Wild Strawberries

Above: Woodland Strawberry

California has two native strawberries: Woodland Strawberry (Frageria vesca ssp. californica) and Beach Strawberry (Frageria chiloensis). As you might expect, the woodland strawberry grows especially well in wet lightly shaded areas, it grows fine near turf grass. Beach strawberry can grow in full sun (though in particularly dry years it may need some summer water to look its best), and it can grow in sand or other areas with good drainage.

Beach or Sand Strawberry helps in dune stabilization. Both species have asexual propogation techniques i.e. they form a colony with runners that grow new leaves that attempt to root and then spread on. They can both spread out into a large area, given enough time. Or, a small clump of leaves with incipient roots can be planted in a new location, kept wet and a new plant begins its spread outward.

They both produce white flowers followed by small sweet berries which are certainly edible but you may wish to leave them for the birds who will consider them a real treat. Some birds even eat the leaves of strawberries. Birds that like strawberries include Robins, Quail, Goldfinches, Thrashers, Towhees, and Scrub Jays.

In Central California, both may begin blooming in March or April.

Frageria vesca california grows in the Southwestern U.s., in shady foothills and other locals where shade and moisture give it the habitat it requires.

Besides being native in California, Frageria chiloensis grows natively all along the West coast of South and North America. Folks who like native plants from their own area may especially appreciate those which grow only in their state, or even their very own local, but many of us also appreciate and enjoy those natives that have a broader range of natural growth. Sand strawberry is such a lovely ground cover, I'm glad to know it florishes all up and down the coastline of the Americas.

Below: Beach Strawberry

Ceanothus in Bloom

California Liluc


March is usually the prime month for Ceanothus blooms, and this year is no exception.

There are a lot of varieties from trees down to ground covers,evergreen or deciduous, medium to tiny leaves, blue flowers or white. Most all of them are perfect for an area with a long dry summer, but will likely die if given summer water when it's hot. It's especially a good idea to start these to take advantage of the rainy season's water then pretty much leave them alone during the summer. Maybe if they begin getting a few yellow leaves give them some water at night or on a cooler day. If the soil is well-drained they may tolerate bit more water. From personal experience I'd advise not to plant in April or May and expect to keep them alive unless you plant in the shade and water only a very little bit.

Some think of Ceanothus as short-lived, but this is likely only true if they are given summer water or soil amendments, otherwise they should live 20-25 years.¹

Pruning is an issue you will need to consider early on, unless you plant the ground cover or shrub varieties far away from anything else. If you leave pruning them too long, you will find that the underneath branches have died back and will not regrow leaves or flowers. So, if you do want to keep the plant from getting overgrown keep an eye on it. Or, plan your plantings so that everything is far enough apart that pruning isn't necessary. Ceanothus is fast growing.

Yankee Point is one of the most commonly used in the garden, and easiest to find. Dark star is an especially lovely dark blue/purple color. Snowy flurry is white, but there are 50 Ceanothus species in North America, 41 in California. They have adapted to various soils, climates, and elevations, since California has much climatic and geological variety to which they have adapted. In this diverse landscape several endemics have evolved that only grow wild in very limited locales. ²

The flowers, which bloom for about a month, attract bees, hummingbirds and butterflies. They also have the reputation of being attractive food for deer. However, this is less likely to be true of local species (small leaves especially), and when they are not watered or fertilized. Some native Americans used the blossoms as soap or shampoo - when wet the flowers do create a kind of lather when rubbed between the hands and are apparently cleansing.

The Chumash, one of the native societies that lived in what is now San Luis Obispo County and as far south as present-day Malibu, were more interested in the wood of the Ceanothus plant. In spite of all the varieties they must have encountered, they only distinguished the white blossom varieties from the blue blossomed varieties. The blue-flowered (washiko) lasted a long time in the ground so they used it in building fences, corals, and for poles used in sacred ceremonies. Washiko was often used to make digging sticks. They would choose a stick about four feet long and a little less than two inches in diameter. After the point was shaped, it was then hardened in alternating fire and water until it was sufficiently hard. Then it was often weighted with a stone with a central hole which was twisted up at least a foot from the bottom.³

Ceanothus is a lovely and easy plant for a drought tolerant garden.


