“I have some large compost bins, which produce a lot of compost. Can I plant things in pure compost, or do I need some “dirt” with inorganic materials for the best results? How much inorganic material do I need?” Question from Naomi or Oakdale, California
Answer: Congratulations on your composting success! Compost is one of the best garden amendments available. You can plant in straight compost, but I suggest incorporating it into your sandy garden soil or mixing it with other additives if you want to use it for container plantings.
Compost as a Garden Amendment
When using compost to fortify gardens, incorporate it evenly into your natural soil. Add it liberally if your soil is of very poor quality–especially if you want to grow crops that need fertile soil, like fruits and vegetables. You might also consider building raised beds to make the most of your compost bounty.
Compost as a Potting Mix Additive
If you plan to use your compost for container plantings, include other additives to encourage better root growth in the long term. These include Black Gold Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, perlite, and vermiculite. The peat moss with lighten the mix and give it more structure and porosity, while the perlite will help increase drainage. Vermiculite holds water, adds porosity, and holds and distributes nutrients. A well-rounded potting mix would include 40% compost, 30% peat moss, 20% perlite, and 10% vermiculite.
“When is the best time to prune Buddleia?” Question from Angie of Fort Bragg, California
Answer: In your coastal Mendocino County location, I would cut your butterfly bush (Buddleia spp.) back when your cool, wet winter hits. Butterfly bush does not look its best when chillier temperatures hit, even though it remains evergreen to semi-evergreen where you live, so prune it back by 1-2 feet once it stops blooming well, and its leaves start to flag. This will also make your garden look tidier during the chillier months and result in a more compact shrub. And, because it blooms on new wood and grows post-pruning quickly, you can feel confident that the shrub and flower buds will not be harmed.
Another factor is that butterfly bush self-sows prolifically and is considered invasive in your area. Pruning it back and removing its old buds before seedset will also reduce the chance of spread in your garden and beyond.
“I grow Bletilla orchids in my Southern California garden. Do you know of others that don’t need cold? I’m interested in having some more hardy orchids in the ground outside.” Question from Sandra of Thousand Oaks, California
Answer: When thinking of good hardy, terrestrial (ground) orchids for your Southern California garden, seek out area nurseries that offer greenhouse-grown local native orchids or adaptable non-native orchids. You are fortunate to have a fantastic resource in your area, the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. They recommend several potted and ground orchids for outdoor growing in the Santa Barbara, California and the surrounding area. (Click here to view their outdoor orchid list for beginners.)
They recommend Stenoglottis species and hybrids for in-ground growing where you live. Stenoglottis is an African orchid genus with many types able to withstand your climate. The vigorous, hot-pink hybrid Stenoglottis ‘Venus Jamboree’ is very pretty and comes highly recommended. Give it filtered light and soil with good moisture during the growing season (allow plants to dry between watering during the winter months). You can cultivate them as potted or in-ground plants. Either way, I recommend fortifying their soil with Black Gold Just Coir to increase water-holding potential. (Click here to read about some of my favorite hardy terrestrial orchids. If you can grow Bletilla, you may also be able to grow some of these as well.)
“Some tips please – I planted a Hydrangea, and it lasted just a couple of weeks. I love the plant and would like to try again. Help!” Question from Rita of Dinuba, California
Answer: Hydrangeas are lovely when they are blooming at their prime, but many can be finicky, especially when it comes to soil and moisture levels. I see that your city has a USDA Hardiness Zone of 9, and Sunset Climate Zone 8. Your hot, arid summers and cool, wet winters don’t favor the needs of standard mophead or lacecap hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla). These survive in USDA Hardiness Zones 5-11, but they are really moisture-needy plants.
This doesn’t mean that you lack options. There are three possible solutions to consider.
