Lot size: 420 sq. ft. front garden, 70% native
Garden Age: Garden was installed in 2009
Years on the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour:
Showcase Feature
Got a small garden? Wish you had one that was attractive to people and wildlife, low-maintenance, and used very little water? If so, this is the garden for you! The original garden consisted of lawn, which ran all the way up to the house, and had a border of roses. Long-time Bringing Back the Natives Tour goer Melody wanted a change. The new garden, which Melody designed and installed, contains a charming, boulder-lined flagstone path; Melody says, “When children walk by they always take the path that leads through the garden; it’s fun to see them enjoying it.”
Other Garden Attractions
• Free packets of Larner Seeds Pollinator Wildflower Mix will be available, while supplies last.
Check out the storyboards and photographs of monarch butterflies through the seasons and during metamorphosis.
• Wood chips keep the weeds under control, but those that get through are pulled by hand; no pesticides are used in this—or any—Tour garden.
• The garden is watered by hand, as needed.
Gardening for Wildlife
The endangered monarch butterfly can only lay eggs on one plant—milkweed. Our own local native narrow-leafed milkweed attracts monarchs to this garden; check out the photos of the distinctive yellow, black and white caterpillar noshing on the milkweed leaves in the garden, and get ready to be “wowed” by the gold-studded chrysalises the caterpillars create.
Native bees are drawn to the white sages; bumble bees roll like puppies as they gather pollen from our state flower, the California poppy. Hummingbirds sip nectar from the penstemon and monkeyflower. Ladybugs visit the garden, keeping the aphid population under control Lizards are at home here, basking in the sunshine, snacking on insects, and sheltering under the boulders.
Keystone species watch this talk by Doug Tallamy!
Keystone species—our own, local ecological powerhouse plants— in this garden include currants, sages, and penstemon.
At least partially wheelchair accessible? Yes
