April in the Water Efficient Landscape Gardens

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Now is the time to visit the water efficient landscape (WEL) demonstration garden at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, which is open to the public seven days a week.

Our garden is AWAKE and dressed up for spring! Especially lovely are the Spanish lavender, pink redbuds and Jupiter’s beard. Contrasting lime green euphorbia blossoms, orange California poppies, golden Carolina jessamine and white potato vines dot and accent the walkways and patios. Brilliant blue rosemary and ceanothus blossoms abut fresh green perennial leaves pushing out of the mulch, budding shrubs and trees. Flowering spring bulbs welcome sprouting ornamental grasses. Beneficial insects and bees flit from blossom to blossom while birds keep watch from above.

The garden features natives, commonly available selections, with perennials, trees and shrubs from other Mediterranean climates that do well with less water in Sacramento County. Most plants are labeled and many are UC Davis Arboretum All Stars.

Master Gardeners will be in the garden to answer questions at the workshop on May 18.

April in the WEL

	Scilla peruviana Peruvian Scilla This summer-dormant bulb with enchanting, long lasting spring blooms that attract bees is a native of the Iberian peninsula, Italy and North Africa, not Peru. (Carolus Linnaeus in 1753 was mislead by the name of the ship, Peru, which delivered original specimens to him to name.) It requires sun, good drainage and little summer water, and will naturalize.
	Iris douglasiana Iris Pacific Coast Hybrid Pacific Coast hybrid irises are the descendants of years of hybridizing (by plant breeders since the 1920s) using the wild iris, Iris douglasiana, found primarily along the coast from southwestern Oregon south to Santa Barbara. Many of these hybrids grow well with little maintenance in well drained soil, with low summer water and shade from the hot afternoon summer sun. The white "Canyon Snow' is a UC Davis Arboretum All-Star.
	**Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii Mediterranean Spurge** The lime green flower heads of this relative of the poinsettia start blooming in late winter and can last into early summer. Growing to 3 feet tall, they prefer full sun and little summer water. Contact with the milky sap often causes dermatitis, and care should be taken when handling, especially around children.
	Ceanothus griseus horizontalis 'Yankee Point' Wild lilac
	Lavandula stoechas 'Otto Quast' Spanish lavender This showy, shrubby lavender, thrives in our sunny, dry climate. A favorite of bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects, it starts blooming in early spring. It is another UC Davis Arboretum All-Star.
	Eschscholzia californica California Poppies