The Season of Flowers

 

Enjoying wildflowers in Mother Nature's Backyard garden

 

Spring and early summer is the season of flowers in Southern California.  Nature preserves, wild lands and even native plant gardens often look their best this time of year.   Consider scheduling a visit to the Gardena Willows Wetland Preserve in the next few months.  You’ll be glad you did!

The main wildflower show begins in March with the earliest wildflowers.  The annual wildflowers are at their peak in April and May, providing a riot of color from yellow and orange to pink, red and blue.  Mother Nature’s Backyard is awash with color now.   Place of honor goes to our California state flower, the California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), which is blooming in several areas of the Preserve.

In May, the annual wildflowers are gradually replaced by the native Sages (Salvia) species.  Their purple, pink and white flowers – and spicy aroma – are worth a visit to the ‘Coastal Sage Scrub’ area on the South side of the Preserve.  Be sure to watch for hummingbirds and butterflies that are attracted to the flowers.   

In late May and June the Salvias are joined by the native Buckwheats (Eriogonum species).   With their masses of pink flowers, the Buckwheats are visited by many species of butterflies and native pollinator insects.    Plan a trip to the Preserve and Garden before the flower show is over for the year.    Be sure to bring your camera or sketchpad to capture the spring beauty.

 

 

Native Honeysuckles for Natural Fences

The path leading into the Gardena Willows Wetland Preserve features panoramic views of a seasonal stream that has fed the wetlands for hundreds of years.  Recently a group of local Girl Scouts from troop 5965 in Redondo Beach cleared the area to the north of the path and planted some local native honeysuckles.  These vines will soon cover the fence, providing a living green wall as visitors enter the Preserve.

Honeysuckles are woody vines or groundcovers.  While honeysuckles from Asia can be hard to contain, California native honeysuckles have all the advantages of honeysuckles without the invasive qualities.   Two native Honeysuckles once grew abundantly on the Southern Channel Islands and in canyons of the Santa Monica Mountains and the Palos Verdes Peninsula.  These two – the Purple Honeysuckle (Lonicera hispidula) and Southern or Santa Barbara Honeysuckle (Lonicera subspicata) – are what the Girl Scouts planted along the entry path.

Honeysuckles are really sprawlers.  They climb up fences, trellises or other supports with a little encouragement.  In nature they clamber over other shrubs and trees.   They will also spread out on the ground and make an easy-care groundcover.   Honeysuckles have pretty fragrant flowers that produce abundant nectar.  That’s what attracts the hummingbirds (the main Honeysuckle pollinators) as well as the larger butterflies.  Children also like to sip the sweet nectar from the bottom of the flower!

Our local Honeysuckles have either cream-colored or pink-purple blooms depending on the species.  The plants bloom in spring, usually between April and June.   After that, the plants produce berries that turn bright yellow or red in late summer and fall.   While the berries are edible they are not very tasty; they are best left for the birds who enjoy them as a fall treat.    Small birds sometimes even nest in a mature  vine, so the new Honeysuckle wall should attract many types of birds and butterflies.

In nature, native Honeysuckles often grow in canyons where they get some afternoon shade.   The Preserve’s entry area provides similar conditions.   Once established, native Honeysuckles are very drought tolerant.  Volunteers will give the ‘Honeysuckle Wall’ occasional summer water to keep it green and lush.   They will also train the vines to climb the fence for the first year or two until the wall is established. 

Be sure to notice the ‘Honeysuckle Wall’ the next time you visit the Gardena Willows Wetland Preserve.  The plants are small now, but next year you’ll marvel at the flowers, the fragrance and the wildlife they attract.

Autumn’s Abundance

Living in the city – surrounded by non-native plants and foods from around the world – it’s easy to lose a sense of our local seasons. That’s unfortunate, because the cycle of seasons connects us to the place where we live. Seasonal changes give us a sense of  history and literally serve to ground us to our place on earth. Sometimes it takes a visit to nature to re-focus our attention on the joys – and the activities - of the current season. Wandering the Willows the other day, I encountered a reminder of Autumn’s abundance. What better example of the foods of Fall than a native rose bush laden with ripening fruit!

Our local native rose, California Wild Rose (Rosa californica) is a plant with several distinct seasons. In early spring, it sports a set of new leaves and delicate new sprouts. The fresh foliage is bright green and not yet hard and bitter. Native Californians harvested the tender sprouts in early spring and boiled or steamed them for a fresh vegetable.

In summer, California Wild Rose is in full glory. The leaves are green and mature. This is the perfect time to pick leaves for rose leaf tea. This delicate tea – made from fresh or dried leaves – has a flavor all its own. You can make rose leaf tea from any rose, including roses from your garden. Just be sure that the leaves haven’t been sprayed with pesticides. When you dry the leaves – and drink the tea – you’ll be participating in summer activities that have been part of many cultures for hundreds (perhaps even thousands) of years.

Summer is also when the pink rose flowers attract native bees, European Honey Bees and a variety of other pollinator insects. On a warm day, the smell of wild roses takes us back to pleasant summer days in a grandmother’s rose garden or hiking in our local wild lands. It is the essence of summer; and that fragrance and the sweet nectar is what attracts the pollinators. Wild roses are an important source of food (nectar and pollen) for summer’s insects.

Rose flowers are used and treasured in many cultures throughout the world. Like our ancestors, you can gather rose petals and dry them to preserve the fragrance of summer. The dried petals can be used in potpourri, sachets and even be used to brew a delightful pink tea. There’s nothing nicer than a cup of hot rose petal tea on a cold winter’s day. It brings back memories of summers past – and dreams of future summers.

