Early Summer 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. We have updated and replanted our Native Garden area and the summer blooming perennials and ornamental grasses are beginning their peak bloom season.

Bees, birds and beneficial insects flow from blossom to blossom. Occasionally, we are able to spot a ‘Big Orange Bee’ or BOB, the amber colored, non-stinging, green-eyed male Valley carpenter bee, also known as a ‘Teddy Bear’ bee. To learn about Valley carpenter bees click here. Information about attracting beneficial insects to your garden can be found here (PDF 171kb).

Especially lovely now are the many penstemon and salvia varieties, bluebeard (Caryopteris spp.), hummingbird plant (Dicliptera suberecta), black-eyed susans, daylilies, and coral yucca. A complete plant list is available here (PDF 132kb). Sunset magazine has donated Amistad™ salvia and ‘Silver Shadow’ compact astelia from their new collection of top performing plants for Western gardens for us to test in our perennial garden (see the entire collection here). Come check them out along with all our other great Sacramento water efficient choices.

The garden features natives, commonly available perennials, trees and shrubs along with plants from other Mediterranean climates that all do well in Sacramento County with less water during our long, hot, dry summer days. Most plants are labeled and many are UC Davis Arboretum All Stars.

Master Gardeners will be in the garden from 8:30 to 11:30am on Saturday, June 16 during our next Fair Oaks Horticulture Center open garden and during our August 4th Harvest Day celebration to answer questions and share water efficient landscape growing tips and ideas.

Along the WEL perennial path

	Punica granatum ‘Nana’ Dwarf Pomegranate Pomegranates, natives of Northern Africa, Afghanistan, Iran, and the Himalayas, have been in California since the 1770s. Featured at the entrance to our commonly available garden, this dwarf variety blooms from spring to fall. Small fall ripening fruit is primarily decorative. Mostly evergreen here, it will lose its leaves if frosted. Tolerant of many soil types including alkaline soils, as well as heat, cold, and drought tolerant, it makes a good foundation shrub, hedge, accent or small tree. ‘Nana’ grows to 3' high by 6' wide.
	Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ Black-eyed Susan These brightly blooming sun-loving descendants of eastern American natives signal that summer has arrived. Massed along our perennial walkway they bloom from June through September, especially if spent blooms are removed. Dying back to the ground each winter, they reemerge in the spring from spreading roots that need to be divided every few years.
	Penstemon Hybrid 'Garnet' Beard Tongue Many of these primarily North American natives have been hybridized in Europe since the 1800s and returned to the United States where their popularity is now on the rise. They are drought tolerant, sun loving, showy perennials with tubular flowers in many colors on tall stalks that require well drained soil. Beloved by hummingbirds, they bloom all summer long with deadheading.
	Penstemon Hybrid 'Midnight' Beard Tongue We have at least eight varieties of Penstemon blooming in our garden including the California native Penstemon heterophyllus ‘Margarita B.O.P.’ (a UC Davis Arboretum All-Star) and the Penstemon hybrids ‘Garnet’ and ‘Midnight’ shown here.
	Heterotheca villosa ‘San Bruno Mountain’ California Golden Aster This easy to grow, low growing evergreen perennial native of the San Bruno mountains in the Southern San Francisco Bay area forms an attractive mat of yellow daisy-like flowers which bloom from late spring through summer with deadheading. It needs good drainage, full sun to part shade and is drought tolerant once established. Butterflies are attracted to the blossoms and birds love the mature seed heads.
	*Erigeron karvinskianus* Santa Barbara Daisy These low growing, quickly spreading, adaptable perennials (native to Mexico) are covered with cheerful, long lasting, pink tinged small daisy shaped flowers which start blooming in spring. If sheared back, they rapidly rebloom. They may aggressively spread, but are easily removed. They do best in well drained, sunny locations but will accept some shade and require little water. (In the photo they are paired with Salvia nemorosa, another long blooming, drought tolerant perennial with spiking 2' lavender flower stalks.)