Before we know it January will be here and the new wildflowers will be coming up.
For 2011 I would like to focus on two plants, one being the Hummingbird Sage (Salvia Spathacea) and the other the Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry, (Ribes Speciosum). Both of these plants are drought-toleratant and attract hummingbirds.
The Hummingbird Sage is a perennial herb that can be found in the chaparral, grassland and under oak trees. They are found in the shade as well as direct sun. They send out creeping roots, so you can find the plants in dense groups or a single flowering stock.
These plants can be as short as eight inches or up to three feet tall. Besides the flower, the neatest thing is that the plant looks and feels like velvet, so take a close-up look at the first opportunity.
These are found in great abundance from the Birabent Creek bridge for about the next half mile along the edge of the road. Hummingbird Sage is a great landscape plant and will grow well in the shade under oak trees, but it does need to have its foliage washed off occasionally with a hose or sprinkler.
Also, this plant is reported to be deer-resistant. Here on Figueroa Mountain, you don’t see the Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry very often, but it can occasionally be found in the chaparral or out in the open.
If the soil and drainage are good, it can grow to 8 feet tall and wide. It has red pendulous flowers along its spiny stems and when the gooseberry is mature it is fuzzy.
Don’t confuse this with the Foothill Gooseberry as these flowers are red and white or white. The Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry is not only drought-tolerant but it is heat-deciduous. It looses its leaves briefly in late summer and leafs out again in early fall. For landscape purposes this is a good barrier plant and can spread by underground roots.
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