1. Plant the tougher, more drought-tolerant panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) in a protected spot in your yard and give it lots of care through summer. There are many beautiful varieties, such as the large, bushy ‘Limelight‘, which has greenish-ivory flowers, and the compact ‘Pinky Winky‘, which has ivory blooms that darken to deep pink as they age. I suggest planting panicle hydrangea in a partially shaded location on the north side of your home and amending the soil heavily with organic matter. Black Gold Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss and Black Gold Garden Compost Blend will really boost levels of water-holding organic matter. Follow up with a 2- to 3-inch layer of fine bark or leaf mulch to reduce surface evaporation. Try to plant your hydrangea where it will be protected from the midday sun. Even though this hydrangea is tougher, it will still need to be irrigated regularly throughout summer.
2. Attempt to plant a mophead or lacecap hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) as you would the panicle hydrangea but give it even more water and care.
3. Plant a variety of the California Lilac (Ceanothus spp.), which is native to your state and has bold clusters of violet-blue or white flowers that rival those of hydrangea. The variety ‘Concha has extra pretty violet-blue flowers, and the flowers of the compact ‘Mill’s Glory‘ are forget-me-not blue. California Lilac would be the easiest option because the plants are best adapted to your climate. (Click here to read more about growing California lilac.)
I tend to divide the world into two kinds of people: those who walk or drive down a street, oblivious to their surroundings, and those who notice everything, especially cool gardens. The latter group often dreams of strolling through gates and peaking over fences into the lush backyards and courtyards of others. If you notice everything (and of course you do), spring or summer is your lucky season for garden tours, private or public. And, if you lack garden tours in your community, consider creating your own!
Types of Garden Tours
The gardens included on tours are often private but can also be public and include speakers.
Garden tours are usually organized or offered by garden clubs, garden societies, and or public gardens. Some benefit causes like school gardens or educational scholarships or community beautification projects. Other tours, such as native garden tours, have an educational goal. Still, other tours are just for the fun of it. I went on a first garden tour more than 25 years ago. Since then, I’ve attended dozens, held my own garden on tour many times, and designed tours for the public.
Starting a Community Garden Tour
If you are innovative and know lots of other enthusiastic gardeners, you can start your own garden tour in your community. That’s just what I did. In 2005, I was first asked to head a tour for my community, the Encinitas Garden Festival & Tour. Then in 2010 an annual self-guided walking tour of over 23 private gardens (a school garden, a butterfly vivarium, and even a fire station garden) was created where I live! Thousands now attend the event, which also features a marketplace of vendors selling plants, pots, tools, and garden soil (like Black Gold®), and close to a dozen talks on gardening topics.
Our tour is unusual in its size and scope, but if you develop and host a tour annually, it will surely grow. Typically, a new garden tour features four, five, or maybe ten gardens on a driving and walking tour. For the price of admission, attendees generally get a map of the garden locations and a description of what makes each one special, in addition to garden access. Garden hosts are at the ready to help attendees better understand the plants, development, and overall design scheme of their gardens. Each tour will be as unique as its community. As it grows, so can its offerings.
The Dos and Don’ts of Garden Tours
Whichever tour you choose to attend or host, here are some dos and don’ts:
DO
Buy tickets ahead of time, so you know where to go, and so organizers can anticipate how many people to host.
Wear comfortable shoes. (I’m always amazed to see high heels teetering down a garden path.)
Wear sunscreen, a hat, and bring a bottle of water — common sense.
If you have trouble walking or negotiating rough surfaces, inquire about the garden accessibility ahead of time. This is especially essential for people in wheelchairs and parents with children in strollers. Many private gardens are not designed for public access or ADA compatibility.
Get an estimate of how long it might take to visit the gardens, so you can plan your day.
With tours where there are just a few gardens but lots of people, expect some lines. Be patient. While you wait, strike up a conversation with the person next to you. You may learn an interesting gardening tip or, at least, make a new friend.
Leave the dog at home. Fido may adore the walk but garden owners won’t be appreciative.
Bring a camera! Bring a camera! Bring a camera! And a notebook.
DON’T
Pick flowers, collect seeds, or take cuttings. Taking anything from a garden without permission is, well, stealing. If you see a plant you like, take a photo or note its name. Take that information to your local nursery.
Go into areas marked as being off-limits. There is a reason they are marked that way.
Try to visit a garden that is not on the tour, even if it looks absolutely fascinating.
Criticize a garden. Their owners work hard to prepare for your visit.
