Gardening for Your Health

There are many good reasons to garden.  Gardening makes campuses and neighborhoods more pleasing to the eye.  It also can provide food and homes for creatures large and small.  But gardens can also be important for our health.  For more see: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2018/01/.   

Bee Flies – the family Bombyliidae

Bee Fly (Villa lateralis):  a species seen at CSU Dominguez Hills

While most people think of bees when they hear the word ‘pollinator’, in fact a wide range of animals function as pollinators.  To learn more about pollinators in general see: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/06/life-friendly-gardening-planning-for.html).

Among the bee-like insects that serve as pollinators are the Bee Flies.  The Family Bombyliidae is a large family of flies with literally hundreds of genera and thousands of species worldwide. The exact number of species is currently unknown, due to a significant lack of research on this family.  For a good review of the main types of  flies seen in Southern California see: http://waynesword.palomar.edu/redmite6.htm

 

To learn more about Bee Flies and their role as beneficial insects, see: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2015/06/bee-flies-family-bombyliidae.html


 

Celebrate National Pollinator Week (June 15-21, 2015)

National Pollinator Week (the 3^rd week in June each year) celebrates the importance of pollinators for all life on earth. Eighty percent of food crops, as well as many ornamental plants, require insect pollinators.    Life without living pollinators would be very different, indeed.

Here are some things you can do to celebrate National Pollinator Week:

 

Learn more about the key role of pollinators: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/06/life-friendly-gardening-planning-for.html.

Learn more about specific S. California pollinators:

·        Metallic Green Bees: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2012/09/metallic-green-bees-genus-agapostemon.html

·        Yellow-faced Bumble Bee: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/06/yellow-faced-bumble-bee-bombus.html

·        Western Tiger Swallowtail: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/07/western-tiger-swallowtail-papilio.html

·        Duskywing Butterflies: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2015/05/duskywing-butterflies-genus-erynnis.html

 

Create pollinator habitat in your garden: http://www.slideshare.net/cvadheim/planning-for-pollinators-brochure-2013

 

Register your garden as part of the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge (MPGC):  http://pollinator.org/MPGC.htm

Participate in National Pollinator Week activities: http://www.pollinator.org/pollinator_week_2015.htm

 

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Life-Friendly Fall Pruning: Remember the Birds

Garden of Dreams near Child Development Center - 11/12/14. 
Some plants are still un-pruned to provide food for the birds.

Late fall and early winter are important pruning times in Southern California gardens.  Many California native plants, particularly those from drier low elevations, are dormant from late summer until the winter rains.  That’s why fall has traditionally been a major pruning season.  To get a better sense of the seasons in S. California gardens see: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/09/seasons-in-southern-california-garden.html.

If you garden in S. California, you’ve no doubt noticed that different birds visit your garden in fall and winter.   California is an important stop for birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway – a giant bird ‘freeway’ in the sky.  Some birds just stop to refuel; others spend the winter in our delightful wild-lands and gardens.  Either way, these birds – along with resident birds and insects – require food in fall and winter.

The past two years have been particularly hard on California wildlife.  Even with decreased water use, our gardens are still wetter and more productive than the drought stressed wild-lands.  That’s why we’ve seen more wildlife than ever in our gardens this year.   A recent visit to the 'Garden of Dreams' on campus demonstrated this dramatically.  There were at least 75 birds, of all sizes and at least 5 species, busily eating in that one little garden!

 

Goldfinch eating Annual sunflower (Helianthus anuus) seeds

 

From native pollinators and butterflies to large animals like deer, creatures are desperate for food and water - and so they come to our gardens.  As wild-lands suffer from climatic extremes, our gardens play an increasingly important role in providing food, shelter and water.  In all years – but particularly in years when food is scarce – we need to manage our fall pruning responsibly.  That's why the 'Garden of Dreams', 'Heritage Creek Preserve' and the 'Earth Sciences Garden'  will look a little more raggedy this month.  We're doing it to save the birds!

