Botanic gardens are a good place to find uncommon native plants. Not only can you see mature specimens, but you can also go home with the ones that are propagated and offered for sale.
Last month's column mentioned the all-native East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Berkeley's Tilden Park, which offers classes as well as a big annual sale of natives in April, small sales of native plants on Thursday mornings from May to December, and winter seed sales on Sundays and Mondays.
Across the hills in Berkeley is another terrific resource for Bay Area native-plant gardeners. The UC Botanical Garden devotes a large section of its garden to native plants, has a small area with daily plant sales, and sells a wide variety of native plants on Thursdays from 10 to 1. The garden's $7 entry fee is waived the first Thursday of the month. Note that the garden is closed for the holidays and reopens on January 7.
The native-plant selection is posted at http://ucbgcn.blogspot.com/, so you can do some research beforehand and figure out what will fit into your landscape. The plants cost $3-18, with most in 1 gallon containers for $8-12, and a few in 4-inch pots for $4. Several plants caught my eye on December's list.
Roger Raiche collected the seed for Ribes sanguineum glutinosum 'Joyce Rose' on Montara Mountain in San Mateo County and named it after his mother. It's a fast-growing shrub that perks up the winter garden with prolific long-blooming dark-pink flowers on arching branches. Another cultivar he propagated, 'Inverness White', has white flowers that develop a rosy cast with age. He collected the seed on Inverness Ridge in Marin County. Plant in part shade and water occasionally.
If you're a UC-Berkeley grad, how can you resist a shrub with light blue spring flowers named Ceanothus 'Berkeley Skies'? You can plant it with other sun-loving drought-tolerant plants that sport golden yellow flowers, such as fremontodendron, golden yarrow, or island bush poppy.
For a slowly spreading groundcover, try Sidalcea calycosa rhizomata (Point Reyes checkerbloom). It easily adapts to garden conditions, from sun to part shade and moist to dry, though it is summer-dormant in full sun. The open-cupped pink flowers bloom in late spring.
Satureja douglasii (yerba buena) is another adaptable and well-behaved perennial groundcover. Though it's not uncommon in nurseries, it's nice to find it in a 4-inch pot. Yerba buena is in the mint family and makes a lovely tea, and in my garden it has stayed fairly contained, seeking shadier and moister spots and retreating from more exposed areas.
Another edible plant is Plantago subnuda (tall coastal plantain). Similar to European plantains, it has broad basal leaves and a foot-high seed spike. Plantain needs water and makes a striking accent in a meadow. The seeds are edible.
Fragrant rose, Rosa woodsii ultramontane, has many fragrant pink flowers that turn into large rose hips, recommended for tea. Plant it in part shade and water it occasionally. Like other thorny thicket-forming plants, it provides excellent cover for birds.
© 2009 Tanya Kucak