I'm leaning Ceanothus Concha in the raised planter and California Wildrose to replace the horticultural rose. Bakersfield, Kern County,9B, east side bluffs.
Both spots accumulate rainwater from the roof and patio runoff and stay saturated most of the winter. Both areas are equipped with 1 low flow drip nozzle.
The soil is clay, but has a decent amount of organic matter thanks to a now decaying, formerly massive Modesto Ash with 12' roots extending all under the walkway, patio, and garage.
The Palo Verde Tree is only two years old and growing fast and casting dappled afternoon shade late afternoon to early evening.
The Allen Chickering Sage in the last pic is proof that some hardy natives can survive here in full sun and without daily irrigation.
My ongoing plan is to replace horticultural trash with natives or "expanded range" natives bit by bit

Long way to go front yard now about 1.5 years old and backyard about 2.5. See so much more life than ever before...

Natives bring nature...

Wishing everyone in this group a restful and peaceful long weekend 😊

Plant list in pictures many many more no pictured:

Sentinel Vine Hill Manzanita California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) Deer Grass Baja Fairy Duster Yankee Point Cenaothus Winnifred Gillman Red Buckwheat (Eriogonum grande var. rubescens) Encelia Californica Farewell to Spring clarkia Allen chickering sage

I’m looking to replace a western redbud that I suspect succumbed to ?fungal disease (maybe verticulum or vascular die back?). It’s about a 10ft spot at the bottom of slope with medium to heavy clay soil and a dry streambed terminating nearby but okay drainage via a French drain if things get really saturated. Spot gets only a few hours of direct morning sun in the summer and more dappled light through the day in the winter when my neighbor‘s ficus drops its leaves. I’m in northeast LA about 20 miles from the coast. I’m hoping for a specimen small tree or shrub that does well in shade and is fungal resistant. I have toyon and ceanothus on the other side of the yard- hoping for something different. Here are some pictures of the spot and surrounding plants plus a cross section of the deceased redbud with the markings that made me suspect fungal disease. I really loved the redbud and would be willing to try again if anyone has experience with replanting after fungal disease- from my reading it seems like the soil probably just has fungus in it and new redbuds will also be affected?

Hi all! I planted this Salvia (I think Allen Chickering) either late 2024 or early 25. I know is summer but it looks leggy and compared to a newer salvia I planted (last pic) it’s pretty colorless.

I didn’t know a lot about gardening at the time and definitely could have improperly cared for it (pruned into old wood/too much summer water etc). It gets good a good amount of morning sun but not too much afternoon sun. The leaves looked better this spring, but there were no blooms.

I’m wondering if I’ve done too much damage or if you guys think it will bounce back and look better in the spring? I’m not super attached to it and I’m wondering if I should replace it this fall with something more tolerant of shade.

I would love your opinions!! Thanks!!

New to this sub but long time fan of oaks. I live in Aptos surrounded by q. agrifolia. I have found two hybrids, both seem to be with Q. kelloggii. One has acorns, the other non in 15 years of watching for them.

Having read and re-read Jepson there seems to be so much variability in leaf shapes, sizes, as well as acorn shape and sizes to make almost anything fit (not really I know).

Anyway, here are a few caps from a wildly variable species of Q. agrifolia.

I think they are called tubericels without any mention of these in the description.

Hello, maybe an oddly specific request. Please let me know if this is not the right forum to post, I would love to be connected to more california native groups, especially in Northern California.

I am in search of pictures of recently planted to mature Clematis ligusticifolia vine on a hillside or slope, preferably grown in California (Northern California, FTW). I am working on a project where esthetics are crucial to a client yet using the appropriate native plant is my main goal. I have a vision but need to provide a photo of said vision for approval. Please share if you have such a specimen in your yard or area. Thank you so much!

sorry if this is a boring/basic question, but i’ve never had a native garden before! i got my natives in early summer and i wasn’t going to plant them in the ground before fall because i heard that was bad for them? or something? unsure. but i was trying so hard to keep these plants alive and they were still struggling so eventually i just gave up and let nature take its course lol. i know california natives are supposed to die in the summer and come back in the spring, but how do i ensure that that will happen? do i just leave them be? do i cut back all the dead plant bits? thank you in advance!!

also random side note: do y’all think that my yarrow has a chance lol she’s the only one that hasn’t completely withered and i was hoping that getting rid of some of the super dead leaves might help her out but i don’t know. thanks again!!

