FALL BLOOMING NATIVE

Baccharis pilularis or Coyote Bush is a California native shrub growing in California up into Oregon.  A beautiful and carefree evergreen native it is an excellent shrub for urban landscapes as well as for restoration and erosion control projects.  Coyote Bush provides pollen and nectar for predatory wasps, native butterflies and flies which depend on this supply of food to survive winter hibernation.

 

Pictured here is the erect form of Baccharis pilularis. This particular plant was a volunteer to our garden last year. Look at the size of it (almost 5’) in one year! It does receive Summer water from our drip system though it is set on a weekly ½ hour schedule without a direct emitter.

 

Baccharis pilularis will grow prostrate in coastal windswept areas and erect in inland regions (the latter is shown here) but both being the same species of B. pilularis. It is moderately fire tolerant and also a deer a resistant shrub. 

 

Coyote Bush is dioecious meaning that the flowers are born on two different plants. The male flowers on one and the female flowers on a separate plant altogether. The flowers pictured here are female; note the elongated flower which will in a few days ‘go to seed’ and be dispersed by the wind. 

 

Coyote Bush commonly supports galls created by the host- specific midge Rhopalomyia californica (the midge requires Baccharis pilularis for its life cycle success). A gall is formed by plant cells which grow around a wound, generally from a puncture for depositing eggs by a parasitic insect.

 

PERMEABLE PAVING

The permeable paving system shown below (on the right of the impervious asphalt) is Drivable Grass®, manufactured by Soil Retention, Inc.   A concrete or asphalt substitute Drivable Grass® is durable and plantable.  It functions as an effective way to reduce erosion and stormwater runoff on driveways and parking lots and more.  Shown here at a local storage facility the Drivable Grass® and surrounding landscape has been planted in native and drought tolerant plants combined with a drip irrigation system and rain sensor for increased water conservation.

Native plants in bloom!

California native plants are an essential addition to any landscape.  They hold a natural beauty unparalleled by any ornamental plant.

Shown here is Sisyrinchium bellum or Blue-eyed Grass, a native to foothill and valley grasslands around CA.  Also shown is Ribes aureum or Golden Current, a native to mixed coniferous forests and riparian woodlands.  

Both plants offer function, habitat and especially beauty to the landscape and are easy to grow in urban gardens.

Ribes aureum or Golden Current

Sisyrinchium bellum or Blue-eyed Grass