¹Carol Bornstein, David Fross, and Bart O'Brien, Californa Native Plants for
the Garden, (Cachuma Press, Singapore,2005).

²David Fross and Dieter Wilkin, Ceanothus, (TimberPress, Inc. Portland, OR,
2006).

³Jan Timbrook, Chumash Ethnobotany, Plant Knowledge Among the Chumash People of Southern California, (Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2007).

Wildflowers

Interesting lecture(as usual) by our own Matt Ritter, Botany Professor at Cal Poly on Wildflowers of San Luis Obispo County. He told us that our county includes 3,616 square miles of land but 1,850 different species in that area.

He quoted David Orr who said, "By the time young people enter college they’ve seen thousands of hours of television, four hours and some minutes per day on average. As a result, one study has shown that college students could identify a thousand corporate logos but fewer than 10 plants and animals native to their own place. So we’ve become not only consumers, but hugely ignorant of the terms by which we live on the Earth." New Perspectives Quarterly

Dr. Ritter showed photos of various wildflowers and also told stories about many of them. An interesting one is Goldfields (Lasthenia california, L. gracilis). There are two distinct species that botanists cannot tell apart morphologically (physical form and structure), but the pollinators do, because they each have their own. I guess their DNA is different hence two different species.

David Douglas tramped through San Luis Obispo County in 1830 gathering plants, seeds, and information. He began his plant exploration in what is now Monterey County down into what is now Santa Barbara County. Along the way, he discovered Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophilia menziesii), which soon became a favorite in English gardens. Peak at Book about Douglas

A unusual native wildflower is the Beach Primrose (Camissonia cheiranthifolia). It only releases it's pollen when the flower is vibrated at a certain frequency by a certain bee.

Native Sons just sent out email that their open house for the year will be April 17, 8am - 3pm. They suggest people bring carts or something for the plants they might wish to purchase.

A Keystone Species

The Kangaroo Rat - A Keystone Species


What is a Keystone Species? It is a species that plays a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community and whose impact on the community is greater than would be expected based on its relative abundance or total biomass. source

The native Kangaroo Rat, a keystone species, was described today by Dr. Francis Villablanca, Associate Professor of Biology at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, spoke at the Morro Bay Natural History Museum.

The Kangaroo Rat(Dipodomys heermanni)is found throughout California and the local subspecies commonly called the Morro Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys heermanni morroensis), is on the endangered species list and hasn't been seen in decades. It was native to the Los Osos area.

Several other subspecies are also endangered. They are very amazing and interesting both in their abilties and in their impact on the ecosystem. They are solitary, build tunnels in sandy areas, and have the ability to jump up and while in the air use their tail to turn their body so they are moving in a completely different direction. This technique makes them very difficult for raptors to capture them, especially since their hearing is very acute. If they hear a raptor overhead, they leap up change direction, and keep this up moving in a very unpredictable way as they change direction with each leap.

The Kangeroo Rat is considered a keystone species because when their numbers decrease or increase all kinds of other species (who are dependent on them) decrease or increase too.

A long term study of Kangeroo Rats in Arizona show how dramatic are the effects of this rodent. A fence was built some twenty years ago to prevent the kangeroo rat from crossing the barrier. The desert shrub land became grassland as the tunneling and seed gathering of the kangaroo rat was prevented. Six species of mice increased in the arid grassland, and seed-eating bird populations that need bare places for foraging were reduced.

They are also the primary prey of the also endangered Kit Fox(Vulpes macrotis).



Read more about Keystone Studies in Arizona

More about Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat

Falling Floods

"Falling floods cascade to carpet the already wet ..."



A poem I wrote decades ago seems in order in the City of San Luis Obispo which has now received over 30 inches of rain since July 1, 2009.

The hills are all a stunning green, and most everything is growing at a stupendous rate, or to great heights (weeds and annuals). However, some plants may not be faring so well. If you planted unwisely or too optimistically with regard to drainage, your plants may have suffered.

