Do you like Owens Valley's native plants? Do you like reading blog posts? (You must since you're reading this!)

If that's you then we have some good news: we have a second blog that focuses on our native plant garden at the Lone Pine visitors' center. 

It has an exciting name: Native Garden at the Eastern Sierra Interagency Vistor Center. We like catchy titles!

Just like this blog, you can subscribe to keep up with all the latest happenings in the project.

If you happen to be passing through Lone Pine, make a stop at the visitor center and check out the garden. It's located southwest of the restroom building. You'll see there has been a lot of work done on the project during the past year. 

Yarrow is a plant that people have used for thousands of years. Indeed, Linnaeus, the father of plant taxonomy, gave yarrow the genus name Achillea after the great Greek warrior Achilles, who supposedly carried common yarrow with his army to treat battle wounds. It goes by many other common names, most of them related to its use on the battlefield: herbe militaris, knight's milfoil, staunchweed and soldier's woundwort (the latter from the US Civil War). Native American nations across the continent used yarrow for everything from toothaches to menstrual cramps. Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is found in every California habitat except the Mojave and Colorado Deserts; the Miwok used the plant as an analgesic and head cold remedy. Indeed, it would be hard to find a plant with such a long and varied history of uses, but my objective here is to focus on this often-overlooked plant simply as an ornamental!

Between the soil, the wind and the varmints, I have challenging growing conditions in my yard, to say the least. Yarrow is virtually pest-free—even deer and rabbits avoid it. It's pretty drought tolerant once established, and it prefers sandy, poor to average soil. Indeed, very fertile soil will cause too much top growth, and the leggy stems will flop over. In other words, it's just the plant for me!

Now, your past experience with yarrow may be different. Many yarrows spread by rhizomes, and in well-watered locations they can get out of control. But out here where even weeds don't prosper, I prefer my plants to be a bit aggressive! And if you choose the right yarrow and put it in the right location, you'll earn a lot of garden interest for almost no investment.

There are about 80 species of yarrow worldwide, but nearly all those found in nurseries come from just two of those species: Achillea millefolium and A filipendulina. Nearly everyone is familiar with the tall (2-3') yellow yarrows. ‘Coronation Gold,' ‘Moonshine,' and ‘Cloth of Gold' (my favorite) are three that are widely available. These are Achillea filipendulina hybrids and cultivars, and while they are hard to beat for a spectacular early season display, by July they are looking pretty bedraggled. I harvest many of the stems when they are first opening for dried flowers, and when the remainder start to fade, I cut them back to encourage a second bloom in fall. Best to place these vigorous growers near the back of the bed, because they're a bit drab after this shearing!

But beyond these most commonly seen cultivars, there is a whole world of tough, attractive yarrow to fit most anywhere in the garden. Woolly yarrow (Achillea tomentosa) is grown chiefly for its gray, fuzzy fern-like leaves. This spreader has yellow flowers and stays 6-12” high, the perfect plant for edging stones at the front of your beds. You can sometimes find this among the ground covers at local nurseries. ‘King Edward' (Achillea x lewisii) is similar, with beautiful butter-yellow flowers, but so far I've only been able to find it available one place online. Achillea ptarmica is unique, the flowers borne more singularly than the umbel typical of the genus. Some people use this more sophisticated yarrow as a substitute for baby's breath. Like many of the others listed here, you're not likely to come across plants in a nursery, but all yarrows are easy to grow from seed, so if you can wait a few years, you'll have plenty of flowers down the line.

 Easier to find in nurseries, sometimes even in 6-packs, are intermediate-sized yarrows in all shades of pink, rose and cream colors. Most of these are cultivars of Achillea millefolium (common yarrow). I found ‘Paprika,' ‘Red Beauty,' ‘Island Pink' and ‘Summer Pastels' all in local nurseries this past summer, as well as a new dwarf cultivar of ‘Moonshine' and the russet tones of ‘Terra Cotta.' High Country Gardens is one of many places to find plants online, and if you're willing to grow your own, there are even more options available from places like Swallowtail Seeds.