Then once you enter each garden, take a good attitude and have a good time! After you complete your garden tour, your next step should be to go home and implement some of your new garden ideas using Black Gold®!
Cistus ‘Brilliancy’ is a low-fuel-volume shrub with lovely magenta flowers.
You can fight fires with flowers. When landscaping around high-fire-hazard homes, the key is to think about minimizing fire fuel volume, or the amount of burnable material that plants provide to oncoming fire. For example, a pine tree has a huge fuel mass, but a sage plant, with its lovely lavender-blue flowers, has negligible fuel mass.
To further understand the concept of fuel mass, imagine the plant on fire. The overall flame produced is roughly three times the plant’s height; the greater the overall mass and size, the greater the fuel volume. (Chemical composition also play a role in fire susceptibility. For example, creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) contains many resinous, volatile oils that are highly flammable.) This demonstrates the problem with woody trees and shrubs that are taller and have enormous fuel volumes.
Plants for Firescaping
Native penstemons are timed for winter and spring bloom and gone by the fire season. (Maureen Gilmer)
The good news is that annuals, perennials, biennials, and low-growing shrubs are all better landscape candidates for firescaping. Ornamentals below 2-feet in height are better choices for areas with fall or winter fire seasons. Early frosts often cut these plants back, or the heat of late summer makes them listless in the arid West. Many western natives are also fully dormant by fall, an adaptation that allows them to withstand the dry heat and drought of this season. Once the plants have died back, gardeners can cut them back to further reduce fuel mass around the home.
Some flowers are also fire resistant, but are these the best for the arid West? Scientific research has yielded data on plant fire susceptibility and fuel mass with simple testing. The tests are done by placing plant samples in a furnace and timing how long it takes for them to catch fire and burn. This makes no allowances for weather, wind, and topography, so in a real fire situation, the test results may be deceiving. All plants burn in catastrophic wildfires. The ” fire-resistant” plants may simply ignite a second or two later than non-fire-resistant plants, so gardeners should not worry about just planting fire-resistant plants.
The key is choosing drought-tolerant landscape plants that also have a low fuel volume. What you can grow locally is dictated by your rainfall and winter cold. You must choose plants adapted to your growing region. Every elevation and geographic area will have its own list of suitable native and non-native herbaceous flowers and subshrubs that fulfill both the fuel height and drought requirements.
Select Flowers for Firescaping
Avoid shrubs and plant blooming succulents, like rock purslane. (Maureen Gilmer)
These are just a few select perennials for starters. Any of these will grow best with drip irrigation in the arid West. You might also plant spring bulbs and wildflowers, which are already naturally adapted to survive fire due to their seasonality; they bloom and grow in the low-fire season. Succulents are also recommended because they contain so much water, they rarely burn. In wetter areas, low fuel volume options include bearded iris (Iris hybrids), sea thrift (Armeria maritima), and many other beauties.
To boost flower production in your newly planted low-fuel-volume flowers this year, generously work Black Gold Garden Compost Blend or Just Coir into the soil to increase water holding capacity, drainage, and fertility. This superior growing amendment is also OMRI Listed for organic gardening.
This garden features the best drought-resistant, low-fuel-volume flowers for firescapes. (Maureen Gilmer)
Planting to Reduce Fire
The commonly used term for firescaping, “planting for fire”, is actually an oxymoron. It should be “planting to reduce fire”. The less fuel there is, the safer you are, but homeowners in high fire zones should not be afraid to have beautifully landscaped gardens. Human beings want beautiful home landscapes with diversity and color, so the hyper-safe fuel-free parking lot approach is not appealing to anyone. Instead, think it through yourself, select wisely chosen low-fuel plants, then start flower gardening in your high-fire zone today.
The final caveat is what’s lying on the ground. Thick leaf litter and duff ignites quickly from embers, then smolders for many days afterward. So, another key to fire survival is managing the property so these organic accumulations remain thin or absent. You can also reduce unnecessary top growth. Cutting back plants at the start of fire season should be an annual ritual for reducing overall fuel loads.