Salvias (sages) may have suffered. As Bornstein, Fross and O'Brien say in California Native Plants for the Garden, "Our native sages, without exception, are plants of dry places." My one year old Salvia Pozo Blue is reputed by Las Pilitas Nursery, to survive 7-35" of rain. However, it did not in my garden. Even the Celestial Blue, which was 2-3 years established looks in shock, though it may recover.



Eriogonum giganteum are reported to be adaptable but prefer well-drained soil. A somewhat established one planted in sand and behind a retaining wall near a drop of three feet, bringing gravity to bear, fared well. A new one planted four months ago in clay where there is not much of a slope died quickly.

Another buckwheat, Eriogonum crocatum, about which sources disagree on how adaptable it is, was planted in both sand and clay. One was planted in sand, three in clay. Only the one planted in clay closest to the water valve on the rain barrel died. The others are delightfully coming into their lime green flowers (top photo).

Bottled Water

Why it's not a good idea

If you read none of this article, do watch the trailer for the documentary Flow. Please!



Water is big business in the U.S., in fact in the world. It is not a surprise that bottled water is omnipresent. Don't worry, the first four links that come up in a search for bottled water are sites that are sponsored by the bottled water industry. But that doesn't make it a good idea.

In 1998 it was a 4 Billion Dollar industry, now in 2010 it is a $425 Billion Dollar a year industry. If you buy it, you are paying between 240 and 10,000 times more than you would be paying for tap water. If you pay $2.50 for a liter, you are paying more for water than for gasoline. Some of the bottled water contains contaminants, some of them dangerous. Bottled water regulation has gaping holes and oversight is severely underfunded both nationally and in most states.

Culligan filters tap water and resells it according to this article.

On the other hand, tap water is quite well monitored throughout the U.S. Although there is a great deal more data on tap water, it does not follow that all of it is good drinking water. But nevertheless, since there is so little oversight of bottled water, there is no reason to believe that bottled water is safer just because it comes in a bottle. In fact FDA rules for bottled water are more lenient than rules in the European Union.

Read the summary of a study about bottled water vs. tap water. A lot of my facts are from this article from the Natural Resources Defense League.

Commercial water is becoming a political issue in various locations. The problem is that the commercial ventures collecting and bottling the water are often removing water that should belong to the residents. This has been reported as true of Fuji water for example.

There was a recent article in Mother Jones about Fuji, and the documentary "Flow" ( view trailer) was how people in the U.S. and in third world countries are being cut out of water by huge multinationals who want to privatize (read productize) water.

There are problems with some tap water, but it is much better to get the local water fixed rather than just use bottled water instead. Only those who can afford it can purchase, it is not necessarily safer, environmentally it is a poor answer, and it is expensive.

The manufacture of bottles also can cause release of phthalates, and other byproducts of plastic-making, into water, air, or other parts of the environment. And, ultimately, many bottles will be added to already overflowing landfills or incinerated, potentially adding to our environmental problems.

The following facts were compiled by a site that mostly discusses the disadvantages of plastic bags while shopping.

• Americans will buy an estimated 25 billion single-serving, plastic water bottles this year. Eight out of 10 (22 billion) will end up in a landfill.
  -- Container Recycling Institute


• Bottled water is a rip off - consumers spend an estimate $7 billion on bottled water in US each year.


• Worldwide 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year.
  -- OneWorld


• 1.5 million barrels of oil is used annually to produce plastic water bottles for America alone - enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year.

-- Earth Policy Institute

• Imagine a water bottle filled a quarter of the way up with oil. That's about how much oil was needed to produce the bottle.
  -- National Geographic

What if you don't like the taste of your local water? Install a filter on your tap, this can be easily installed on your kitchen tap for the cold water, and your bathroom too.

Another idea that I personally have used for about two years is a CO₂ dispenser to make sparkling water. The dispenser costs about $120, and you do have to buy the canisters regularly. The company I use includes the return UPS label, so it's a simple matter to return in the box the new one came in.

We figured out that I save over $300 per year this way, as I would normally have consumed 32 oz. per day. The main reason for doing this however was to save energy - the oil used to transport and to make the plastic bottles.