Catching the California Currant

Golden Currant (Ribes aureum) with Anna’s Hummingbird

Photo courtesy of laspilitas.com

It is the Autumn season, and our thoughts turn to the harvest, putting the bounty of food on the table and being thankful for all we have. Yet, I find myself wondering among all this food: where are the native, wild, edible foods of California? It’s time for baking fruit and berry pies. Why not use native California berries? 

Turns out I need look no further than the Ribes family to find a family of wild, edible berry bushes that are native to California. Ribes berries are not only edible, but downright tasty. There are many Ribes species covering the state’s different types of climates and ecosystems, including Currants and Gooseberries. So, no matter where in California you garden, there should be a native species right for you. Ribes can be found throughout most of California.

If you are like me and are planning to grow more berry bushes in your California garden, this is a good time to get started. Autumn is a glorious time of year for gardening: temperatures begin to cool, days are shorter, and rains can begin to soften up the soil. 

Are you starting a wildlife garden? The birds in your garden will find Ribes tasty, too. Some of the birds that enjoy Ribes berries include: California Thrasher, Hermit Thrush, and the American Robin. When you plant Ribes, you welcome the birds to your garden. 

Golden Currant Berries, Ribes Aurem gracillimum, 

Photo Courtesy of Laspilitas.com

Golden Currants, Ribes aureum gracillimum:

Golden Currants make a tidy bush without thorns. A low-growing thicket about 6 ft wide and 3-6ft tall with three-lobed leaves, Ribes aureum has lots of sweet-smelling yellow tubular flowers that are popular with Hummingbirds. Golden Currant berries start out yellow and turn red as they ripen. 

Golden Currants are native to Southern Oak Woodland, Chaparral and Soft Scrub ecosystems, and grow along the coast ranges. In the canyons of Malibu they can cover entire canyon bottoms with their soft yellow color. It is also a good ground cover in tough conditions, such as under oak trees.

Berry-eating birds, like the California Thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum), love the Golden Currant berries in late spring. Beautiful, as well as functional, Golden Currants provide a superior bird habitat. It is an excellent choice if you want to attract the California Thrasher to your wildlife garden.

The California Thrasher is a welcome friend in California all winter long. A non-migratory bird, California gardeners commonly see the Thrasher pecking around in leaf litter for insects with its long, curved beak. In December, the Thrasher can be found enjoying Toyon's bright red Christmas berries in the Chaparral.

Planting Currants will also bring hummingbirds into your garden in spring. Hummingbirds, bees and butterflies are all attracted to the blooms. Even Monarchs love the early spring flowers.  The Golden Currant is a forage source for many butterflies: the Tailed Copper Butterfly, Cloudy Copper, Zephyr Anglewing, and Oreas Anglewing.

Canyon Gooseberries (Ribes menziesii) Photo Courtesy of laspilitas.com

Canyon Gooseberry, Ribes menziesii:

Canyon gooseberry is a drought-tolerant shrub with maroon-purple and white flowers. This species has many forms that are native to the coast ranges of California up to Southern Oregon. This species is deciduous in summer; it will lose its leaves under heat or drought stress. If you water it in the summer, it will die of root rot, but you can water indirectly by planting it 10ft away from a lawn or garden flower bed. Ribes menziesii is great for a bird garden. Do not plant near walkways, as it likes to “catch” passersby.

White Flowering Chaparral Currant (Ribes indecorum)

Photo courtesy of www.laspilitas.com

White-flowered-currant, Ribes indecorum:

Extremely drought tolerant, the White-flowered Currant grows in Chaparral and Coastal sage scrub ecosystems throughout California, from Monterey to San Diego County. The White-flowered Currant can grow to 6ft tall. It is commonly found growing in the shade of large oaks, along seasonal creeks and on north or east slopes. It can survive a harsh (hot & dry) summer environment by going summer deciduous.  After the first rain, it comes out of dormancy. 

In February, the White-flowered currant will bloom white fragrant flowers, which are beloved by hummingbirds, bumblebees, moths and specific native bees. It is great in a bird garden, adjusts well to garden environments, and has tasty fruit.

The list of Ribes family members goes on and on, each providing edible wild berries for humans and birds alike, and acting as a magnet for bees & butterflies in the spring. You may not be used to gardening in late Autumn, but if you are ready to put on your gloves and do some digging in the wildlife garden, you couldn’t make a better choice than Ribes. 

