by Greg Alder | Nov 1, 2024 | Native Plants |
It grows in ravines and near creeks. It grows up sycamore trees. The wild grape of Southern California can cover a massive area, but you can tame it and grow it in your yard too. On December 28, 2015, I cut a few pieces from a vine in a canyon near me and stuck them...
by Greg Alder | Mar 15, 2024 | Native Plants |
Ceanothus bushes, also known as California lilacs, have enamored me for a number of years. They are a native plant that grows in great number in my part of inland San Diego County so I’ve added many to my yard. But one I can’t seem to possess. I first...
by Greg Alder | Nov 17, 2023 | Native Plants |
When I’m hiking and see a plant I don’t know, I consult my copy of James Lightner’s book. San Diego County Native Plants is my go-to resource for identifying and learning the basics about any wild plant seen anywhere in Southern California....
by Greg Alder | Apr 22, 2022 | Native Plants |
Monkey flowers dot the hills of Southern California in the spring with their yellow, orange, and red flowers. They’re natives; they grow wild here. Monkey flowers also grow along the road in front of my house, but these ones were planted by me. Nevertheless,...
by Greg Alder | Apr 22, 2022 | Native Plants |
The name is strange but it fits. Woolly blue curls has long candles of velvet-covered, purple-blue flowers that bloom to the sky in April. And the male parts of the flowers, the stamen, arch out just waiting for native bees to land on them. I get a kick out of...
by Greg Alder | Mar 18, 2022 | Native Plants |
Take a drive out of town here in early spring and you can’t miss the blue bushes glowing on the California hillsides. There’s nothing else like them. What are they? Ceanothus some people call them, or wild lilac they’re called by others, and some refer to them as...
by Greg Alder | Oct 22, 2021 | Native Plants |
See this video by Jepson Herbarium describing more about Coyote bush plants. All of my Yard Posts are HERE ShareClick to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new...
by Greg Alder | Jan 22, 2021 | Native Plants |
“We think we heard footsteps.” “And a coyote!” My kids had run back to the house from the wild corner of the yard. It’s at the top of the hill, out of sight, and just jungly enough such that a six-year-old, a five-year-old, and a three-year-old can get spooked. Our...
by Greg Alder | Jun 5, 2020 | Native Plants |
On Monday morning I was watching the bees feed on the flowers of a black sage plant at the edge of my yard by the road. Two of my neighbors walked by, and one said, “Your plants are beautiful.” “Thanks!” I said. Then I thought, The beauty of these plants has nothing...
by Greg Alder | Aug 30, 2016 | Berries and Vines, Native Plants |
This is the native grape of Southern California, Vitis girdiana, and I planted it two winters ago. Grapes grow like grass fires! The first year I tied it up a string that I hung from the fascia board. This year I tied it along a wire that runs parallel to the fascia...
Recent comments