Rural Gardens & Bird of Paradise Bush (Caesalpinia gilliesii, pulcherrima, etc)

On the last few days of my visit to San Diego County and traveling on my way here or there, I stumble across a few locations which had beautiful informal rural garden settings especially along the roadsides. One location is on Hwy 67 east of downtown Ramona and the other location is along Hwy 76 in Pauma Valley just west of the Casino drive entrance. The plant in question here is Bird of Paradise Bush (Caesalpinia gilliesii) which I previously wrote about  along with it's other Mexican Bird of Paradise relative which carries the bright orange/yellow/red flowers (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) Here . Now while I was out and about purposely on other missions with my photography, I just could resist stopping and taking these beautiful country rural pics.

Photo Mine

This is along Hwy 76 in Pauma Valley just down the road west of the Pauma Casino and heading towards the Pala Reservation Casino. I believe this is on the property of the old Pauma General Store which would be to the right in the photograph. Lots of traffic and the pic was hard to get with masses of automobiles traveling in both directions. where in the world do people in this lousy economy get money to blow like that ? Anyways, here is the roadside informal hedge of  the (Caesalpinia gilliesii)

Photo: Mine

This is taken from the west bound lane of  Hwy 67 before coming into Ramona. It was  just one too many times that I passed here  back and forth on missions east and north  that I then just had to stop and photograph  this wonderful South American native. Just about the only water it receives is from the  poor annual rainfalls of late.

Photo: Mine

Here is the frontal view of the roadside plants on a picture post card property most will recognize when passing the old Hi-Way Market on Hwy 67 on way to Santa Ysabel or Julian. Very tough little shrub and good selection for dry hot areas. also I like the way it doesn't become an invasive and take over the wild, although I have seen it naturalize by reseeding.

Photo image: Mauro Guanandi

São Paulo Brazil neighbourhood
Caesalpinia mexicana

Top Tropicals

Caesalpinia 'Rosae Pink'

Like Columbines and other flowers with great cross breeding abilities for variety, these shrubs above have similar varietal possibilities. So I thought it would also be kool to share a few of these varieties with regards to members of these wonderful flowering desert subtropical shrubs. Most of the folks in the desert cities southwest are only familiar with the bright red-orange with yellow splash which was introduced probably back in the 1980s, maybe Arizona. Well, at least that's where I first saw these plants when traveling Arizona and how the Arizona Highway department was utilizing them along Freeway landscaping on and off ramp exits. What impressed me most is the care and attention to any artistic detail their Highway Department were determined to create in the aesthetics pof theor roadway infrastructure which in most cases is generally steriles and boring and covered up with water loving landscape if you've got that water available. Arizona is unique in the lack of water has actually forced them to be creative. Take the Mural below which takes in elements of native plants and early cultural designs in art.

The Tucson Murals Project

Image from AAA Landscapes

As far as landscape goes, they've selected some of the most beautidul desert trees and shrubs from around the globe, but especially from the State of Arizona which make a perfect fit not only for the general desert climate with plants that can also withstand higher intensified heat generated by the surrounding concrete and asphalt. This example on the right is from Maricopa County in the city of Chandler. Generally they also incorporate many plants in the pea family of trees and shrubs. Caesalpinia pulcherrima being one of these. The effects over the years has been that such beaty has inspired to public to copy what responsible leadership has done within their landscapes. Odd isn't it ??? Leaders leading by example ??? There are so many areas for improvement here!

Wikipedia

Caesalpinia pulcherrima Guadeloupe

However sometimes they can be over used and over whelm an area. This Caesalpinia pulcherrima Guadeloupe is a much more red coloured variety and most of these other variations in colour, I've known about, but have never really seen them in the landscapes around the Southwest. I'm sure someone else creative will one day find just the right hardscape and landscape theme to insert them into. But the rather large selection reminds me also of other flowering plants with  multi-colour selections like for example Tropic Cannas.

Wikipedia

Caesalpinia pulcherrima
Guyanese flower

There is just so many kool varieties of things and it's simply a matter of being in the right place and at the right time for discovery and perhaps collecting the seed or cloning from cuttings. I'm glad there are folks out there with the patience for doing such things with a species of plant with which they specialize. Again, I just don't have that type of patience. I sure wish I did though. This world has everyone keyed up and anxious. Stress is everywhere, but the garden is certainly a way of escape. At least that's always the way it was for me. And I suppose still is. Outdoors and discovery though are even better. Still, maybe some have seen some things here they never knew existed as far as availability. 

