Editor's Pick for 2024
This Month's Pick + Editor's Pick Archive Index
Each month our editor, Laura Lukes, highlights an outstanding plant, interesting insect, or helpful tool.
January
Daphne odora (winter daphne)
We usually focus on California natives in this space, but the beauty and scent of the winter daphne cannot be ignored. Originally from China, this evergreen low-growing shrub has glossy attractive leaves, but it is the fragrance of its gorgeous little flowers that makes it a lovely addition to the winter garden. In fact, Daphne odora’s common name in Korea (“chullihyang”) translates to “thousand-mile scent.” The flowers consist of four thick, waxy, pink-tinged lobes that are excellent for tucking into small vases to bring the fresh bracing sent indoors. While advice about successfully growing daphne runs the gamut from full sun to almost none, from moist roots to scant watering, and from a 10 to 20-year life span, personal experience says: give it plenty of shade, water it rarely, and don’t expect it to live very long. One thing for certain is that this plant thrives much better in the ground than in a pot (even if the pot is a large one). Be forewarned that the beauty of Daphne odora comes at a cost: all parts are poisonous to humans and some pets.
Photographer: Miya
February
Hillside or California Gooseberry (Ribes californicum)
This shrubby plant is a North American species of currant that is endemic to California. Its favorite habitat is chaparral, found on the lower reaches of our mountain ranges. Its most striking characteristic is its finely-sculpted leaves, but its delicate pendant flowers are a close second.
According to Calscape, this gooseberry prefers moist places, at elevations from sea level to nearly 6,000 feet. Given the right conditions, it can be quite large: 4 to 8 feet high and 2 to 6 feet wide. The dangling flowers, which appear in spring, are pink, purple, or yellow. The branches bear spines, so keep this in mind when choosing a planting location.
The flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds and the berries make it a valuable wildlife plant, especially to birds. It hosts several butterfly species, including the Tailed Copper, Hoary Comma and Oreas Comma.
Photographer: ProboscideaRubber15
March
Teucrium fruticans (bush germander)
Plants in the genus Teucrium, also known as germanders, are a hardy bunch. Last fall, we featured Teucrium chamaedrys, a low growing species with dark glossy leaves. This month we highlight the species fruticans, the bush germander. This shrub is beautiful year-round, but its soft, pale gray-green leaves and velvety white stems are especially attractive in the fall and winter. And its small flowers (a lovely cornflower blue shade) can bloom well into the dead of winter.
Teucrium fruticans hails from the central and western Mediterranean, so it is well suited to our long, hot summers. Be sure to choose an area where it can spread, as it will grow up to 3 feet high by a dozen feet wide (fruticans means “shrubby” or “bushy”). But if you need to keep it in check, it responds well to pruning.
This lovely shrub has been called “a magnet for bees,” as they especially appreciate its habit of flowering in the cold months.
April
Phlomis fruticosa (Jerusalem Sage or lampwick plant)
Phlomis is a Greek word for "flame," a reference to the fact that the leaves of this plant were used as lamp wicks in ancient times. And you may remember from last month’s pick (Teucrium fruticans) that the specific epithet frutic means “shrubby.” On this particular shrub, the leaves are thick, furry, and soft to the touch. Not a true sage, despite its common name, its flowers bring to mind certain salvias, blooming in candelabra-like whorls every few inches on long, stiff stems. The bloom begins in spring and can last into the summer months, depending on conditions. The most common color is a bright yellow, but you can also find pale purple versions of Phlomis.
This plant is native to dry rocky cliffs and slopes in coastal and inland areas of the Mediterranean region; it is found in Albania, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and Turkey, and adapts well to different types of soils and variations in moisture. Jerusalem Sage can grow 3 to 4 feet wide and 4 to 5 feet tall. In colder climates, Phlomis are deciduous, dying back to the ground in winter. In our area, this shrub can be evergreen, even with very little supplemental water—perhaps once to twice a month in the hottest part of the year. It also requires little care, beyond clipping the spent flower stalks as needed.
Photographers
Flower: Teddy Llovet
Plant: Robin
May
Outside Beyond the Lens: California Super Bloom
A PBS show called “Outside Beyond the Lens” has drawn our attention of late. Airing on Valley PBS and YouTube over the last four years, this half hour show features a trio of professional photographers led by Jeff Aiello who film primarily in California, but occasionally venture farther afield to places like Iceland, Scotland, and Italy. In particular, we’d like to direct your attention to an episode filmed on the Carrizo Plain National Monument last year, capturing stunning images of a true California Super Bloom. Aiello is an adept storyteller, and it’s our guess that you will be as enamored of this travel show as we are. A simple internet search will lead you to the whole series, but here is the direct link to the episode on vast fields of flowers in the central region of our state.
Photo: Kee Yip
June
Erysimum x linifolium ‘Bowles Mauve’ (Wallflower)
Enews has recently added the hardy and attractive wallflower to their dry garden palette. The genus Erysimum includes more than 150 species, many of which are popular garden plants, particularly the cultivar 'Bowles Mauve’. As its name suggests, this species boasts a lovely light purple flower, bearing masses of them on tall spires, for months on end. It is strongly scented and attractive to bees and many other pollinators.
Why the common name wallflower? The genus enjoys dry, well drained soil, and often is planted in loose wall mortar. If you add it to your garden, be sure to provide it with good drainage, water it moderately for the first year or two, and then add supplemental water about twice a month during the dry season. ‘Bowles Mauve’ can become a bushy evergreen perennial in our location - Enews has seen specimens around Chico that are about 4 feet wide and 3 feet high. Give it room to grow!
July
Monardella villosa (coyote mint)
Many sources claim that the leaves of this perennial wildflower smell like mint. Some may find its aroma rather medicinal, and the plant has traditionally been used to make tea for treating upset stomachs, sore throats, and respiratory disorders.
Monardella villosa is classified as a subshrub (a short shrub that is woody only at its base and bears new, nonwoody, annual shoots above). It is found only in California, save for one subspecies that occasionally appears in Oregon. It is happiest growing in habitats of the California chaparral and woodlands in the California Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada foothills. Its delicate rounded lavender or pink flowers bloom from May through August and attract bees and, in particular, butterflies.
Coyote mint is a nice choice for native plant, natural landscape, and habitat gardens; it is also used for ecological restoration projects. It does best in soil that drains well, and although it is drought tolerant, the quality of its blooms and foliage improves with some supplemental irrigation in the hottest months, particularly in our inland location. It can sprawl and tangle, but light pruning will help to keep it neat and tidy.
Photo: Dry Stone Garden