Yesterday I was in my backyard and the sun was shining, the wind was calm, and winter was nowhere to be found.
My view of Mt. Gorgonio looked like it did this summer – beautiful but bereft of the snow that fell on it just a few short weeks ago when the only real measurable rainfall to hit the Morongo Basin quickly came and went. It was precipitation that was desperately needed, especially for Los Angeles County. But a few inches isn’t enough to sustain Southern California through a rapidly approaching spring and summer.
However – some of my plants did seem to appreciate the extra drink of water. A prickly pear in my front yard perked back up after the rain, demonstrating the power of deeper watering for native plants. I hand water most of the native plants at my house, which I usually pair with a weekly listen to the Unique Garden Show with Mike Branning.
Mike runs the Unique Garden Center in Yucca Valley, and every Saturday morning he comes on for a half hour to talk gardening in the hi-desert and what’s buzzing around the basin when it comes to the things we have in the ground.
For instance on a show I was listening to from early February, Mike talked about preparing for a dry year with water-wise plants like the “matilijia poppy…”
Mike Branning: “It’s also called the ‘fried-egg’ plant. You have the yellow yolk in the center and it’s all white around there, that’s exactly what the flower looks like. They are semi-indigienous to the area. I have seen them out around Pipe’s Canyon. They are drought tolerant and they can grow quite large. They are going to get roughly six (feet) by six (feet). They have underground vegetative roots, so the individual plant will send out rhysomes (or runners) under the ground a new plant will come up.”
Warm days can make colder months feel prematurely like spring but one of the main things missing from the airwaves in winter is our pollinating insects such as bees. Bees are important everywhere of course, but here in the hi-desert native flowering plants support bees which in turn pollinate and propagate plant species throughout our ecosystem.
The Unique Garden Show is the best kept secret in the hi-desert and one of the most relaxing half hours on radio and a total untapped resource if you didn’t realize you can call-in and ask Mike questions about desert gardening. If you didn’t know anything about he desert, you may think that growing beautiful plants would be a struggle during dry spells.
Mike: “I’m always encouraging people, whenever they are designing their landscape you definitely want to lean toward the more drought-tolerant side. Unless we get a lot of late winter / early spring rain… I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we have some sort of water-rationing this year.”
Winter isn’t over and I’m an eternal optimist when it comes to precipitation. It turns out native plants are too – ancient species that have patience built into their DNA. While all of Southern California continues to wait for more rainfall, putting a few plants in the ground will be a benefit to everybody.
If you are a bit nervous about growing in the desert – don’t be! Listening to Mike Branning’s show is a great place to start. Create a greenthumb routine by listening live every Saturday morning – or anytime you are gardening by subscribing to the show as podcast.