Image by Maryory Strap - Pinterest

Of course there is one final variety, though it's is an entirely different species and rather large tree of the tropics. It's that picturesque tree often visualized in some romantic colonial era setting of some British or French colony in the Caribbean Islands. 'Poincianna Royal'. The interesting thing about this tree is that it hates the cold. I remember when I first read about this tree while researching Caesalpinia pulcherrina and the name Royal Poincianna came up. By cold, I'm not talking about some frosty mornings, but it hates temps getting down to 45 degrees (7.2 Celsius). This tree and I have something in common. We both dislike cold. So San Diego just might be a good choice for this one. I'm sure Balboa Park has some excellent examples.

Image from www.floresefolhagens.com.br  'Royal Poinciana'

Other Posts on this subject.

Utilizing Ornamentals of the Legume Family in Southwest Landscapes

Cottonwoods ? Give me one of those "cottonless" Cottonwoods over a Fremont any day!

This was the usual attitude I found when discussing plants in landscapes up in Anza California by new land owners moving up from the cities. People in general by their very Nature are impatient when it comes to landscaping and they want instant landscapes NOW, not what they perceive as being years or decades on down the road. Species of Populus are widely used in landscapes – especially when fast growth is desired. Most of these are hybrids and most often they are so-called “cottonless” Cottonwoods. These are male clones selected because they do not produce the cottony seeds that become a nuisance. I also believe their origin is from back east as they do not have the same characteristics [bark, leaf, or even silhouette patterns] as the western natives like Fremont. Keep in mind that I'm not saying here that they are a great choice for residential landscapes – they are not. In many ways, I think that are a bad choice because their water requirements are much greater than natives, especially when older. These "cottonless" varieties of  cottonwoods can become very large when grown in or near a perennial water source. When young, they often perform well in irrigated landscapes. This is why they are preferred. Over time, they usually outgrow the irrigation system and begin to die back or succumb to disease. I have rarely seen large cottonwoods that have survived longer than 12 or 15 years in a landscape unless they have a creek, river, or septic system to sustain them. When regularly flood irrigated, they will grow and survive, but most drip systems [typical for Anza] will not provide adequate irrigation. Their roots are also extremely aggressive like the one in my former front yard had roots over 100' away clearly on the other side of the home. So anybody can be successful with them that first decade, but it's that time afterward when these giant trees have much greater water requirements especially in drier climates like Anza CA. 

Photo: Mine

Göteborg Botanical Gardens Spring 2013

But that takes me now to the biggest complaint against the native Fremont Cottonwood which admittedly does have a cottony seed, but only the size of a Dandelion. It's a minor inconvenience to live with for selecting a better choice for cottonwood which will have deeper roots and be a tougher survivor as compare to the back east hybrid which is not really that long lived by comparison. Up in Idyllwild, folks will complain about the Pines dropping pollen everywhere. Seriously no one would suggest getting rid of them in favour of neater choices. ALL Landscapes have maintenance issues. But this brings me to my recent visit a couple of weeks ago the Göteborg Botanical Gardens. There was a tree there that I really never noticed before or paid any attention to it being a Cottonwood. I supposed I always missed it because I came at the wrong time of year before or after it bloom, but here it is below. It is Populus wilsonii and is from central China in Asia.

This was enough to make anyone do a double take.  This stuff was everywhere. It was undeniable what this tree was and reminds me of something I've never forgotten when it comes to plant identity, although while the origin of this saying did have to do with plants, it was used illustratively in identifying the type of person we run across in life. 

 "By their fruits you will recognize them" Matthew 7:16  

Believe it or not, when I'm stumped out in the field and having a difficult time identifying plant which looks familiar, but has familiar shapes or patterns to something else, I actually look for fruits, nuts or other seeds. So the old saying of "by their fruits you will know them" holds an element of field working merit. While there are many type of plants, within the same group there will always be similar characteristics or identifying marks and patterns in the fruit they produce. Of course there are always exceptions, but still it makes things a fun challenge.

Photo: Mine

Here is a view from underneath the Cottonwood's canopy looking up towards the sky. These large cotton balls are so unmistakable and hard to miss. Wonder why I never paid any mind before ? Oh yeah that's right, I was always there in  the middle of deep summer.

