Berberis spp. (BERBERIDACEAE) Barberry
Grown by Betsy Clebsch in La Honda: 
Berberis hookeri, Himalayan Barberry, is rarely seen in gardens. It’s a good-looking, compact, 3’ to 4’ mound of glossy foliage that’s dark green above and almost frosty white beneath. The young foliage is coppery red. The leaflets have spines along their edges and the stems have wicked, inch-long thorns. In spring, clusters of soft yellow flowers hang at the leaf axils. Black/purple, oblong berries follow. It wants sun to light shade and moderate irrigation. B. nevinii, Nevin Barberry, is native to chaparral and coastal scrub of southwestern CA. It is nearly extinct in the wild now as only a few, scattered, small populations are known. It’s a large, dense, upright shrub with blue-green leaves divided into 3-5, very spiny leaflets. It grows 6 to12’ tall and wide and is covered with masses of bright yellow flowers from February to May. These are followed by masses of beautiful, translucent, scarlet berries that don’t last long if there are any birds around. It’s very drought tolerant but looks better with monthly irrigation during summer, very cold hardy, not picky about soil, tolerant or heavy pruning though usually none is needed, and wants full sun to part shade.

Ceanothus x ‘Gentian Plume’ (RHAMNACEAE) California Lilac
Grown by Jean Struthers in Los Altos Hills: 
This cultivar originated as a garden seedling and was introduced in 1974 by Ken Taylor Nursery in Aromas. Its parentage is unknown, but David Fross says it has many traits that suggest C. cyaneus was involved. It’s very fast-growing, capable of reaching 6’ to 8’ in its first year and eventually becoming a 20’ x 20’ shrub. It has large, 2 ½”-long, glossy leaves. Throughout spring, it produces impressive, branched, 8”- to 14”-long sprays of dark, gentian-blue flowers. These need to be pruned off right after the blooms fade, otherwise it quickly produces new growth beyond the old inflorescences leaving awkward, long sections with no leaves or branching. Light pruning of its vegetative growth is also needed to contol its ranginess. Large cuts are slow to heal and vulnerable to fungal infection. Overwatering will shorten its life, otherwise it is durable and easy to grow. Ceanothus roots, in concert with a soil microbe, form nitrogen-fixing nodules to feed themselves and enrich the soil for their neighbors.

Cuphea x ‘Starfire’ (LYTHRACEAE) Starfire Cuphea
Grown by Elizabeth Garbett in Los Altos Hills:
‘Starfire’ is a hybrid of C. ignea and C. angustifolia, natives of central and southern Mexico. It was bred in Phoenix and introduced in 1995 to be marketed as a flowering plant for containers and greenhouses. It’s reported to be hardy to 25° F though, so we should be able to use it in the garden. It’s a small, evergreen, rounded shrub to 2’ H x 3’ W with 3” long lanceolate leaves. They develop a bit of bronze color with cold weather. It blooms most of the year with showy, rosy red, 1”-long, tubular flowers with 6, reflexed, lavender petal lobes surrounding the mouth. The 2 upper lobes are larger and paler in color than the lower 4. Hummingbirds, butterflies and bees love them. It’s a colorful, tough plant that wants regular water and full sun or some afternoon shade.

	Davidia involucrata (NYSSACEAE) Dove Tree, Handkerchief Tree, Ghost Tree

Davidia involucrata (NYSSACEAE) Dove Tree, Handkerchief Tree, Ghost Tree
Grown by Niki Muller in Portola Valley: 
Armand David, a French missionary and naturalist, was the first westerner to describe this endemic of Central China in the mid-1800’s. It’s a somewhat fast growing, deciduous tree that you can expect to reach 40’ tall with a 30’-wide, rounded canopy, although specimens up to 70+ ft. are known. It blooms in spring after it has leafed out. Inconspicuous, pom-pom like flowers are held between a delicate-looking pair of pure white, uneven bracts up to 7” long. They hang in profusion from the branches and flutter with the slightest breeze. It needs room to grow, regular irrigation, and good drainage.

Iris ‘Omar’s Eye’ (IRIDACEAE)
Grown by Elizabeth Garbett: 
Arilbred irises are hybrids of the often intricately marked but difficult-to-grow aril irises from desert areas of the Middle East crossed with tall bearded irises. The goal is to produce flowers that look like arils but are easier to grow. They are rhizomatous and need a dry summer dormancy. ‘Omar’s Eye’ was introduced in 2000 and has won several awards since. It’s light lavender with darker veining. The falls have white bases and beards and small violet signals. It has multiplied amazingly well for Elizabeth.

Ledebouria cooperi (HYACINTHACEAE) Striped Squill, Zebra’s Squill
Grown by Katie Wong in San Jose:  This small, winter dormant bulb is from damp grasslands of Eastern South Africa where there is summer rainfall. It has 3- to 5”-long, glossy, olive green leaves with dark purple pinstripes from tip to base. They stand very upright with the short racemes of flowers blooming among them in spring. The small, starry flowers are bright pink and nicely scented. Within 5 years, it will form a nice colony about 1 foot across. Give it some shade and lots of water during growth, and keep it on the dry side during winter. It tolerates light frosts.

