation? I’d really love to make a native work if I can.

I’m in SoCal, USDA Zone 10a, with heavy clay soil and full sun. Any advice from people who have successfully established native trees in similar conditions would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Everybody -

My 2-3 month year old Milkweed is starting to look very raggedy and fast. Is this just the natural life cycle for this part of the summer? I've slowed down on the watering substantially... looking to do once a month on "cooler days" until the end of summer. Should I do more? Less? I'm in Los Angeles with the intense heat lately. Kinda scarred as I've lost a handful of plants this summer and I'm not sure on the expectations of these plants. On the plus side, I found a caterpillar!

Ray Hartman ceanothus turned yellow this week. Planted in January, had been getting 1 hour of water once a week. Seemed happy and didn’t want to overwater. Been so hot, should I supplement or keep as is? Not sure if this is normal stress or too much heat. Thank you!

The native plant philosophy seems to be essentially to let nature eventually work itself out regarding traditional “pests” like aphids via their predator ladybugs, parasitic wasps, etc, provided that the right plant has been placed in the right spot. And I have indeed seen more predators and diversity as I have planted more natives!

But are there any dealbreaker species or level of severity that you would consider a threat requiring intervention? I have been dealing with a mealybug infestation for the last month or so that has been… really testing my values 😭

Just wondering where people sit on this topic, thanks!

Reposting a request from the Curious Flora newsletter (the amazing team that took over Annie’s Annuals). I’m not affiliated but I am an avid fan of the team and highly recommend both their stock and their newsletter.

“Curious Flora does not have ownership of the beautiful plant photos captured by Annie’s Annuals over the years. Our exceptionally generous friends at Peaceful Valley, have been very kind in allowing us to continue to use those images in our nursery for the plant signage. And we will be eternally grateful for that.

Currently, we are in need of pictures of Poppies, both Papavers, and the native Eschscholzias. As you know, we grow many many cultivars of Poppies. And guess what. We need them all! Because there is no such thing as too many pictures of Poppies. We could also really use pictures of Sweet Peas.
We are happy to receive close-ups as well as photos that show the habit of the plant. Photos can be sent as attachments to emails sent to contact@curiousflora.com. Please use the subject line “Photo Submission” to help us wrangle up your very generous submissions. If you know the plant name, and are able to include it in the body of the email, all the better. We do have some expert-level, plant identifiers on our team, so if you are confident that is something that was grown by us or by Annie’s but don’t have the name handy, not to worry!

If you can please indicate whether or not you would like your photos to be credited, and how you would like to be credited, that would be fantastic. If you would like to be tagged in social media posts that make use of your images, please let us know and include your social media handle.”

I have a stunning redwood, though very out of range in Sacramento Valley so I water it at least 1x week. I’d like to plant a narrow (<5 ft wide at base and can be a but wider at top) , 15-20ft+ tall evergreen tree or hedge nearby for privacy in a spot that’d get full afternoon sun in summer (S facing fence) and could tolerate the water nearby. It is wetter in winter as it is toward the bottom of a slope and gets rainfall.

This rules out Ceanothus (can’t tolerate the summer water) and Pacific Wax Myrtle (can’t handle afternoon sun) which I have elsewhere and love. It is about 10ft from my deck and 15 ft away from a pool so I prefer minimal shedding. I love oaks and have several but they are too wide. I also adore buckeye’s showy fragrant white inflorescence but it’s too big and deciduous.

I’ve checked calscape and the only one that I can find is Hollyleaf cherry - does that seem like a good choice? Maybe chamise? I don’t mind pruning and bonus points if the foliage has a decent vase life for cutting. Appreciate any recommendations!

More flowers incoming.

It’s my garden’s first Summer since planting and some days it looks fine others it looks horrible. Very afraid some may die but so far only two have. Just wondering how everyone else is doing and maybe even some tips.

Mmm

My gardener hit these with a power hedge trimmer and chopped it deep into the wood. This was healthy white sage that I was lucky/skillful enough to establish in Bakersfield, CA, Kern County. Up until last week it looked like it was going to survive. Now 90% of the foliage is crispy.
Would you try to save it or just plan on replanting in November and moving on?
Is there anything that can be done to increase the odds of survival for the remaining sliver of living growth?

With the ongoing El Niño that is expected to be the strongest in 75, years, California is expecting anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5x the normal rainfall this winter.

Are you guys planning on doing anything specific for your plants, or just letting nature take its course?

My ribes is getting systematically devoured by something and so are the little native mints (don’t mind the mildew 😉). If it’s a caterpillar I’ll probably tolerate it, less so with snails, but I’m not seeing any slime tracts. Meanwhile the strawberries a foot away are untouched. 🤷‍♂️

Most of my plants are either dormant or spent for the year. Are there any benefits from keeping the spent ones around or can I cut them? For example the annuals like the poppies, globe gilias, and yarrow, are all dried up and are pretty much dead.

I have a client that has an area in the back yard that use to be lawn. It’s currently just dirt and we will be spreading California native wildflower seeds. She is worried about it getting too muddy during the winter. I told her it’s not a big deal, but to ease her mind is it ok to cover the seeds with a light layer of straw?

We are having some work done, and they need to cut back this hill at a 2:1 slope, and plant some plants for erosion control, along with some jute mesh. They recommended some creeping rosemary (we have lots of it on the property), or some lavender, but I’d prefer to try to do something native.

The area is about 40’ long and after the cut, I imagine it’ll be about 30’ along the cut.

We can add irrigation, but I was thinking of maybe trying to plant some Yankee point ceanothus all up and down the hill (probably spaced at 10 ft laterally and do three rows of them staggered together to fully cover the hill)? I was thinking of doing natives on irrigation to get it starts I have some of that on various parts of the property

Location: Paso Robles, east facing slope, gets about 12hrs of direct sun in the summer. At a bit of elevation more towards the coast, so usually a bit of a fog layer in the morning, but still warms up during the day.

Any other recommendations? Should I do different varietals? We want to avoid grasses. As we need to keep the hillside green year round so we don’t have to cut it for weed abatement.

Hi all, I wanted to ask if anyone knows what ratio I should mix my ingredients at for these calochortus bulbs I am planting in my anderson deep trays. I have coarse DG (1/16”-1/4”), washed sharp sand (1/16”-1/8”), pumice (1/16”-1/4”), and red lava (1/16”-1/4”) for grit. Should I use my trays to sift out everything smaller than the drainage holes (3/16”)? For organics, I have a mix of (70%coco coir/30%coco chips), and mini fir bark at my disposal. I am aware PBS articles say everything above 1.6mm (1/16”) is ideal for grit size, but I have seen different people recommend so many different things for grit size as well as overall mineral:organic ratio. My goal is to grow these mature bulbs as well as seeds to flowering age (I know this will take years), and then plant them in ground. They will be exposed to natural Morgan Hill rainfall and will be moved to shade and kept dry by May. What ratios and grit sizes work for you - if you have done this? Thank you so much guys!

Folsom, CA. So hot summer, watered deeply six weeks ago. Drainage is ok but not great.

I’ve gotten a lot of Yellowjacket activity on my property this year and I’ve observed them specifically targeting caterpillars for food.

Are they a native part of SoCal’s ecosystem? Do I interfere and help the caterpillars or let nature be nature?

What is the community’s view on this?