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Purple Owl’s Clover

Few things are more beautiful than a field of purple owl’s clover. It’s found in the chaparral and along the coast. It can grow up to 18 inches tall. It’s the perfect plant for creating colorful drama in your drought tolerant garden.

Early Garden Color

Purple owl’s clover’s blooming season runs March through May. It’s an annual in the Indian paintbrush family. It brings welcome color in shades of true purple to magenta. The base of the petals can be burgundy. The combination of colors and the way that the petals spread out do make the plant resemble a paintbrush.

Purple owl’s clover grows in clumps of about a dozen flowers. Each stem is covered with long, slender leaves. The plant is technically a shrub. It’s fast growing, so you won’t have to wait long to enjoy its showy beauty. It grows so thickly that the seedlings may require thinning.

Sun and Soil

This flowering shrub loves sun, especially morning sun, but it can grow in areas that get partial sun. For maximum flowers and height, keep to sunny areas.

Purple owl’s clover tolerates most soils as long as it’s in an area with good drainage. It likes rocky soil, sandy soil and clay. Plant it in different areas of your yard for maximum visual effect.

Water

Established plants require little water. It’s important that purple owl’s clover is watered lightly but enough to soak the soil after planting. Your landscaper will also make sure that the planting area is correctly prepared. Correct planting and initial watering will help ensure that purple owl’s clover grows well and is hardy.

Companion Plants

Purple owl’s clover is a semi-parasitic plant, growing with “companion plants” like California peony in the wild. The clover’s roots reach out for the roots of nearby plants to obtain nutrients during drought. For best results and a natural looking garden, plant purple owl’s clover with wildflowers it grows alongside in nature.

Lupine is another companion plant to purple owl’s clover. Planting it, California peony and purple owl’s clover together will give you a gorgeous “meadow” of true blue, saffron yellow and pinkish purple.

A Butterfly Meadow in Your Yard

It’s best to pick a large, sunny area on your property where purple owl’s clover and its companion plants can flourish. The clover is of special importance to the Bay checkerspot butterfly, an endangered species. Bees also seek it out. By making a space on your property for purple owl’s clover, you help pollinators find food and places to lay their eggs.

The borders of your property, along fences and on rocky slopes are good areas for purple owl’s clover.

Purple owl’s clover should be planted in mid-fall, no later than the end of October, so call us today to ensure a beautiful spring garden.

Things to Remember:
• Purple owl’s clover starts blooming in early spring
• It requires careful planting
• It attracts endangered butterflies
• It’s low water and low maintenance

If you need help with creating a beautiful landscaping for your home, contact us today at (805) 773-5395

Elegant Clarkia

Greenbark Ceanothus

Chaparral Currant

Chaparral currant is a refreshing change from succulents and grasses. It’s a gorgeous shrub that, when in bloom, is almost reminiscent of wisteria. The blooms range from pale pink to rosy pink and light purple.

A Colorful, Drought Resistant Beauty

Chaparral currant is a member of the gooseberry family. In the wild, it can grow as tall as 10 feet, but we recommend keeping it no taller than five feet for better bloom production. Chaparral currant has something to offer every drought tolerant garden.

The fruit of the chaparral currant is edible. Currants can be made into jams and jellies and used in other ways in desserts, and the leaves can be added to herbal teas. Always be sure to check with your landscaper before eating fruits from plants that aren’t familiar to you. One type of plant may produce fruit safe for people and animals while the fruit of another plant in the same family may be inedible and even dangerous to people.

One of the most attractive traits of chaparral currant is its blooming season. Chaparral currant often begins to bloom in October and produces fragrant flowers through May. It’s a must for winter color in your garden.

Just the Right Amount of Water

A young chaparral currant can wither away due to overwatering or under watering, so it’s best to let your landscaper handle the irrigation. Once established, the shrub shouldn’t be watered during the summer when it’s not blooming or producing fruit.

