Growing Plants from Seed

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Some California Native Perennials and Shrubs to Grow from Seed

Some California Native Perennials and Shrubs to Grow from Seed

Linum lewisii A beautiful Western perennial, perfect for the border or in a meadow blended with bunchgrasses, poppies, clarkia and flowering bulbs. Summer blooming, flowers open over a long time; full sun, low water, 12-18” tall, needs good drainage, deer ignore it....
Some California Native Wildflowers to Grow from Seed

Some California Native Wildflowers to Grow from Seed

All of these native annual wildflowers are great for pollinators and other beneficial insects! Clarkia unguiculata / Mountain Garland The blooms of this native clarkia range from white, pale pink, salmon, and bright pink to magenta—all on the same plant. Flowers in...
Growing Milkweed From Seed

Growing Milkweed From Seed

Milkweed for the Monarch Butterflies Asclepias fascicularis Milkweeds provide important resources for many beneficial creatures, including Monarch butterflies. The fine leaves of this native milkweed gives it’s a soft, wispy look. The plant isn’t long-lived, but...
Fall is for Planting AND Propagating

Fall is for Planting AND Propagating

At the end of the dry season my garden is just that; at a glance many of the native plants look dry and dead but once you look more closely, there’s always a bit of green within the brown. Plants are dormant, but definitely not dead; seeds are abundant, as are all the...
Natives for a Meadow Garden

Natives for a Meadow Garden

Some of my favorite annual wildflowers are the gilias, and the whole genus is pretty much deer-proof. I like globe gilia (Gilia capitata) with its round heads of small blue flowers; these grow wild on Mt. Burdell. I haven’t seen bird’s-eye gilia (Gilia tricolor) in...
Transplanting Tips

Transplanting Tips

If you are working with old seed you can do a simple viability test before sowing.  Use a damp paper towel, lay ten seeds onto one-half of the towel, fold the other half over, and keep moist. Watch for the development of the radicle; the number of...
Creating a Meadow Garden

Creating a Meadow Garden

The days are still warm and we’re all hoping, once again, that this will be an El Niño year with ample rainfall and a good snow pack in the Sierras. The days are noticeably shorter, and the evenings are much cooler. The shorter day length is a cue to many native...
How Does a Seed Form?

How Does a Seed Form?

The flowers of a plant are designed for the purpose of making seeds. If a flower is pollinated, then fertilization can take place, and a seed develops in the ovary of the plant. This is sexual reproduction, and ensures genetic diversity. As the fertilized seed...
Helping Seeds Sprout

Helping Seeds Sprout

Some seeds have built-in mechanisms that prevent germination until ideal conditions are met. Even when perfect conditions are met, some of the ‘seed bank’ of a species will not germinate. They will wait, often camouflaged in the duff, as an insurance policy against a...
Nevin’s Barberry

Nevin’s Barberry

This year my Nevin’s Barberry (Berberis nevinii) truly made that leap and ‘came into its own’! Lovely, fragrant yellow flowers smothered the plant in early spring, right about the same time as many Ceanothus start to bloom; and then abundant, small red berries...
Birds and Berries

Birds and Berries

All through the rainy season many birds rely on fruits as a major part of their diet. These birds often travel in flocks, like the Cedar Waxwings and American Robins. Sometimes the flocks are mixed; several different species will travel together, and all are “on the...
Some Natural Types of Seed Pre-Conditioning

Some Natural Types of Seed Pre-Conditioning

Whenever I’m out collecting I always keep it foremost in my mind that seeds are food for all sorts of insects and other invertebrates, for birds, rodents and other mammals, and food for humans! When I gather toyon berries in December, I take just a handful from...