A DIFFERENT GARDEN PATH

If you're interested in an unusual approach to garden paths, here's an idea I found when I recently visited a landscape I designed several years ago in Fortuna.

 

This path is surfaced with Elfin Thyme, one of the named varieties of Creeping Thyme.  The homeowner told me she initially purchased two 4" pots of the thyme and divided it into several pieces.  She planted these directly into the gravel surface of the path, and the plants have gradually spread to cover the entire pathway.  The thyme makes a soft, springy, green carpet.  It tolerates light foot traffic, but would probably not be as lush with heavier traffic.

I think it makes an inviting, attractive path with a "fairyland" quality.  Wouldn't it be wonderful in a garden with dainty flowers such as Fairy Wand (Dierama) and columbines?
 

RED FLOWERING CURRANT

Now here's a native beauty for the February garden--Ribes sanguineum, commonly known as Red Flowering Currant or Pink Winter Currant. 

This deciduous woody shrub blooms from early to mid-spring, and is an important early-season nectar source for hummingbirds.  The plant generally grows from 5-12' high with an equal spread, and has a moderate-rapid growth rate.  The leaves are bright green.  Both leaves and flowers have a pungent aroma that some people appreciate, though others dislike it.  Even if you don't enjoy the smell, you can still enjoy the generous hanging clusters of dainty pink flowers that provide welcome early color in the garden.  (Varieties with white or red flowers are also available.)

The Red Flowering Currant is one of those native plants that was not initially valued as an ornamental in its native range.  David Douglas, the famous plant explorer of the Pacific Northwest, introduced this plant to England in 1817, where it became quite popular before it was eventually reintroduced in this country.  Now it is considered one of our showiest native shrubs.

COAST SILKTASSEL

 It's January--the holidays are behind us, and we find ourselves in a season of short days and often grey, dreary weather.  The days are in fact growing longer (hooray!), but it will be a while before we can notice it.  At this time of year, we are heartened by signs of new life in the garden, so I would like to suggest a plant that will bring welcome color to the January garden:  Coast Silktassel (Garrya elliptica).

Coast Silktassel grows as a native plant along the Pacific coast from southern Oregon to central California.  It is an evergreen tree or shrub that can grow 10-20' tall and wide.  It grows in full sun or part shade, and requires little to moderate water, depending on location and soil.  Here's a picture of the plant:

 

Coast Silktassel leaves are greyish-green, wavy, and leathery.  The plant starts blooming in late December, and the flowers are unusual and quite showy.  When you see them you understand why the plant is called Silktassel.

 

I took this picture of Coast Silktassel blooms on January 3, 2009 at the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary.  Silktassel has separate male and female plants.  Garden books generally recommend the male plants, since they have longer flower tassels--some as long as 1'.  But the female plants have their own charm, namely, they are the ones that bear fruit!  The fruits are grape-like clusters of fuzzy, purplish berries.  (The berries are very bitter and not considered edible.)  This is what you miss if you only grow male plants:

Last year I was inspired to compose an ode to this unique native plant:

Coast

Silk-

tassel

blooms

dangle

thickly

tangle

in the

wind

subtle

yellow

grey-

green

mauve

intri-

cate

shapes

deli-

cately

articu-

lated.

For a wealth of information on northcoast native plants, visit  www.northcoastcnps.org.