 

I'm going big on yarrows this year! I planted seeds of ‘Colorado Mix,' ‘Summer Berries,' red, rose and white, and they all sprouted in less than a week, with germination rates of nearly 100%. Between the newcomers and all those I've already planted, I should have carefree blooms throughout the summer. And—since yarrows make great dried flowers—they will brighten the cool season.

 

Note: Links to sources in this article are provided as a convenience to the reader. No endorsement by UC Regents is implied or intended.

Some years back, I toyed with the idea of starting my own wholesale nursery business. We're not talking acres of palm trees in huge wooden planters here, just a few kinds of natives, wildflowers and grasses. I even got a business license and came up with a name, but eventually decided it was more work than I wanted to invest. I did sell a few dozen plants to Steve at Chalfant Big Trees, but that was it. Little did I know it at the time, but taking the beginning steps toward my own nursery was to transform my own gardening!

One of the first things I did when I began to entertain the idea of my own nursery business was to set aside an area on our acre that I would use to field grow the plants. I rototilled, removed rocks, incorporated compost and laid out drip tape to this area. Though I never followed through with the business plan, I now had a nursery plot, and I have used it as such ever since. It is filled with dozens of types of plants, but the only customer this nursery is serving is me!

You have probably had this experience. You see a plant at the garden store that you'd love to have in your yard, but you're not sure right now where you're going to put it. Or there's a six-pack of some of your favorites that you may not need right now, but down the road, who knows? In my yard, it's often a volunteer that's growing somewhere I don't want it permanently. I also grow a lot of natives and grasses from seed, and by late spring, when I no longer want to tend to trays of starts, the babies just aren't big enough to fend for themselves out in the big, bad world of my yard. For all of these situations, my nursery plot is ideal. It's a place where plants can thrive and grow—decent soil, steady irrigation and it's easy for me to keep an eye on them.

The beauty of this is that I nearly always have an appropriate plant “in my inventory.” I am constantly working at perfecting my landscaping, trying to match my plantings with the conditions of each location. Dustin Blakey's wise words form Master Gardener training always come to me: “Right plant in the right place.” That's the way I see my job as caretaker of the landscape. Especially in the challenging conditions here at the edge of the Volcanic Tableland, I have to be like a coach. I don't get to choose my dream roster, but instead have to find a way to maximize the potential of each of the players I have been given. There is nothing in my nursery plot that will not survive in my yard given the right conditions. When I'm evaluating different areas of my yard, thinking of what plants would complement the existing plantings, I nearly always have something that will work a few feet away in my nursery garden.

 

Pennisetum plant divided

The past few years I have expanded this concept of a nursery garden, making use of bare spots in the main, tended garden at the back of the house to tuck in treasures that I find at the garden store, because there are so many things you know you will only see once locally! I always prefer to buy the smallest plants I can find. Not only is it cheaper, there is less risk of transplant shock. I'd far rather buy a six-pack or a 4-inch pot and grow it to size at home than pay through the nose for a larger specimen that may already be rootbound and stressed. Or, you can buy perennials and grasses in those one-gallon pots, divide them, and plant the babies into your nursery area. By the end of the growing season, you will have several new plants that are likely better candidates for transplanting than the “mother.”

 

 

I suggest you give this strategy a try. It's not necessary to set aside a separate area in your yard. You can plant babies temporarily near existing plants, taking advantage of the irrigation that is already in place, and move them when the time comes. You can even repurpose a big pot—say maybe one you bought a tree in—and fill it with garden soil for a portable nursery.

It's so great to have a ready, year-round custom nursery at your disposal. Rather than having to search time after time at the local garden store, you'll have just the plant you want right in your own yard!

