Cactus Blog

I wish I were a bird. Then I would eat these lovely manzanita red juicy red extry red berries. Maybe I should eat them anyway.

Arctostaphylos “San Bruno Mountain” also known as the Bearberry. I wonder why?

The Sisyrinchium californicums have started to bloom!

…that the short post I posted last week could use a little more filling out.

Parkinsonia aculeata
Mexican Palo Verde Tree

Now I can understand if you liked the original “Short Post” as it was, but you know, it was inevitable that I would photograph the tree when it came into bloom, and then I would be forced to type a full post about it.

It’s spiny, small-leafed, and very low-water too.

It’s the Mexican version, because, you know, the California native Palo Verde doesn’t grow in N. Cal. We’ve killed about a dozen babies trying to get them to grow, but please don’t tell the woman who sold them to us, because she was very protective of them and didn’t want to sell them to someone who would kill them and we convinced her we would take good care of her babies, and then BAM! we go and kill them anyway, so now it’s Mexican Palo Verde or bust.

Parkinsonia aculeata

Arctostaphylos pajaroensis “Paradise”
This is one of my favorite manzanitas. Great leave color and texture, beautiful bloom sprays, and delicious berries (for the birds).

This specimen was photographed at the UC Berkeley Botanic Garden.

Calystegia macrostegia
Great twining vine, works well climbing on fences locally. Will bloom for much of the year, and will go dormant in the summer if you let it go dry. It’s a Coastal favorite, though it also comes from some of the srubbier chaparral areas of California.

Fremontodendron “San Gabriel”
The Flannel Bush gets a whole heck of a lot of these very graphic thick yellow flowers. And I mean that the color is thick, not the petals, although they are too.

These are a great plant to espalier if you have the right place for it. On the other hand, they are a definite allergen to about 1/2 the population if you rub up against them.

On the 3rd hand, there’s always a little brother who can be tossed into the flannel bush to see what reaction your family might have to it.

Ceanothus griseus “Kurt Zadnik”

We like the Ceanothuses. These California native shrubs range from 6″ tall to over 20 ft. Here we have a cultivar that gets 3ft. tall and can spread over 10 ft. wide if you let it. It was cultivated right here in Berkeley at the UC Botanic Gardens from a specimen found up in Sonoma, so you know it will do well in local gardens.

Ceanothus gloriosus v. exaltatus “Emily Brown”

Small rigid green leaves, like holly. Shrubs only to 3′ tall. I would say these California Lilac flowers are “lilac” in color. The very definition, even. We commonly use this plant as a shrub in low-water gardens. Works well near traffic areas where you don’t want a cactus poking you, but still want something vigorous that can stand up to kids or pets.

Lotus crassifolius var. otayensis - Otay Mountain Lotus

Herbaceous perennial. These furry grey stems are generally upright, but can lay prone as they grow. Stunning clusters of purple and white pea-sized flowers are bursting out in spring. Evergreen grey-green oblong leaves. It’s a lovely plant year-round, but a show-stopper right about now.

Native to San Diego County, California, rare in the wild.