Wildlife Habitat Garden in Southern California

I love wildlife gardening myself. Plants are great, but they are even better when the attract wildlife! It adds the element of activity and drama to the garden.

For a wildlife garden, you need plants of different sizes for different functions. One of the best investments you can make in attracting wildlife is to plant a native oak, such as a Quercus engelmannii or Quercus agrifolia. If your garden is not that large, a scrub oak, Quercus dumosa, will be more in scale. Oaks are special as they support more wildlife species and life forms than any other plant--by far! Their ecosystem value is unprecedented. Hundreds of species of organisms have evolved and developed relationships with native California oaks. 

Live Oak Quercus agrifolia

So you have your oak planted, what next? Make sure you have a source of water. I know that "water" is not a plant, but when you think about it, water is a scarce commodity in Southern California. Gardens with a water source will definitely attract more wildlife. 

Hooded Oriole in water feature

Now we need a diverse selection of plant material to either serve as nesting locations, sources of food, or sources of shelter. It is true, if you plant it, they will come! I have built many wildlife gardens, and it never ceases to amaze me, the increase in numbers of wildlife species, once the plants are in and growing. If you have a small property, selecting plants with numerous benefits for wildlife is key in maximizing a wildlife garden. For example, planting a native grape, like 'Roger's Red' on a chain link fence will eventually feed bees with pollen, and feed birds, and other wildlife, with fruit. Tiny bees in the Halictidae Family are often not seen, but are important pollinators for this, and other native plants. The tangle of vines can also house nesting birds. It is important to be a messy gardener if you want to provide opportunities for wildlife. Unpruned trees and shrubs provide the density of structure that can keep a nesting bird safe from predators. Also, stacks of branches and/or rocks can house reptiles and other wildlife.

Vitis 'Roger's Red'

Another favorite native California tree for wildlife is the California Sycamore. Did you know the fuzz found on the backside of the leaves is a major nest-building material for Anna's hummingbirds? If you have the room, plant this tree too. Another small tree option is Prunus ilicifolia. This slow-growing tree has spine-tipped glossy green leaves and is a beautiful plant, but when you think about the wildlife it attracts, it becomes even more valuable. It has flowers, fruits, and thorny cover for birds. Do you know the Toyon or Heteromeles arbutifolia? This is a great drought tolerant plant. If you have a smaller garden, use this plant as a tree with the Quercus dumosa as another small tree. Toyon is great as it has flowers in the spring that feed many small insects and bees, plus fruit in the fall for the migrating birds. The tree structure can provide nesting sites too. 

California Sycamore Platanus racemosa

Attractive Arctostaphylos trunks

A step down from a "tree" size plant is the shrub Berberis nevinii. This wonderful blue-green evergreen plant has thorny leaves that protect nesting birds, and copious small blooms for a wide variety of insects. This shrub becomes loaded with small, choice, ripening fruits later in the year that feed many bird species. Another shrub for a deep soil location is Frangula californica or Coffeeberry. This plant likes a little more water than the plants I have previously mentioned, but once again is multi-purpose wildlife attractor with flowers, fruit and cover. I have never seen so many species of pollinators and small native bees on one blooming plant, as this one attracts. Mistakenly known to be fickle or short-lived, Ceanothus, especially Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman' is another one with valuable and popular flowers and fruit, plus it is a gorgeous plant! Longevity can be improved by allowing the plant to go dormant in the summer. Native gardens are not complete without some species or selections of Arctostaphylos. The tiny urn-shaped blooms feed hummingbirds in the winter. This red-barked evergreen is so attractive in the garden. Another bonus with these plants, is many act as caterpillar host plants--so food for baby caterpillars too!

Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman'

Smaller shrubs like the evergreen Galvezia speciosa or Island Snapcracker bloom often and are an important hummingbird plant. Another drought tolerant shrub, that is popular with both hummingbirds and bees is Peritoma arborea, with gorgeous golden blooms even when other plants are suffering from drought. No wildlife garden is complete without at least one Salvia. Salvia apiana is a beautiful white-foliaged plant with wands of tiny white flowers popular with hummingbirds and bees alike. Salvia munzii is a small shrub that is drought tolerant and also tolerant of gardener-applied summer water. Salvia clevelandii is native to our area. Other small native shrubs, like Mimulus and California fuchsia, also feed hummingbirds and bees. If you like hummingbirds, Calliandra californica must be included in your wildlife garden. This red-flowered plant is rarely out of bloom and is a dependable nectar source for hummingbirds. Broadcasting poppy seed in the fall will make many native bumblebees happy. Abutilon palmeri is also a "must have" plant, known for its ever-blooming nature and its silver felty foliage. 

