The manzanita that was supposed to grow, twist and soar over the deck is long gone. After a long period of mourning, we removed its corpse and installed water conserving color plants. Hummingbirds love two of them, flying close as we dine on the deck.
What should we do with this space, designed for a twisting manzanita? Another manzanita would likely perish. A multi-trunked strawberry tree could work, but these can be fussy, too. An agave might look cool, but it would impale anyone passing nearby.
The solution: something bold, colorful, water-saving and attractive to hummingbirds. We hope that as the plant grow, they’ll fill in the space and eventually shoot flower spikes in all directions for a big splash of color.
The Plants
Rock Purslane Calandrinia spectabilis (C)
This succulent plant from Chile spreads into a mound of rounded, succulent leaves, sending up flower stalks topped with glowing magenta flowers that open in the morning and drop by evening, so there’s no deadheading required. As a succulent, it requires very little water once established. The nursery says this plant starts blooming in May and continues at least all summer. Maybe so, but bloom seems to come in waves, so there may be fewer flowers from one week to the next. If all goes well, the plant will spread and mound out of the hole and onto the deck, softening the edges of the cutout.
Dwarf Poker Kniphofia ‘Mango Popsicle’ (B)
According to the nurseries that sell it, this plant is supposed to bloom all summer. We’ve never had a poker plant bloom through summer, but this is a fancy patented variety, so who knows. This is kind of an experiment, since these plants seem happier on the coast. Our local hummingbirds visit plant’s tubular, nectar-filled flowers as they tour the garden.
Red Yucca Hesperaole parviflora (A)
There are no worries that this plant won’t like our hot Central Valley summers. It hails from the Chihuahuan Desert, a place even hotter and drier than Sacramento, at least in the summer. It does take cold, too. Since we already have a plant in the garden, we know that it does indeed bloom over a long period, with each flower spike producing flowers to the delight of our local hummingbirds.
This plant’s flower spikes sway in the wind, and hopefully with time they’ll get much taller and more numerous.
The hummingbirds
The red yucca and poker plants are just stops on the birds’ feeding tour. They pass through the lobelia laxiflora, check the epilobium canum, buzz through the native honeysuckle and search the shrubs for insects. They enjoy drinking and bathing in the fountain, too.