Though it's been hard to tell with the fire/weather we're having during this craziest of all years—September felt pretty summery—the plants in my garden have been telling me for a number of weeks now that summer is finally ending. The mornings are cooler, the days are shorter, and the garden is responding.

 

Salvia greggii is a star in the garden all year, but their show this time of year has given them their common name—autumn salvias. And so many colors! Purples and other shades are becoming easier to find, expanding the palette beyond the pinks and reds. The New Mexican sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani) is finally showing that its bloom is worth waiting for. The spindly but strong stems looked so close to withered during the long, hot summer it hardly seemed worth the water they cried out for. The Gaillardias, who rarely seem to miss a beat, are gloriously responding to the more moderate temperatures and longer nights fall brings to our hemisphere.

 

 

 

 

The grasses have been recast from supporting actors to leading roles. The light of the sun, now lower on the horizon, suffuses the flower stalks of silver beardgrass (Bothriochloa laguroides), deergrass and its smaller cousin (Muhlenbergia rigens and M. dubia), and blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis and its named variety ‘Blonde Ambition' are both fabulous). And as the warm season fades, they will begin to shine more brightly. No group of plants can compare to the grasses in terms of solid year-round interest. Yes, they don't look great after their annual late-spring haircut, but by the time you cut them back, they should be very actively growing, so the awkward phase doesn't last long! After that, they provide a great green backdrop for the bloomers, waiting for their chance in the spotlight. Fall and winter is their time!

 

You can see that your plants are happier, so this is the perfect time to establish new plants, and that is especially true for natives. Most of California has two seasons—hot/dry and cool/moist—a Mediterranean climate. While it's true no one would mistake the Eastern Sierra for the Central Coast, it's clear that this is our weather pattern too. So, our native plants build up their strength during the cool months, bracing themselves for the difficult, dry summer ahead. The dilemma one faces in starting native plants is that—though you are planting them so you won't have to water as much—that's only really gonna work out in the long run. In the short term, your new babies will require—like babies everywhere—a lot of attention. It's easier for them (and you!) that their formative days be spent under the milder days of October rather than an August inferno.

 

The trick is to get them stabilized from transplanting well before the killing frosts get to them. Normally, waiting until the first week of October would make me nervous, but if September is the new August, then November is likely the new October, and September and October have been, in the past, the perfect month for transplants. Sure, we could have frost anytime, but a little bit won't bother most of them. There should still be plenty of time for little ones planted now to become established and be rarin' to go come spring.

Some of your new plants may not look too happy, but don't get discouraged—the transplant success rate for many natives is not good, so just know that you are doing the best you can. Spring is normally the time natives look best, so focus on how gratifying it will be when you see fresh, green leaves after a long winter's sleep!

 

These are some of the plants I am moving right now in my yard. Not all of them are Inyo County or even California natives, but all can deal with the tough environment the Owens Valley serves up:

• Santolina
• Salvias  -  S. greggii and S. clevelanii (marginal this far north, but worth the extra care!
• Germander
• Goldenrod
• Gaillardias
• Yarrows
•    Young native grasses that are not yet blooming
•    Pine muhly
•    Deergrass
•    Grama grasses

Though I buy a lot of plants locally (I found goldenrod and a lot of other great stuff at High Country Lumber last week), other than the Native Plant Society's August sale, it can be tough to find native plants here, so I am always on the lookout for sources for plants when I travel. I've listed a few of my recent favorites below. But the best thing to do is to develop your own nursery stock. Watch this space for an article on that soon!

 

Online (links to these from plants above)

• Mountain Valley Growers
• High Country Gardens
• Annie's Annuals
• Digging Dog Nursery
• Plants of the Southwest (seeds only)

In Person

• Tree of Life Nursery, San Juan Capistrano
• Theodore Payne, Sunland
• Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden, Claremont
• Miner's Ace Hardware, Morro Bay (and other locations), carries plants from Annie's Annuals and The Growing Grounds

Links and sources posted are for information purposes. No UC endorsement is implied or intended.