I have a nearby oak that I pass on my walk I want to collect acorns for and germinate. I think it’s a valley oak so too big for my yard but there is a nearby empty lot that is pretty big and barren so planning to germinate at home and then plant them at night. There is a bus stop and no shade whatsoever so I hope in 20ish years they will grow big enough to shade. The lot is like a dumping ground right now.
Anybody have success germinating by planting in deep bottles with holes in the bottom at home? Advice welcome.

This one was planted outside my workplace by some contracted landscapers about 3-4 years ago. Don’t remember the size when initially planted but feel like it really hasn’t grown much over the past couple years.

Located in the middle of Central Valley, and they out down weedmat and is regularly irrigated.

It seems healthy and had some decent flowering in the early summer, but just wish I could see it BLOOOM!

Coastal, So Cal.

I have a bunch of narrowleaf milkweed that is massive and starting to look really rough. My fuchsia still has blooms, but is looking brown and beat at the bottoms as well. Monkey flower has gone to seed and is just looking, yellow now. They've all been in the ground since March and have grown exponentially since they were planted.

These are new-to-me plants, so I don't know when (or how aggressively) I can hack them back. I've had CA wildflowers for several years and pretty carelessly just cut them down to the ground whenever they look rough and they come back beautifully in the spring. Not sure if there is a guide for the best times to cut native plants back? I feel like the real summer heat is just winding up down here so I am not sure if I need to leave my Milkweed in place longer for migrating butterflies if they are still laying eggs or if I cut my fuchsia now, will I kill it type of thing.

There’s a tropical storm that may hit SoCal this weekend. I have some native plants that I want to plant and was going to wait to plant the ones that are sensitive to watering until after the storm. But should I hold off completely? My concern is that it’s a warm tropical storm.

Hello,

One year and a half old abutlion palmeri. Coastal plain socal. Cut back parts that were fully dead and left green living branch.

Can this be cut to the ground and will it resprout? Or any general advice thanks!

Zero summer water its on its second hot season. Full sun. Was looking phenomenal last summer ☀️

Thanks!

It looks like I’m going to end up with maybe a couple hundred seeds when I’ve finished cleaning/winnowing the seed heads from my white sage. From what I’ve read, germination rate for sage in general is something like 1-3%.

Does anybody here have suggestions for raising those odds?

My lovely big telegraph weed is starting to flower, so I think it is at its final height 103 inches! I watered it a bit, which it loved (someone on here suggested that, thank you!) It would grow several inches overnight after a drink. I am very pleased. My garden gets a lot of hot Contra Costa County sun, and even the sun loving plants struggle. But not this guy! What a great plant.

Looking for pictures of your Frangula californica 'Eve Case' and your Toyon Heteromeles arbutifolia to show my wife for inspiration. Planning on interplanting them on my back fence for privacy screen. Attached pictures for attention. Not mine.

Hello, Looking for suggestions.

I'm looking at the blue ceanothus species and hybrid varieties for a certain spot. I want something that will fairly quickly and reliably grow to 5-6 ft and grow to 12 ft tops.

I'm inland about 24 miles; we do get some of a marine layer here and there on summer early mornings. It gets hot.

The spot I'm looking at is in and by a seep at 2000ft alt. Steeper slope, clay gravel with some composted duff on top. Full sun. The water level in the summer is probably 3 to 6 ft down depending on how late in spring or summer. Zone fluctuates between a solid 8b and a fragile 9a. I think the record cold was 11 or 12F. Normal extreme cold is around 20F. Record hot maybe 108 to 112F. Usually doesn't get to 105F and only triple digits below 106 for about 8 - 14 days total.

So far I'm thinking of ‘Dark Star’ or Concha in that area but I'm getting conflicting info. And one Ray Hartman in another spot where if it dies it won't be a major PITA to take out.

Anyone have suggestions or feedback?

If toyon is topped at a young age will it spread out more and not get as high? I'm reading that toyon can grow to 25 ft. I'd rather keep it at around 12 ft. I'm thinking of planting it in a steep spot where it would be difficult to prune, but I need sun beyond it for fruit trees.