Here is a much closer zoomed in shot to give you an idea of the size of these cotton balls. The leaves also are far more bigger than what most folks are use to seeing over in the States with the Native Fremont Cottonwood (Populus fremontii). The size of the cotton balls in this tree were huge and in some cases bigger than any actual cotton boll I've ever encountered in a Texas Farmer's field when I stopped along the roadside for the first time in my life encountering them. It was incredible stand under this tree and gazing up at some so unbelievable. And to think, if I had come at another moment as times past, I would have missed all of things and never paid the tree any mind as I had in the past. Funny, I never once when passing this tree ever glimpsed at the identification sign below it to find out what it was. I'll always pay close attention now and be sire to come back at the right time of year. *smile* 

Photo: Mine

And finally to give a better sense of scale for this trees leaves and the size of those large cotton balls, here is my hand lowering down a branch a bit for a closer shot. Looking at the size of these things, I wondered if anyone historically attempted to utilize these cotton bolls the same way we use the conventional cotton plant.

Photo: Mine

Anyone find this incredibly enlightening and educational ? I did.  Fremont Cottonwoods (Populus fremontii) don't really look half bad now do they ? This photo was taken in middle May 2013 in the San Jacinto Valley just north of the town of San Jacinto on what I presume is State Street or old Hwy 79. That sign is an indication you are approaching the San Jacinto River bridge to the Jct of turning right to Soboba Rd heading towards the Indian Casino or left onto Gilman Springs Rd towards Moreno Valley or north to Beaumont. The entire area was once a massive miles long and wide Cottonwood and California Sycamore Forested Savanna with most likely other trees like Arizona Ash which actually have heavy woodlands further upstream in Bee Canyon which is a tributary to the east. The natural world Juan Bautista de Anza saw in the Spring of 1774 & once again in 1775 must have been at it's peak in pristine condition must have been ever so beautiful.

Always Collecting Seeds & Plants

Even when I have no Place to put them

Alligator Juniper in Anza CA

This morning I replied to a comment post on my Alligator Juniper post to Palomar & Southwestern Colleges Biology Teacher Robyn Waayers. The post was about an Alligator Juniper I had collected while on a visit up Carr Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains above Sierra Vista, Arizona. The tree of course was only about six inches tall, but as I showed in the photo of it which I took at the end of May 2013 this year, it is now about one meter high. Believe it or not, the present property owners don't even know the tree is there. Anyway, it also got me thinking other things I have collected over the years, even collecting things when I have no real place to put them. Seeds are some of those things. Both in California and here in Sweden, I have stashes of seeds in plastic bags everywhere. Sometimes I use them and often not. I suppose I have sort of ScrubJay tendencies. Robyn commented on the uniqueness of those mountains and she is correct. These mountains along with the Santa Ritas to the west and Chiracahuas to the east are unique in that Tropical and Temperate species of all forms of life come together and blend beautifully. Birds, Animals, Plants, everything. I hate to admit it, but perhaps I should have collected in some of those areas. I'm sure there are some rules written somewhere against it, but it's that darn ScrubJay Syndrome in me. I just can't help myself. When my wife and I have visited the Canary Islands in winter to get away from the Swedish cold, I still collect and some things for which have no business outside in my garden in this Boreal Forested climate.

Photo - Tom Peck

I wrote Robyn back about something else I had collected up there another time and that was a Huachuca Agave. It's amazing to be up so high in a Sky Island forest as they are called in Southern Arizona and find Agaves inside the old growth Pine/Oak Forest understory. You just don't associate in your mind such things coming together. And yet there they are. This tiny agave I took was actually a pup I had separated from the mother plant was about the size of the palm of my hand. I planted it under the New Mexico Locusts I had collected years previous on a visit to Ruidoso, New Mexico. The Agave grew quite well, but when I sold the property, I just couldn't part with it. Hence I brought it down to my Mum's house in El Cajon CA, but I didn't have a place for it, so I took it to my place of work and replanted it on the hill.

Photo Mine

This is from our trip to the Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson AZ & the Huachuca Agave display

Photo Mine

And there is it. Even has pups on the other side of it. I actually acquired it back in 1996. It's a long way away from it's form birth place high forested shady elevation in another state to a fun sun much hotter southern exposure in El Cajon California.

Another plant I had collected from up there in the Huachucas Mtns was a beautiful native Coral Bells variety with exceptional deep lipstick red colour. So many I had seen back over a decade ago were many with pale red or pink flowers in Nurseries, so a deep bright red was an eye catcher. Unfortunately it was along the side of a dangerous rock cliff face which also had slippery seep or cienega which hydrated the plants. I actually had to scale up this rock face a bit and reach over from the side and pluck out a tiny specimen. Coral Bells will often form several bunches which can be separated to form and grow newer plants. For people unfamiliar with Carr Canyon Falls and where I plucked this plant from, here is an illustrated example to the right and above. This is a dangerous area and it notoriously known for many deaths by people taking *cough-cough* chances like me. So please don't do this. I no longer take such stupid idiot chances, although it doesn't mean I don't think about doing such at times. Fortunately now I simply cop out.