This year, when you stop to be thankful for the harvest laid out upon your table, why not give your California garden a place at the table, too? The birds and the butterflies will thank you, over & over again~

Sedona Hummingbird Festival - 2017

Sedona Hummingbird Festival

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN AMERICA TO SEE HUMMINGBIRDS!(SM)

When: THIS YEAR'S FESTIVAL WILL BE JULY 28-30, 2017

WHERE: SEDONA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (SPAC)

located at Sedona Red Rock High School

995 Upper Red Rock Loop Road

Sedona, AZ  86336

Presentations:  3 days of presentations by hummingbird experts from around the world 

"Birds & Blooms" Hummingbird Garden Tours:  Each ticket valid for two days, permitting a self-guided garden visit at your own schedule one or both days. This allows you to visit the gardens and spend as much time as desired but still see lectures on the opposite day. 

Birding Trips:  Birders will have the opportunity to visit different habitats, Page Springs Fish Hatchery and Oak Creeek Canyon, with others being considered; tickets are reasonably priced, but reservations are required because of extremely limited capacity. Trips are led by the Northern Arizona Audubon Society. 

The Sedona Hummingbird Festival is always held around the end of July, when Sedona's hummingbird population is highest and most diverse—5 or even 6-7 species instead of the usual 2—and with typically five times the number of hummers as in early summer. Thanks to Sedona's high altitude of 4,500 feet, they escape the intense summer heat experienced in more southern parts of Arizona.

Arizona is already well known as the top state for seeing the most hummingbird species (a fact that Texas disputes, of course). People travel great distances just to see Arizona's hummers. But Sedona also has Red Rock Country, and that makes it even more desirable to come hereto see hummingbirds. Is there a prettier place in America to see hummers?

For more festival info, visit: http://www.hummingbirdsociety.org/gardentour/

Thanks for caring about our winged friends!!

@nativegardener

Yoga in the Garden

                                photo credit Kathy Vilim, Topanga Canyon, California

Warrier 1, shifting to Warrier 2, moving through a Sun Salutation, my bare feet planted on my yoga mat…  I breathe in deeply.  Familiar smells from the canyon reach me – ocean breezes blow over Sage and through Eucalyptus – Even with my eyes closed, I know where I am.  I know this place by its familiar scents. And I find calm in that familiarity.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hummingbird appears right in front of my face!  He is hovering there in mid-air, looking at me, wings beating furiously fast, creating a sort of whirring noise.  I can’t help but laugh and, of course, lose my Warrier!  The hummingbird is there to tell me his feeder ran empty.  There is a pause in my practice as I look over at the empty feeder hanging from a tree in my garden, and I know I cannot ignore my winged friend.  I can afford to take a moment out for him – after all he and his buddies bring me so much entertainment with their antics over the course of the day. When I come back outside holding a full feeder of ruby-colored liquid, I find the hummingbird perched on a slender branch waiting patiently.  Really, I need not worry that he would starve – there are so many blooming plants for him here in my canyon garden. One of his favorites is the native: Nicotiana (or Tobacco Plant) with its long, yellow, tubular flowers.  No, the feeder is more a reflection of my own selfishness, wanting to keep him coming around to entertain me.

So How Do I Make a Yoga Garden Exactly? Read More Here

Published in Whole Life Magazine April/May 2017 Issue~

Celebrating the Great Western Monarch Migration

Photo Credit: Kathy Vilim, Monarch Butterfly on Willow Bush

~Orange wings against blue sky, floating effortlessly high above us…their flight is so Free! Watching Monarchs fly makes our spirits fly free, too~

Pismo Beach, California:

The Amtrak train (at Grover Beach Station) lets off a good hearty whistle, as I step out onto the platform with my sister, Jeanne. We have traveled some 175 miles north to the Central Coast from Los Angeles to experience the Annual Western Monarch Migration.  Loaded with supplies for a couple of days of camping, we walk outside into the fresh ocean air and make our way northwest on Pacific Coast Highway to the Butterfly Grove of Pismo Beach. It is a short walk alongside the railroad tracks, and our campground is located just next door.

