THROUGH THE GARDEN GATE

My little home office is open to my cottage garden by a large
plate glass window. Sitting here to write my column, I end up
staring out the window, not just daydreaming, but watching birds
and pollinators. I planted this garden to not only feed pollinators
but to be able to watch the action without interrupting the
visiting animals. This morning’s sights: an Anna’s female
hummingbird sipping water drops off the columbine leaves, then
moving on to flowers I never dreamed a hummingbird would visit:
borage, yellow evening primroses (Oenothera elata), yellow
hollyhocks, of course the apricot-flowered agastche, even the
sunflowers tempt her. She appears to ignore nothing.
Many juncos are back for the winter and I have spotted a
golden-crowned sparrow already. The juncos and lesser goldfinches
fill the cottage garden in their search for seeds. The cosmos,
Madia elegans (Don’t miss growing madia!) Verbena bonariensis,
bachelor buttons, and bog sage are of special interest. They
continue to shred sunflower leaves, their “salad” course,
apparently. I always plant lots so the birds can go into winter
stuffed full of greens!
Don’t miss the CNPS September program! One of our best
gardening-for-wildlife promoters, Nancy Bauer, will present a slide
program. Nancy wrote “The Habitat Garden Book…Wildlife Landscaping
for the San Francisco Bay Region” and is currently at work on
another book. She is knowledgeable about butterflies and their
larvae and how to attract them. The program on Tuesday, Sept. 20,
begins at 7:30 PM at the Luther Burbank Art & Garden Center at
2050 Yulupa Ave in Santa Rosa. Programs are free and books, posters
and cards are sold, plus there are free refreshments offered.
A new plant for me this summer that has been much visited by
pollinators is Bidens ferulifolia. It’s in the sunflower
(Asteraceae) family and blooms continually with bright cheery
yellow, daisy-like flowers. It trails every which way and smothers
other plants, but doesn’t mind being cut back. It just charges on
ahead. It is really an annual and might be perennial in a warm
sheltered area of full sun. Sunset’s zone ratings list it as
perennial in zones 16-24, which are not in Sonoma County, more East
or South Bay. Mine is covered with little black seeds, so I have no
doubt there will be plenty more next spring if it dies in a frost.
The Melissa Garden honeybee sanctuary, where I first saw it, relies
on it for their bees. It needs full sun, regular water, and a good
three feet square of space. Very easy to grow and very satisfying
to the gardener and the pollinators.
Edible gardening is becoming very popular as people learn more
about how commercial food is grown, with so many chemical
fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides and all the other chemicals
it takes to grow so much food in such depleted soil. Community
gardens are no longer unusual. Information on eating healthy is
available everywhere. Organic food is becoming the norm, although
“locally grown” food is not as common as “organic.” Organic can be
flown in from Chile, Australia, etc. and does not denote local. We
all want bananas with our cereal and I have yet to meet a gardener
with a back yard full of bananas, mangos and papayas. However, lots
of folks are paying attention to the concept as we support our
local growers and the many farmers’ markets. For information on all
related subjects, join igrowsonoma.org to become linked to
available resources in Sonoma County. 
If you have never visited the Melissa Garden in Forestville,
they have two tours available in September and one in October. You
will go home inspired to plant for the bees, butterflies, and other
pollinators this fall. Go to: www.themelissagarden.com to
learn more. They also have a list of all the plants they grow for
the bees.
October is one of the best months to plant CA natives. The CNPS
sale is in October; watch for more information.
Here’s a great website: www.gardeninggonewild.com.
Join it online and read informative blogs from knowledgeable
gardeners. August’s “issue” is full of photos of former lawns, or
“retired lawns,” as they call them.
Please write me at: [email protected].