Placement in Your Garden

Chaparral currant grows in clay and rocky soil, on slopes and in woodlands. It can grow in sun or partial shade. Like purple needlegrass, chaparral currant likes the environment under an oak tree. Soil with good drainage is important.

Many people plant chaparral currant close to their birdbaths. The shrub is very attractive to birds, particularly hummingbirds. Hummingbirds love chaparral currant so much that they’ll visit your garden even if you don’t have a hummingbird feeder.

Chaparral currant is a good choice to line your walkway because it can grow equally well in the shade of your house and the direct sun of your yard. The fragrant flowers make it a pleasing shrub to plant around your patio. Plant chaparral currant in areas where you and your guests can enjoy watching hummingbirds feeding from the blooms.

Chaparral currant attracts butterflies as well as hummingbirds. The shrub gives tailed copper butterflies a place to lay their eggs, and the foliage feeds the caterpillars.

Chaparral currant provides a much-needed lush, colorful element in drought resistant gardens. Due to its particular watering requirements in its juvenile phase, we recommend the care of an experienced landscaper so that chaparral currant achieves its full beauty. Call or email us to discuss adding this lovely shrub to your garden.

Things to Remember:
• Chaparral currant has specific watering needs in its first year
• It flowers from autumn through spring
• It’s attractive to hummingbirds

Purple Needlegrass

Purple needlegrass is a type of bunchgrass, a wild grass that grows in clusters. It’s one of our most well known wild grasses.In fact, it’s California’s official native grass. What makes purple needlegrass so recognizable and popular?

Burrowing Seeds and Roots

The seeds of purple needlegrass have a sharp end called an awn. The awn helps the seed work its way into the earth, giving the plant the name needlegrass. The awn is so sharp that it’s a common cause of injury to livestock. Be sure to wear shoes around your purple needlegrass, and keep pets away from it.

Purple needlegrass’s root system is far-reaching and can extend as far as 20 feet. It can grow in woodland soils, clay and otherwise barren soil. It’s recommended to improve areas with soil erosion due to its wide-ranging roots and hardy nature.

A Colorful and Resilient Landscaping Grass

The leaves of purple needlegrass remain green throughout the year and top out at around one foot in height. The flower stems grow to two feet in height, making an attractive contrast when the flowers bloom.

Purple needlegrass’s flowers look a lot like wild wheat. They’re purplish-red and almost iridescent in direct sunlight. Although the flowers aren’t the type you’d cut and put in a vase, they’re handsome and add some rich color to your yard in early spring.

Historical and Modern Uses for Purple Needlegrass

Native Americans used the leaves of purple needlegrass for weaving baskets. The California Indian Basket Weavers still use purple needlegrass leaves to teach basket weaving to children.

In addition to replenishing areas with soil erosion, purple needlegrass is utilized to stifle the growth of invasive non-native plants. Planting purple needlegrass can both improve your soil and protect native plants, but for the best growth, don’t plant it too close to other grasses. Your landscaper can help you pick the best places to plant purple needlegrass.

Purple Needlegrass in Your Garden

You can plant purple needlegrass in full sun or partial shade. It doesn’t need much water, but some irrigation during the height of summer will keep the leaves from going brown. Water purple needlegrass once a month during the summer.

Purple needlegrass is primarily used in landscaping as a groundcover. It can be planted under trees for additional visual interest.

Purple needlegrass doesn’t produce the type of flowers that are attractive to bees and butterflies, but it is a very important food source for small wildlife, especially since so many native grasses that wildlife depends on for food have been overtaken by non-native exotic grasses.

Contact us today to learn more about landscaping with purple needlegrass.

Things to Remember:
• Purple needlegrass is ideal for yards prone to soil erosion
• It grows in nearly all soils and in sun or partial shade
• Purple needlegrass is a valuable food source for native wildlife and helps reduce the growth of invasive species

Chamise

Hairy Ceanothus