Credit: Tom and Carol Sykes

I brought the plant back to my place in Anza and planted it under a fairly moist area some Redshanks of all plants. But as you can see from the photo by Tom Sykes, plants you do not normally associate together do quite often form strange bedfellows there in the Huachuca Mountains. The plant actually grew into several and once again, when I moved I took them with me to El Cajon CA. I placed them in my mum's newly created planter I built. They did wonderfully for a year until my Mum's stupid Wienerdog (Dachshund) which is a tweaked disturbed hound with an obsession for fetching and if you didn't continually throw her toy, she would go and destroy what plants she noticed you would so lovely attend to. My sister's dog (a Border Collie) was also another one of those insane fetch dogs. I spent over a month creating a kool native plant scene and installed a nice lawn at her brand purchased tract home in Lakeside CA in 2001. This dog was jealous if you refused to fetch and would deliberately tear out plants in retaliation. And that's exactly what happened, it totally trashed her yard. I literally found both of those dogs extremely irritating. What's even more frustrating than that is the inability to move the owner's of such dogs into action to put a stop to it. As a landscape supervisor in San Diego for that property management company, I had developed a reputation for hating the client's dogs. That was untrue, what I disliked was an owner's unwillingness to control and prevent their dog from crapping on our public lawns, especially since the Human owner or master is the main one who has power and authority to make the dog behave. That never happened. Needless to say, those original Huachuca Coral Bells no longer exist at Mum's place. *sigh*

Apache Pine

On another note, I also mentioned another tree for which I had taken back to California from Arizona. This was the Apache Pine I mentioned yesterday in the Alligator Juniper post. I did however, purchase it from James Koweek, who in turn actually did climb the Huachucas and collect the seedlings in the wild because he could never find viable seed or had trouble germinating them if he did acquire it, I forget exactly what he said. But I did have a Nursery receipt when I crossed that California/Arizona border at the Blythe Agricultural Station. But it didn't stop that officer from taking that plant out of the container and messing with the root ball which I thought would have done it in for sure, which was no doubt what he wanted as well. Fortunately the Apache Pine and me had other ideas. Apaches have always been hard to kill. *smile* Sadly, as I mentioned in that post yesterday, a tree trimmer who rented my old place cut it down for a place to park his equipment. Whatever. But just to let folks interested in landscaping in Southern California know, the Apache Pine does extremely well in landscape or garden situations in the interior valleys which are often very hot and dry. Take for an example, the Wild Animal Safari Park south of Escondido in the San Pasqual Valley. I took photos there back in 2007 when we last visited. My favourite place in all that Park hasn't always been around the African or Asian animals, though they are kool. It's the native plant garden and desert plant garden areas.

photo: Mine

In so many ways, this remarkable Pine is similar to Canary Island Pine and would make an excellent replacement. But unfortunately you just don't find them anywhere in any of the local So-Cal Nurseries. Most of the So-Cal Native Plant Nurseries won't touch anything out of state, well, unless of course it's Baja. But I have to admit that it's ability to survive and thrive down along the interior valleys of Southern California does impress me because even the native Jeffrey and Ponderosa Pines up in the local mountains will not do as well. They are both very smog sensitive and demand a cooler environment in which the local high elevations offer.

Photo Credit: Mine 2011

This is a closeup of one of the branches of an Apache Pine near the cage enclosure of the Thick Billed Parrot which is a native to southern Arizona. In some ways their cones are similar to Canary Island, but just a bit more round and wider.

Photo: Mine

This shot of the Apache Pines is taken next to the green & red Thick-Billed Parrot enclosure. It's appropriate since both the parrot and the pine share the same habitat in Arizona. Clearly though, anyone can see the tree does rather well at these hotter drier locations where Jeffrey, Ponderosa and other high elevation So-Cal natives would and do often fail. I really hope one day someone out there gets a clue and decides to collect enough seed to start promoting to the public the potential value of Apache Pine in California Urban Landscapes. If you don't believe it can be done, just visit the San Diego Safari Park and Native Plants collection display.

I don't know if my collecting days are finished or what. I don't have the resources for establishment anymore. Or even a favourable climate for that matter. But I still have this inner drive to collect seed and small plant specimens. So I guess I'll always have ScrubJay Syndrome, but I think I can live with it. As a result, I have learned so much over the years with this quirky handicap. 