There are no easy answers to the new wind-driven fires in the American West, and the future is uncertain. What we can do is realize that survival can rest in your landscape. Plant the flowers you love, explore new plant discoveries, and choose anything else with low fuel volume, so you are ready to fight fires after the flowers bloom.
Arctotis ‘Louise’ is a tough, cool-colored perennial that’s good for firescaping.
This relative of hollyhock loves growing along the dry edges of cactus and succulent gardens.
The American Southwest is rich in wildflowers, and a few have proved to be exceptional choices for arid gardens. When wildflowers perform well and are beautiful, they are ideal candidates for home landscapes filled with existing drought-resistant plants. They also make exceptional problem solvers in desert gardens of cacti, succulents, and rocks where many other wildflowers fail to thrive.
The Big 5 Western Wildflowers
Parry’s Penstemon (Penstemon parryi)
Fast to grow from seed, this amazing heat-tolerant short-lived perennial is a great plant to seed into succulent gardens in fall.
This is one of the biggest most exciting late-winter bloomers for Southwest gardens. Super tall, delicate stems lined with hot pink flowers are produced. The plants are incredibly vigorous from seed sown in the fall and bloom in the first year. Full sun exposures and soils with limited fertility and rapid drainage are required. Once the plant has finished blooming, it produces a low rosette of leaves. This wildflower is reliably hardy to USDA Hardiness Zone 8. Flowers are bee pollinated.
Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri)
Matilija poppy is an enormous wildflower that thrives in full sun and sandy dry soils.
A California native, this is among the largest perennial wildflowers with an affection for sandy ground. Big snow white blossoms with a golden ball of stamens resembling a fried egg cover the stems in spring and summer. The large, spreading subshrub reaches 5 feet in height and width and is reliably hardy to USDA Hardiness Zone 8. Flowers attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.
Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa)
Brittlebush has golden spring flowers. (Image by Sue)
This is a more cold-hardy southwestern perennial that is reliably hardy to USDA Hardiness Zone 7 and ideal for foothill sites and rocky terrain. Mounding blue-gray foliage and bright yellow spring flowers offer reliable landscape appeal. Brittlebush is especially vigorous and has the constitution of a cactus, making it a desert garden staple. Offer it full sun and well-drained ground that is slightly alkaline. Flowers attract bees and butterflies.
Desert Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua)
This relative of hollyhock loves the dry edges of cactus and succulent gardens.
Vivid wands of orange flowers and silvery scalloped leaves make this 1-3′ subshrub stand out in spring, then die back in summer, much like Parry’s penstemon. It reportedly has the largest flowers and most drought tolerance of all the desert mallows. This wildflower is allergic to summer water, but reliably cold hardy up to USDA Zone 6, making it a good choice for gardeners in middle elevations of the Southwest ranges. Flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
California White Sage (Salviaapiana)
Over-harvested to make smudge sticks, this perennial is proving quite adaptable to gardens.
A very long-lived subshrub that’s popular for smudge sticks, California white sage produces stems of small white (sometimes pale lavender) flowers and all parts emit a curious catty odor. The fragrant oils protect these beauties from browsing by rabbits and other herbivores. Summer drought is required for garden success, and plants will survive in USDA Hardiness Zone 8, if provided full sun and dry, well-drained ground. Flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Western Wildflower Culture
What seems to be the single unifying cultural requirement of all these plants is a need for porous soil. They are known to grow on rocky cliffs or sandy washes where their roots are free to travel far and wide. Very little water lingers in the soil in these locations, and what does sinks deep down. Gardens with heavy soils and clay cannot support these plants. Only when grown on slopes or rocky outcroppings can these wildflowers survive the rainy season. On rocky ground, the water runs off so fast, the rootzone remains dry.
The key to growing them in heavier soils is creating beds with a combination of elevation and aeration. Raise the plant up above soggy ground in an island of porous soil. To achieve this you need a retaining wall, raised planter, or planting pockets created between loose boulders or wells of stacked dry stone. Fill the cavity with super fast-draining Black Gold Cactus Potting Mix. Make larger amounts of aerated fill, combining equal amounts of Black Gold Cactus Potting Mix with sandy garden loam. Mix thoroughly in a wheelbarrow before filling your raised beds or garden pockets.
