Photo by Neilhooting
Ceanothus is one of my favorite shrubs in my beautiful wildlife garden and is often called California Lilac or Wild Lilac. If you’ve ever thought of native California shrubs as boring, you’ve never met this one. Ceanothus is the ultimate shrub for a beautiful wildlife garden.
There’s a huge variety of hybrid California Lilacs on the market ranging from ground covers, to low shrubs to high bushes. But the native ceanothus never needed improvement at all.
Photo by Hortulus
This evergreen blooms with profuse blue intensity that it never fails to dazzle the eye. When you come across this native in its natural state, it’s hard to remember that this shrub wasn’t bred by man. In fact, ceanothus is considered unrivaled by any other shrub genus in color.
This wild lilac has a couple more goodies in store for the native gardener; deer-resistance and drought-tolerance. While a hybrid variety might suffer some deer damage, the natives do not. And once ceanothus has been established in your landscape, it needs little to no watering from you.
Photo by Jim Downing
Bees, hoverflies, and hummingbird moths are some of the wildlife that this native shrub supports. Birds will sometimes use it for nesting or more often as shelter.
For gardeners on the West Coast, ceanothus is one of the top choices for a beautiful wildlife garden.
Chris’ suburban farm and beautiful wildlife garden is located in northern California.
Late summer is the season when many of our beautiful wildlife garden perennials, trees and shrubs come into their own. Colorful foliage, deep colored berries and the bright blooms shine against the rest of the fading summer garden. One of my very favorites blooming now is the American native wildflower Heliopsis helianthoides, commonly known as ‘Smooth Oxeye’ or ‘Oxeye Sunflower.’ What a show!
With a mature height ranging from two to six feet tall with stiff branching stems and bright yellow flowers that resemble the rays of a sunflower, Heliopsis is common both to American prairies and the Eastern United States. A perennial, it’s hardy from zones 3 to 9 and tolerates soils ranging from sand to clay, forming a neat, drought tolerant clump that blooms with abandon in full sun or part shade starting in mid-summer. (For the best show, grow Heliopsis helianthoides in full sun and slightly damp sandy loam soils.)
A member of the aster family (Asteraceae), Heliopsis is a lovely must-have addition to your beautiful wildlife garden! The sunny blooms persist for more than two months in the garden and are wonderful long-lasting cut flowers in arrangements. Unlike true sunflowers, the petals of Heliopsis won’t fade and drop, keeping the plant looking tidy. Each flattened, cone-shaped center produces seeds you can save for planting and sharing; they should be collected after the petals have fallen and the centers have blackened completely. (Please be sure to leave some seeds for the birds in your garden…they love them!) Saved seeds germinate easily and can be started indoors in late winter/early spring or direct-sown outdoors in late spring.
Aside from its hardiness, drought tolerance and long-lasting beautiful blooms, I grow Heliopsis in our beautiful wildlife garden because it’s also a nectar source for butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. Ours are currently being frequented by a variety of bees as well as monarch and white admiral butterflies. Beautiful blooms, ease of care, drought tolerance and a beneficial nectar and food source… don’t you just love native plants?!