	Mimulus puniceus (PHRYMACEAE since 2002) Red Bush Monkeyflower

Mimulus puniceus (PHRYMACEAE since 2002) Red Bush Monkeyflower
Grown by Richard Tiede in San Jose: 
It is a 2 to 4’ tall x 3’ wide, shrubby perennial that’s native to Catalina Island and Southern CA into Baja. It has a pair of narrow, sticky leaves and a pair of red, trumpet-shaped flowers at each node. The stems continue to grow and bloom profusely over a long season. It needs light pinching and pruning to produce shapely, balanced plants. Pruning often brings a second wave of blooms as well. Hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees love them; they are drought tolerant but better with monthly deep irrigation; happy in sun to light shade and in any soil; and are very deer resistant. Richard’s has been growing happily for 5 years in partial shade at the periphery of an oak tree.

Podophyllum peltatum (BERBERIDACEAE) May Apple
Grown by Dick Dunmire in Los Altos: 
May Apple is native to the eastern half of North America where it grows 12 to 18” high from rhizomes that form large patches on the floors of deciduous forests. Their emergence is the first sign of spring for Easterners. Mature, flowering plants have 2, or sometimes 3, round leaves, 1 ft. in diameter, deeply divided into 5-9 lobes, and attached to their stems at their centers like an umbrella.  They have a single, 2” flower in May at the junction of the leaf stems. It is nodding, pleasantly scented, with 6-9 white petals and pale yellow stamens. Cross-pollination is required to produce its fruit, a large berry that ripens lemon-yellow in August, usually about the time the foliage is dying down. The fully ripe fruit can be eaten in moderation without a problem but all other parts are very toxic which, naturally, means that it has medicinal uses. It’s an easy, dramatic ground cover for shade in humus-rich soil with regular irrigation.

	Rosa banksiae ‘Alba Plena’ (ROSACEAE) Lady Banks’ Rose

Rosa banksiae ‘Alba Plena’ (ROSACEAE) Lady Banks’ Rose
Grown by Liz Calhoon in Los Altos Hills: 
Lady Banks’ roses are in their glory right now. Liz’s is covered with clusters of small, double, white blossoms with a wonderful fragrance. The rest of the year, it will be a huge, green shrub that will quickly cover any arbor, fence, house or bank. It’s disease and pest free, nearly prickle free, and usually evergreen for us.

Tiarella cordifolia ‘Pink Symphony’ (SAXIFRAGACEAE) Heartleaf Foamflower
This foamflower is a charming, winter deciduous, woodland plant from eastern North America. Heart-shaped leaves with 5-7 lobes rise directly from the rhizomes to form a clump about 7” tall and 10” wide. From April to June, small, star-shaped flowers bloom in airy racemes held just above the foliage. They open from bottom to top and have lots of long, slender stamens giving a delicate, feathery look. In ‘Pink Symphony’, bright pink buds open white. It’s leaves are deeply lobed with an inky dark blotch along the mid-veins. It’s easily grown in moist, humusy soil in morning sun to heavy shade. It spreads by short rhizomes and, in time, can form a large colony making it a useful, no-foot-traffic ground cover for shady gardens.

Tropaeolum brachyceras (TROPAEOLACEAE) Little Bird, Little Yellow Soldiers
Grown by Jackie Doda in Mountain View:  This is a native of central Chile growing from the coast to 6500 feet up the Andes in areas that average 15 inches of rain per year concentrated in the winter months. It’s a small, vining plant to about 5 ft. that sprouts from a hard, round tuber when rains begin in late fall. It blooms from early spring until warm weather sends it into summer dormancy during which it needs to be kept dry. It’s like a miniature nasturtium covered with rows of solitary, soft yellow flowers with dark red markings in the throat and on the spur. Its a dainty, small-scale climber that’s perfectly suited to live here with no special care except sun or a little shade and an unirrigated area of the garden. It does, however, have the disconcerting habit of taking time off and just won’t bother to put in an appearance some years.

Wisteria brachybotrys (W. venusta) (FABACEAE) Silky Wisteria
Grown by Niki Muller: 
Native to woodland edges in East Asia and Japan. It has relatively short, compact clusters of white flowers that open all at once in early spring just after Chinese Wisteria. The individual flowers are large and sweetly fragrant. It’s probably the most fragrant wisteria. Older plants are especially prolific bloomers. It has softly hairy, pinnate leaves and will climb vigorously to 20+ ft. It needs full sun, moderate irrigation, and no fertilization.

Jackie N. Doda

References: Am. Hort. Soc. A-Z Encyclopedia, Botanica, Flora, Sunset Western Garden Book, and various websites.

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