August and September often bring hot weather, so make sure mulch is in place and irrigation is working. Local and migrating birds are always thirsty, as are many insects, so dishes of water and birdbaths are appreciated and often vital. When seeds appear on plants, especially annuals, the plant considers it has done its job. If you remove the seed heads, you can prolong the bloom period. This is especially true of cosmos, zinnias, marigolds, and coreopsis. I leave many seed heads as I love to see the birds eating them. Autumn blooming bulbs may be planted this month that will bloom in the fall or the following year. These include certain crocuses and spider lilies. Watch the nurseries for these bulbs.
“The California Wildlife Habitat Garden” is a beautiful new book by Nancy Bauer, our local gardening-for-wildlife guru. Published by UC Press, the book is just out and you can find it on Amazon or on the UC Press website. To support our local bookstores, ask them to order it for you.
The book is a paperback and is full of bright photos, in fact there is one on each page or so, which makes for delightful reading. If “habitat gardens” has seemed a buzzword to you for a long time, but you’ve never really known what it means, this is THE book. Nancy has studied the subject for years and her own garden is resplendent with pollinators and birds. She is a known speaker in the Bay area and if you have an opportunity to attend one of her programs, you will come away inspired and motivated to attract more wildlife to your own yard, no matter the size or location. This is not a coffee table book, but a true practical manual on the subject of habitat gardening.
A natural bird feeder is the evening primrose (Oenothera elata hookeri or O. hookeri). The little seedpods are cups full of tiny seeds, which the birds come to all summer. The flowers are large and brilliant yellow and constantly frequented by honeybees, bumblebees and little native pollinators. This primrose grows up to 5 feet tall and is topped by tufts of the striking flowers, which have been blooming continually…and will continue into fall. You can see them growing everywhere this summer, along roadsides, in dry ditches, and meadows. My garden is full of them, both in dry areas and areas that receive daily water. The pods form at the bottom, slowly turn brownish, and dehisce (great word, meaning to pop open and pronounced “de-hiss”), spraying their seeds everywhere. When I have too many, they are easy to pull out. Although called “evening primrose,” they are fully abloom in the early morning and up until almost noon. Ask a friend for a few seeds, or capture them from a roadside ditch. You will love their sunny faces! Scatter the seeds in an area that you consider “wild,” as in a formal garden, and they will reproduce too readily and look “wild”! Although ubiquitous, they are wonderful habitat plants.
The goldfinches are at it again this summer, shredding the leaves on the sunflowers, their “salad course.” I rejoice in the sight of them eating the leaves, as I rejoice when any critter is enjoying the plants I have planted just for them.
The fat toad I saw last fall in my cottage garden and the 4-foot gopher snake I saw three weeks ago by my pond have vanished from my sight. I imagine them, however, basking in my garden or sunning somewhere nearby, invisible to my eyes.
There is no California Native Plant Society meeting in August, but they will start up again in September. Their plant sale is the second Saturday of October, the 13th, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., so…MARK your calendars!
The Windsor Garden Club meeting is from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on August 21.
More Plant Sales: August 18 and 19 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Occidental Arts & Ecology Center holds their Fall Diversity Plant Sale.
The amazing Jail Industries plant sale is held this year on September 8 from 9 a.m. to noon. The Jail Industries often has free plant starts to be used in school gardens. Call 525-8310 or go to scoe.org/jailindustries for more information. Jail Industries is located at the end of Airport Blvd. by the Sonoma County Airport.
Harmony Farm Supply & Nursery holds their Customer Appreciation Day on Sat., August 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s fun, with vendors, food, plant sales, etc.
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. Have a happy and restful August.