The fruits of the Wild Rose (the ‘hips’) ripen in fall and winter. Rose hips are at their best when fully ripe. In colder climates, this happens after the first hard frost in the fall. In our mild climate, rose hips take a bit longer to mature. The best hint that rose hips are ripe is when the birds start to eat them - trust me, birds know when fruits are ripe!! Another hint is when the hips turn from orange-red to a dark red, become slightly soft and sweetly scented. The rose hips in the picture above are not yet fully ripe.

Rose hips are beautiful in their own right. They brighten a fall/winter landscape or garden with their dark red color in late fall. All roses produce rose hips, including garden roses. Most gardeners cut off aging rose flowers before the hips fully develop, so we don’t fully appreciate the fall season of the rose.

Roses develop hips for one purpose: to attract birds and animals which will eat the fruits and spread the seed. The rose hip is well suited this purpose. It’s red color says ‘here I am’ to passing birds and animals. The sweet taste of ripe rose hips provides a tasty treat. And the seeds are hidden inside the fruit, guaranteeing that at least some seeds will be eaten and spread, after a trip through a bird or animal’s intestinal tract (gut). Among the birds that eat rose hips are Mockingbirds and migratory Cedar Waxwings. Rabbits and small mammals also enjoy rose hips in fall/winter.

Rose hips are a treat for humans as well. Native Californians ate them fresh, cooked them for deserts and dried them whole or as ‘fruit leather’ for future use. Dried, ground rose hips make a tasty, healthy tea that’s loaded with vitamin C. Rose hip jelly is indescribably good and many old cookbooks include a recipe for this tasty treat. You can easily find recipes for making rose hip jelly on the internet. Rose hip syrup is easy to make and a tasty alternative on pancakes and desserts. All of these uses preserve autumn’s abundance for later enjoyment.

Using plants in old ways connects us to the land and its bounty. And observing the seasonal changes reminds us that we are just a part of nature’s great cycles. Come out to the Preserve soon and experience the joys of Fall.

　

Constance M. Vadheim (Professor of Biology – CSU Dominguez Hills; Board Member – Friends of Gardena Willows Wetland Preserve)

In the Cool of the Willows

Today is typical September in S. California’s South Bay region.   The sun is warm and the humidity rising.  In short, it’s a perfect day to wander the shady paths of the Gardena Willows Wetland Preserve.   

The Preserve, located in south Gardena, is the last remaining remnant of the Dominguez Slough.  This seasonal wetland once covered areas now included in the cities of Gardena, Hawthorn and Carson as well as unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.   The waters of Dominguez Slough once drained into Dominguez Creek and thence to the Los Angeles River and the Pacific Ocean.   The water that flows through the Gardena Willows Wetland Preserve today still drains into the Dominguez Channel (formerly Dominguez Creek), the Los Angeles River (also now channelized) and into the Pacific Ocean.

The Dominguez Slough has always been treasured as a cool, shady oasis in the hot Gardena Plain.  The trees of the riparian (near water) woodland could be seen for miles as a ribbon of inviting green.  The native inhabitants of the South Bay – the Gabrielino-Tongva people – used plants that grew in/around the wetland for food, shelter and other essentials.  South Bay settlers enjoyed the shade of the large Willows that grew there and favored the Slough as a place for summer picnics and boating.   What made Dominguez  Slough so inviting were the large willow, cottonwood and sycamore trees that surrounded the wetland.   Amazingly, you can see some of the old Willows even today!

The largest – and oldest - willows in the Preserve are Goodding’s Black Willows (Salix goodingii).  This    species is native throughout the U.S. Southwest and was named for Leslie Newton Goodding (1880-1967), a botanist and collector.  Goodding was one of the first to collect plants in what would later become the West’s famous national parks like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and the Great Tetons.  The common name ‘Black Willow’ refers to the tree’s bark, which is dark gray when wet.  Mature  Goodding’s Black Willows can grow to a height and width of 50 feet or more – and we have some large ones in the Preserve.  You can see the Black Willows towering above the other vegetation in the picture above.

Willows and other local riparian species are unique in their ability to survive both winter flooding and summer drought.  Black Willows usually grow right in the water for at least a few weeks/months in the winter.  Most  trees would die if their roots were under water for several months, but Goodding’s Willow thrives in these conditions and also survives the dry summer months, when streams and wetlands dry up entirely.    But adequate winter moisture to recharge the deep soil water is essential for their survival. 

 

Like many willows, Goodding’s Black Willows  are not particularly long-lived.  Compared to local native oaks (which live to 500+ years) Black Willows usually live only 50-75 years (though we have a few on the Preserve that are probably closer to 100 years old, with enormous trunks).   What is deceptive about willows is that while individual trunks may die, new trunks can arise from old trees.  So even a ‘young’ trunk can belong to a much older tree. 

 

Willows are dioecious, which means there are separate male and female trees.  We have both on the Preserve -  the only way you can tell them apart is when they bloom (more on the sex life of willows in the spring).   The leaves of the Goodding’s Black Willow look rather like a peach leaf (see below).  They are thin and medium green on both sides.  Another large willow in the Preserve – the Arroyo Willow – has thicker leaves that are shiny on top and white underneath.   Both lose their leaves in winter.

Humans have used Goodding’s Black and other willows for a long time.  Their wood is light and was used for making shelters/homes, cooking utensils (wood spoons) and even wooden legs.   Young stems were used in basket-making.   Both the leaves and bark were used to make medicinal teas.  These teas contained salicin (salicylic acid) which is the active ingredient in aspirin.   They were used for pain and fevers – much like aspirin is used today.

 

September 21, 2012                            Constance M. Vadheim  (Friends of Gardena Willows Wetland Preserve)