Migration of the West Coast Monarchs:

It is Autumn and the Great Monarch Migration is underway.  Most of us have heard of the Great Annual Migration of the Monarchs, where the butterflies travel as far as 4500 miles from Canada south to the overwintering grove in Michoacan, Mexico. But few people know about the Migration of the West Coast Monarchs.  The Monarchs that live west of the Rockies (California, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico) do not need to make the long journey to Eastern Mexico to overwinter.  Instead, they choose to fly to groves on the Central and Southern California coast where the climate is just right for their needs. These groves are some of California’s natural treasures, and how the Monarchs find these groves is one of the many Monarch mysteries.

Of the more than 400 overwintering groves along the Pacific Coastline... READ MORE 

As published in Whole Life Magazine February/March 2017 issue.

Winter Rains Bring Poppy Blooms~

                            Antelope-Valley-California-Poppy-Reserve-blooms

             I wanted to share this: Story by Amy Graff, http://m.sfgate.com/

The winter rains could trigger a poppy explosion in the California desert this spring.The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve outside Lancaster has received the minimum amount of rain, 7 inches, to make a vibrant bloom possible. The weather over the next couple weeks will determine the future of the sprouts. A late freeze, a heat wave or a three-week stretch without rain could wipe out the bloom.

"We need the rains to continue on a regular basis to maintain the bloom," California State Park Interpreter Jean Rhyne says. "That's really what they need. With the past years of drought, there isn't a lot of moisture built up in the soil. If we'd had several years of good rain and enough moisture content in the soil, the plants would be growing early enough to carry them through a freeze or heat wave. The roots needs to be deep enough for them to tolerate extreme conditions."

At this point, Rhyne says the outlook is good but she won't make any guarantees and advises against making travel plans if you're only point of a visit is to see the poppies.

"In years' past, we spot that we have enough rain, we spot that conditions are perfects, we publicize that we're going to have a great bloom and people make plans and then something happens at the last minute," she says. "We really can't predict how good the bloom is going to be because there are so many factors out of our control."

If Mother Nature cooperates, the bloom would likely start late February and peak mid-March and Rhyne says it's definitely worth the trip "Poppy blooms are incredibly beautiful," she said. "If we have a good year, the orange is so bright that it's almost blinding."

The most recent super blooms of poppies were 2008 and 2010.

For information about all of the California State Parks in the Tehachapi District.

Now that the Sierras are Filling Up with Snow

                                          Cactus in the Snow, Photo by @RootedHope

Now that the Sierras are filling up with snow, can Californian's relax their new drought gardening practices?  Some people are quick to latch onto the news, but really especially here in Southern California there is no reason to go back to the old gardening ways. Native plants are the answer to our gardens. Most Southern California native plants are drought tolerant, because they belong here in our climate, with our sparse rainfall and our hot summers. So we are on the right track with our new drought-tolerant front yards.

What we can do is maybe relax a bit on uncomfortable water restrictions, such as taking a bucket in the shower with you and doing the 3-min Navy-type showers. In some places, such as Catalina Island, that is still the norm.  Catalina has no water piped in from the Sierras. It gets its water from two desalinization plants.  So water restriction is very serious there.

Happy New Year! Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!

http://fw.to/I48D0VU #drought #water #CA

A Child's Christmas in Wales, by Dylan Thomas

          A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS IN WALES
a story by Dylan Thomas, read by the poet, himself, in 1952

The timeless classic story of Dylan Thomas's childhood Christmas memories. "All the Christmases roll down toward the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street; and they stop at the rim of the ice-edged, fish-freezing waves, and I plunge my hand in the snow and bring out whatever I can find."

Dylan Thomas's lyrical account of his childhood Christmases in a small Welsh town, featuring wolves, bears, hippos and Mrs Prothero's cat, has become deservedly famous. Beautifully illustrated by award-winning artist Edward Ardizzone, this classic edition is beloved by fans of Thomas's work and a perfect Christmas gift for young readers building their own childhood Christmas memories:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Childs-Christmas-Wales-Five-Poems/dp/0060514671/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1482527678&sr=8-2&keywords=dylan+thomas%2C+A+child%27s+christmas

If you get a chance to get the book, do stop and read to your kids. Meantime, here is a YouTube Video (at 54mins) of this wonderful Christmas Tale which I read each year. Hope YOU enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTSQYdBuZY

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Kathy Vilim
@nativegardener