I spent a happy Monday shopping for, and then installing, about 42 plants in the South Pollinator Garden, in a complete redo of the area.
Originally, this was an area where I planted a few perennials, but mostly annuals. Twice a year, I would clear out the garden and re-seed depending on the season. You can see a late summer example, above, with perennial aster and fennel, and annual zinnas. Not only was this expensive in terms of money (two large orders of seed, twice a year), it was expensive in other ways too; it always took several days of labor, plus a lot of water to germinate the seed - and it caused a lot of soil disturbance, too. On the other hand, it provided a huge amount of biomass for the compost pile, and a ton of nectar and pollen for foraging insects.
But considering the future regarding climate, I am rethinking the way I garden. I feel strongly that the word ‘resilience’ is not just important for me as a person, but also for the ecosystem in our yard. Pollen and nectar, habitat and shelter, are all crucial. But so is a reduction of inputs. And if I am constantly tearing out and replacing, that doesn’t help me or the ecosystem.
image credit: Flower Magazine
Last spring, I became obsessed with the gardens of Piet Oudolf, who designed Manhattan’s High Line, as well as Chicago’s Lurie garden. His gardens are like paintings. He uses a lot of grass and non-flowering plants which provide the effect of a gently undulating sea. Within that sea are bursts of color, which in the autumn turn to seedpods and add a different focus. Every winter, he cuts it all down, and everything regenerates in the early spring.
Of course here in California, this can be recreated; however, our dormant season is in summer rather than winter, and the planting needs to be recalibrated to fit those circumstances. Aso for our climate, which is mainly hot and dry! Using some native plants and grasses would help to ground this painterly garden style in our California reality.
Adding to the complexity of this particular garden space were the current perennials that I wanted to keep. These include a lot of spring-flowering bulbs, some vines, and some Mediterranean plants. Also, there is a small deciduous tree (a Western redbud) which provides shade over a third of the garden in summer. This space is small, about 10x10 feet, and south facing. It is bordered on one side by a sidewalk and the street, which reflects heat and makes the edges of this bed even hotter and drier.
With all that in mind, and with a list of possibilities in hand, I took a trip to a local nursery and came home with a bunch of interesting plants. Not everything I wanted was available in January (natch) but I found some good substitutions, and I will also likely add plants as the space fills in. I got three gallon-sized pots of each variety, mostly. Planting in threes works quite well in any space. If you click on the names of each of the plants below, you will be shown a picture of the plant and how it looks full-sized.
For the shady areas, I chose a fern, Dryopteris erythrosora, as well as two varieties of Heuchera (Coral Bells); Heuchera ‘Stainless Steel’ and Heuchera ‘Peach Flambe.’
In the transition area between shade and sun, I chose native Trichostema lanatum (Wooly Blue Curls).
For the sunny areas, I chose three kinds of grasses, all native: Calamagrostis foliosa (I actually got six gallons of this one), Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’, and Aristida purpurea (Purple Three Awn).
I chose five different flowers for the sunny areas, with the caveat that I will likely add a few more kinds as they become available. I really wanted some Echinacea (coneflower), Echinops, and Eryngium, but those will be a summer addition. Meanwhile, I have planted Penstemon heterophyllus ‘Margarita BOP,’ Penstemon ‘Midnight,’ Achillea m. ‘Summer Pastels,’ Achillea m. ‘Summer Wine,’ and Verbena lilacina ‘De La Mina.’
Ever since I cleaned up this area after first frost, it has looked rather bereft. Normally I would have seeded poppies and phacelia here right after clearing, but this time I left it empty for the redo. You can see the passion vine, and the redbud tree, and various narcissus, and some forget-me-nots beginning to put out foliage, but what you can’t see are all the salvias and monardellas and hollyhocks and summer bulbs etc that will begin to fill in the space in spring. Still, there are plenty of bare areas to be planted up.
Here is that same area with the 42 gallons of plants in their final locations. I rearranged these several times, but finally decided I was happy and planted them all in. I added grit to the clay soil here, and today I will go in and add some compost as a mulch. Hopefully, everything will ‘take,’ and soon I will have a much fuller and vibrant garden here, which will also be more sustainable. I shall be sure to take pictures and report back!