Water applied to plants in these pockets will pass through quickly to the dense soil below. Because clay is slow to absorb water, it will gradually hydrate and provide moisture for the roots to tap into during the heat of summer. This method is also helpful where it’s hard to keep plant root zones dry enough due to summer rainfall.
Brittlebushes are rangy subshrubs and among the most drought-resistant of all desert species.
Barrel cacti, agave, and echeverias are all bold succulents for droughty landscapes.
Whenever there are statewide water cutbacks in California, everyone has to rethink some of the plants in their home landscapes. Rather than viewing this as a tragedy, make it an opportunity to dive into some of trendiest plants filling gardens of the rich and famous. If you’ve always wanted that great, clean succulent garden look, there is no better time to make the change.
In the past, most gardeners planted annual flowers for pockets of color. Instead, plant these same spaces with exciting and colorful succulents. This is a great idea for high-profile areas around outdoor living spaces, pools and spas, or courtyards where you can enjoy their diverse beauty up close and personal. Be prepared to treat them as annuals, if you live in a frosty climate. You can also overwinter them indoors. Just dig and pot them up at summer’s end to green up indoor rooms all winter long.
The Best Soil for Succulents
The single biggest problem with succulents in traditional gardens is too much water caused by over irrigation in slow-draining clay ground. Too much water rots succulent roots and stems—killing plants quickly. Solve the soil dilemma by creating pockets of Black Gold Cactus Mix potting soil to improve rooting conditions. Do this with larger succulents by replacing the soil one hole at the time. You can provide even sharper drainage by amending mixes with additional Black Gold Perlite.
Sometimes succulent pots need extra water-holding amendments, especially when irrigation cutbacks start drying out your planters. Black Gold Cactus Mix has just enough water-holding capacity to keep roots growing well.
Jewel-box succulent container garden
Planting Succulent Beds
Once your soil and pots are prepared, its time to bring the vibrant echeverias, festive flapjacks, and ever-popular black aeoniums into your yard. If you’re planting a six-inch potted specimen, dig your hole twice as wide and half again as deep as the nursery root ball. Puncture the natural soil at bottom of the hole numerous times with a piece of pipe or rebar. Go as deeply as you can to provide miniature sumps that encourage filtration and keep water from accumulating at the bottom of the hole. Then fill with potting soil, and plant away.
Planting Succulent Containers
If you have a built-in masonry planter, create a close-range jewel-box garden. This term is used for the vivid succulent gardens that are as colorful as the contents of grandmother’s costume jewelry box. Here you can plant a lovely rainbow of kalanchoes, flowering aloes, and geometric crassulas. When you add hardy sedums and sempervivums, they’ll survive through the coldest winter to anchor next year’s display.
Remove the top foot of soil in the planter and replace it with cactus potting soil, then arrange your colors in drifts or swaths of small bright plants. Accent them with sparkling slag glass, driftwood or special rock minerals and crystals for an exciting jewel-box look.
Although this California drought is a disaster for many, it may be the catalyst you need to replace water-intensive plants with exciting new succulents. In the beginning, you may not know their names or their ultimate forms, but over the coming months, you’ll learn to recognize them and get a feel for how each grows. Though we are often averse to change in life, it’s often the doorway to our greatest accomplishments.
Are you a failed wildflower grower? Growing California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), lupines, Coreopsis, and five-spot (Nemophila maculata) in the arid West is downright tricky. We sow them, and they refuse to sprout. It’s rare they return for a second season. So, what’s the problem?
First off, these western species are ephemeral annuals, meaning they live for just one season then go to seed before summer. Most of them need the full extent of our brief winter rains to get a head start on completing their life cycle prior to the long drought to come. Therefore they should be sown by Christmas to receive the rain that is essential for early spring bloom. Yet all too often they are sown during the planting frenzy of spring, which is far too late in much of the West. This leaves too short a season for them to become established and finish their life cycle.
I always caution gardeners in California and other hot, dry summer areas not to plant in summer. Plants just don’t adapt very well when it is so hot. Instead, it is better to plan in summer and plant in winter.