 

For more see:  

http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/11/maintaining-your-new-california-garden_15.html

 

 

California wood mint (Stachys bullata) can be seen at Mother Nature's Backyard garden (above) and
at the Garden of Dreams (CSU Dominguez Hills)

One of the plants that’s blooming right now in the Garden of Dreams is the California woodmint, Stachys bullata.  This isn’t its peak season, but the flowers keep our hummingbirds and the few remaining butterflies happy.

California wood mint is a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae), a large family that includes culinary mints and the Salvias.   Plants in this family often have aromatic foliage and are used for cooking and potpourri.  Within the Mint Family, the wood mints (hedge nettles), genus Stachys, make up one of the larger genera.  Stachys species can be found on most continents and many are used in traditional herbal medicine.

For more on this interesting plant see: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/11/plant-of-month-december-california-wood.html

What does a water-wise garden look like in summer?

 

Hooker's evening primrose (Oenothera elata ssp. hookeri) in 'Garden of Dreams' on the CSU Dominguez Hills campus.  Garden is watered once a month in summer.

 

Water-wise gardens have definite seasons.  Right now we're well into the dry season.  The annual spring wildflowers are just a memory; grasses have magically transformed to gold and silver.   Yes, we're in the dry season, which will last until the fall rains.

 

The dry season is the time of rest for some plants.  In the Garden of Dreams and Heritage Creek, the California encelia (Bush sunflower) and Salvias (native sages) are mostly dormant now.  The Salvias have produced a small second set of leaves to get them through the dry period.

 

Other plants are evergreen - but still mostly resting.  These include Mulefat (our large hedgerow plant in Garden of Dreams), Coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) and Lemonadeberry.  Some shrubs have green berries that will ripen in fall: Toyon and the native cherries (Prunus ilicifolia) are among the most prominent.

 

But even in summer and fall, a surprising number of native plants are blooming.  They range from the larger Laurel sumac (Malosma laurina) and Southern island mallow,  to Annual sunflowers and Hooker's evening primrose (Oenothera elata ssp. hookeri) that brighten our summer with their yellow flowers.  The summer-blooming buckwheats add a touch of pink and white to the summer palette.  In fact, there are many native plants blooming on campus right now (see the 'Blooming Now on Campus' page).

 

 

Annual sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) brightens the foreground. Native buckwheats (Eriogonum species) bloom pink and white (left) against a background of green and gold.

 

So take the time to visit Heritage Creek Preserve or one of the native plant gardens on campus.  If you come from 11:00-3:00, notice the bees, butterflies and other pollinators busily at work.  If you visit earlier or later you'll be surprise by the number of birds you'll see.   Sit a while, relax, unwind.   And then you'll know what a water-wise, life-friendly garden looks and feels like in summer.

 

 

Yellow-faced Bumble Bee (Bombus vosnesenskii)

Yellow-faced Bumble Bee (Bombus vosnesenskii) foraging on Dune Lupine (Lupinus chamissonis)

The western United States is home to many unique and useful insects. Regional gardeners are starting to appreciate the importance of native pollinators, in part due to the activities of National Pollinator Week (the 3^rd week in June).  To learn more about pollinators in general see our June 2013 posting (http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/06/life-friendly-gardening-planning-for.html).

The larger insect pollinators are among the more interesting visitors to S. California gardens.  One of our favorites is the Yellow-faced Bumble Bee (Bombus vosnesenskii).   This large native bee can be seen from spring to fall in west coast gardens from British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico.   In our gardens and natural areas at CSUDH, we most commonly see them from June through August. 

To learn more about this fascinating pollinator see: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/06/yellow-faced-bumble-bee-bombus.html

 

 

Planning a New Garden? Re-thinking Your Old Garden?

Planning a new garden can be a daunting task.  There are so many things to think about – and so many good ideas.   It’s hard to know where to begin.   Fortunately, our sister blog, Mother Nature’s Backyard, has something that can help.   Their series ‘Planning Your New California Garden’, which began in July 2013, takes you step by step through the garden design process.   See the first posting at: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2013/07/designing-your-new-california-garden-1.html