Just because a plant is native doesn’t mean it’s completely hardy. I suppose if all our native plants were from our exact location, things would be fine. However, like the wicked witch, they had houses dropped on them and are no more. Not even ruby slippers remain.
Fooled by warmer weather, this hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea) decided to initiate flowering. Then the temperature dropped, and dropped some more. In all, this frost cycle lasted over a week, a frozen white garden greeted us each morning.
At first, it seemed that the plant was hardy enough to shrug off the low temps. It remained upright, Luckily it seems that the main plant is hardy enough to survive, but plants have a way of looking fine for quite a while after the frost, then showing that they’ve truly gone to the great garden in the sky.
Purists would insist that unless it’s from your area, a plant is not truly native. It may be native somewhere in the state, but since there are no local populations, it probably won’t support the same species of insects that it would in the wild – their populations are far away, too far to colonize your garden.
Hummingbird sage is from milder, more coastal regions, like most native plants offered for sale in the Central Valley.
If were were really limit things, we’d have valley oak, interior live oak, coffeeberry, toyon, annual wildflowers, native bulbs like brodaiea. There would be some sedges, native grasses and perennials like viola pedunculata to round things out. If we were insisting on authenticity, we’d add poison oak. The bulbs and perennials might be impossible to find, or would require propagating from seed obtained from a reputable source.
California Dutchman’s pipe vine (Aristolochia californica) is native here, but our plant is not covered with caterpillars in spring – so perhaps we’re a bit too far from a riparian area for it to count. If it doesn’t count, perhaps wild grapes would not, either. If we consider this more a moist area, we could add willows.
If we wanted to use the water for a large pond, we’d add cattails and tules (Schoenoplectusacutus). Even so, it would only benefit those animals able to reach it, mostly birds. Perhaps a pacific chorus frog or two would move in, but it’s unlikely that a western pond turtle would cross miles of suburban wasteland just to settle into a backyard pond.
Even without a restored native habitat – something impossible to achieve without all its associated wildlife – this garden is a better place for small creatures to live, work and play. The hummingbird sage still gives nectar to hummingbirds, and doesn’t require much water. Penstemons, asters, goldenrod and yarrow feed the bees. Even non-native plants provide seeds and nectar.