Salvia clevelandii

Epilobium canum ssp. latifolium

Abutilon palmeri

Here are a few smaller plants that really attract bees. Salvia 'Bees' Bliss' is a big magnet for bees. I found a "super plant" this summer, while hiking. This little unassuming plant was literally covered in all sizes of bees and wasps. Croton setigerus is its name, and it is often called "Dove Weed." It is a low-growing plush-leaved plant with tiny white flowers. Notice the tiny bright blue wasp in the photo! The next plant is Grindelia stricta ssp. venulosa, and it is loved by bees. It is also long-blooming if it gets a little additional water. One of the best bee-attracting plants is in the last photo of Phacelia tanacetifolia. This is an annual plant that gets constant bee attention. 

Croton setigerus

           Grindelia stricta ssp. venulosa

Phacelia tanacetifolia

I hope this little introduction to native California plants that attract wildlife is helpful. Nothing excites me more than to see wildlife in my garden attracted by the plants I bring in, and the wildlife-safe organic gardening practices I follow. Do the plants have to be native plants? No, but because the native plants and the local wildlife have evolved together and optimized their relationship through time, I believe the greatest benefit for local wildlife is provided by native plants, especially local native plants. Realistically, I have had some challenges growing California native plants, and I tend to trust the less "finicky" species because I do not like garden failure. All of the plants I introduced in the above blog are of this variety. Hey! Take it slow if you want. Just start with one native plant, and hopefully, it will lead to more. The activity it brings into your garden is addicting and exciting!

Bombus vosnesenskii on California Poppy

Plant it for the Bees: Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman'

Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman' is one of our most reliable, and garden adaptable, native shrubs/trees. This cultivar, is a blending of the coastal, Ceanothus griseus and the Catalina Island tree, Ceanothus arboreus. Developed in the late 1940s it has become a well known and dependable performer in the California coastal garden. Ceanothus griseus gives the leaves of the tree revolute leaf margins and bluer flowers than C. arboreus alone. This vigorous and fast-growing plant can attain 10 feet in a couple of years in my experience, and can

top out at about 20 feet tall and almost as wide. The buds will fool you because they are pinkish, but open to medium blue, large clusters of small flowers, that make you say, "ahhh."A large mature tree in full bloom is a sight to behold, and it will have you calling up local nurseries scrambling to find Ray, otherwise known as, "Mister Dependable." The reason it is an old, widely planted, and commonly occurring ceanothus or California lilac is because Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman' will not "up-and-die" in typical garden watering regimes like other species of Ceanothus are known to do.

Remember, Ceanothus are pioneer plants, and survivors, and for the most part cannot tolerate watering that doesn't resemble the precipitation rates of their native habitats. Ceanothus 'Ray Hartman' seems to be a bit of an exception to this rule--especially--when it is newly planted. It will gladly accept most watering and reward you with luxuriant growth. The fast growth comes at a price, however, and causes problems like shorter life span, wind throw, and the aborted development of strains of the symbiotic filamentous bacteria, Frankia. Ceanothus sp. are actinorhizal plants that fix nitrogen with the help of root-forming nodules of Frankia, much like the more familiar legumes and rhizobium bacteria.

Strains of Frankia are widespread and persistent in California soils even without the host plants being present. They are also important in many other ecosystems where nitrogen is limited. Pioneer plants are important to fix nitrogen, so that other plants can get established in depleted soils. In Southern California, frequent fires deplete nitrogen and Frankia are important to hasten the reestablishment of populations of plants. Studies in southern California have identified 12 distinct strains of Frankia. Climate, geographic location, soil pH, and host species present are all thought to influence the identity of Frankia strains in a given area. Birds and water are known dispersers of Frankia. The bacteria also form relationships with other pioneer plants in the Genera: Alnus, Rhamnus (Frangula), and Eleagnus.  Unfortunately, when Ceanothus are pampered, Frankia have low levels of nodulation, this was shown in several greenhouse experiments that failed to yield the high rates of the sought-after intercellular infection of Ceanothus roots.

High Frankia infection rates improve growth, foliar nitrogen, and survival rates of Ceanothus. Because of this, it may be best to give Ray a little tough love and don't pamper him too much. Ceanothus have a undeserved reputation for being short-lived. Ceanothus tend to live longer and don't flame out at a young age when their irrigation rates are tempered.

While trees in full bloom are the stuff of dreams for humans, bees share that enthusiasm. To see a tree in bloom is to hear the excited buzzing of many bees gorging themselves on the bounty found in the little tiny flowers. Ceanothus are hands-down among the most favored bee plants in the California garden. I grow them as much for the anticipated hum of bees, as for the beauty of the blue corona of flowers. Non-native honeybees, as well as, native bumblebees, and native Halictid bees are big fans, and come from far and wide for an opportunity to partake. In the words of UC Berkeley urban bee entomologist, Dr Gordon Frankie, "Bees adore this plant!" Flowering Ceanothus are excellent and important pollen sources for bees. In my garden I consider it my duty, as well as, my pleasure to provide the finest that nature has to offer for my pollinators--especially for my bees. Ceanothus species do so many things well: they provide ravishing beauty, exceptional pollen for bees, and the fruit feed many species of birds. Plant Ceanothus and instantly attract wildlife that make your garden so much more than just pretty plants!