That said, there are a few groups of plants are best planted now, one of which is the South African bulbs. These plants adapt to their hot, dry native habitats by dropping their leaves and sleeping through summer. That means, that summer is the best time for bulb growers to dig them and ship them, whether to the store or to your door. In fact, mid-July to September is the only time you’ll find South African bulbs for sale on a large scale.
Which bulbs am I referring to? Glad you asked. There are dozens of South African bulbs that are beautiful, fantastic, easy garden plants. In frost-free climates, they can stay in the ground year-round, as long as they don’t get too much water in summer.
Their colors, shapes and sizes are fantastic. Plant them now, and you’ll have a kaleidoscope come spring. Here are a few to start with. They all prefer full sun, fairly well draining soil, are drought tolerant, and best planted now, while bulbs are dormant:
Watsonia fulgens (Image by Stan Shebs)
Bugle lily
Bugle lilies (Watsonia spp.) make large clumps of sword-shaped leaves, two to four feet tall. Flowers form on long, stalks, and typically in shades of orange, salmon, coral, clear pink, raspberry, or white. They make excellent cut flowers. These are wonderful pass-around plants, too. After the foliage fades in summer, dig up too large clumps and share your spares.
Harlequin flower
Harlequin flowers (Sparaxis spp.) are smaller stand about a foot tall. Flower stalks are topped in single, star-shaped, almost cupped flowers in yellow, orange, or deep cherry, with a contrasting “flare” at the base of each petal. Once established, harlequin flower spread by seed as well as by making new bulbs. So, a few bulbs soon naturalize. They are easy to thin, but don’t throw away the spares. Share with a friend or plant elsewhere in the garden. Harlequin flowers bloom earlier than bugle lilies.
Gladiolus tristis (Image by Andrew Massyn)
Yellow Marsh Afrikaner
The yellow marsh Afrikaner (Gladiolus tristis) has narrow, almost grass-like leaves that stand about eighteen inches tall. Its yellow-ivory blooms are subtle but beautiful. They bloom as early as January in my San Diego area garden. In the late afternoon, they release a sweet scent lovelier than any perfume.
Sword lily
Sword lily (Gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus) has a larger stature than its cousin the Afrikaner. Its broad, green blades stand nearly two feet tall. Blooms are larger and hot pink. Not so hot to send you running for sunglasses, but hot enough to be the star attraction during their bloom. Sword lily bloom begins just as yellow marsh Afrikaner fades.
Gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus (Image by Meneerke Bloem)
How to grow
Growing these bulbs could not be easier. Plant in 3’s, 5’s, or other odd number clusters. Dig a wide hole, deep enough for the bulb to sit a few inches below soil level. Allow several inches between bulbs, more for larger bulbs. Mix a small amount of Black Gold Garden Compost Blend, a sprinkling of bone meal, and a handful of Black Gold Earthworm Castings into the hole. Place each bulb root side down. The flat end is the root end, the pointed end is the shoot end. Cover with soil and water to settle the dirt around the bulb.
As the days grow shorter in October you’ll notice bright green spears poking up through the ground. Those are your new bulbs reaching for the sky. They’ll keep growing until, one by one, each patch of bulbs bursts open in its amazing, colorful glory.
Once flowers fade, cut the stalks to the ground but not the foliage. While leaves are green, they make energy to store in the bulb in preparation for next year’s bloom. If you cut the leaves off before that process is done, your bulbs will likely die.
The final caveat is what’s lying on the ground. Thick leaf litter and duff ignites quickly from embers, then smolders for many days afterward. So, another key to fire survival is managing the property so these organic accumulations remain thin or absent. You can also reduce unnecessary top growth. Cutting back plants at the start of fire season should be an annual ritual for reducing overall fuel loads.
If you have a built-in masonry planter, create a close-range jewel-box garden. This term is used for the vivid succulent gardens that are as colorful as the contents of grandmother’s costume jewelry box. Here you can plant a lovely rainbow of kalanchoes, flowering aloes, and geometric crassulas. When you add hardy sedums and sempervivums, they’ll survive through the coldest winter to anchor next year’s display.