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Alligator Juniper (Juniperus deppeana) @ Ramsey Canyon Arizona

Photo: Mine

On some previous trips to Arizona I always seemed to find something I wanted to take back as a specimen souvenir. Just to see  how it would fare in an Anza high Mountain ecosystem. Many similar climates around Arizona when comparing Anza Valley. This particular trip where the plant was collected was up above Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains above Sierra Vista Arizona. The large tree specimens and signage above were down in the Canyon walk itself. The little tree I found was from driving up Carr Canyon Road just south of Ramsey Canyon Rd which takes you up to higher elevations. As I revisited Anza this year I could see that people are still making the same old blunders purchasing plants from conventional Retail Plant Nurseries only to see their landscape choices fail. But I brought back a tiny 5 or 6 inch high Alligator Juniper seedling from that trip. The time was summer in August. I know, odd time for taking a specimen where most would have collected it in winter or early Spring. But it is possible to collect and transplant if you know what to do and do it quickly. I've done Sycamores and Big Leaf Maples this time of year and with great success as well. 

Credit: Forestryimages.org

Thumb sized PT Mycorhizae Truffle associated with
young Slash Pines

Back in the 1990s, I was still using Plant Health Care Inc's (PHC) mycorrhizal inoculation mixes. This particular mix I used was called Tree Saver Injectable. I never used a high pressure injection system, I simply used to apply the powder which contained natural humic acids for triggering root growth and most importantly Pisolithus tinctorius spores. I also added some wild collected spores from truffles collected off the Dunn Ranch just north of Hamilton Creek Canyon in eastern Anza. The initial response after a month of transplanting the 6 inch high Alligator Juniper was that a thumb sized Truffle appeared at the base of the tree. Truffles will not appear unless they are able to draw off the carbons of their host. The picture above from Forestry Images for which I am a member, is almost as exact as what I have experienced with all pine and oak transplants or new tree inoculation. Only after the next rainy season and Spring growth will you ever notice any improved vigorous grow in both stems and foliage. The odd thing here with the Juniper however, PT Mycorrhizae is host specific and supposedly will NOT colonize with Junipers. Surprise surprise!

Photo Mine

This little tree was planted in 1996. It never struggled, but did get nibbled on by rabbits until I put the chicken wire around it. Babied it the first your with regular weekly water and tapered off with monthly. After that first year I did nothing. As you can see, it is now about one meter high as of June 2013. Also, notice I put it smack in the middle of old growth Redshank or Ribbonwood (Adenostoma sparsifolium) Chaparral High Desert Elfin Forest. I
never do give it another thought to remove what many people usually consider evil competition. I also contacted Dr Donald Marx (PHC Chief Scientist) in Frogmore South Carolina when I discovered that the colonization actually took. He was blown away too. So was I. So I sent him some pics. It's amazing how much there is yet to be discovered, especially in such an arrogant world where the leadership believes it knows it all. Eventually when the root system reaches a maximum point of establishment and the top of the Juniper pushes through the Chaparral tree canopy, it'll really take off. In the mean time, the environmental conditions will allow very few lower tree branches and being supported in early life by the chaparral will have a nice clean trunk for which that characteristic Alligator bark will manifest itself beautifully.

Photo: Mine

Photo: Mine

With Alligator Juniper, it's that characteristic reptilian bark pattern that catches and captures your attention while out on a hike. Some giant twisting individuals look like some prehistorical beast trying to free itself from the Earth's hold on it. Arizona Highways one year had a picture of a long dead Alligator Juniper, but which it's skeletal size still provided an illustrative vision of what it must have looked like when still alive.

Photo: Mine

Some interesting fire ecology facts about Alligator Juniper. While like most other living plants this tree will burn, but it also has the amazing ability to sprout back from it's root system. It's rugged reptilian looking bark is tough enough to withstand fire and has been noted that most canopies and crowns of Alligator Juniper are untouched, although lower limbs may be scorched. The foliage example as referenced in the picture above reveals just how beautiful this tree could be for the landscape and especially in areas where there are water issues.

There were other trees and plants worthy of note in the Huachucas. Apache Pine (Pinus engelmannii) is another one of those interesting pines that doesn't fit the profile of pines in So-Cal. It has a brighter green foliage which is itself much like those long subtropical needles pines. When it is a young sapling, it is often referred to as the "Hippie Pine". I acquired one years before my Alligator Juniper find, from a Native Plant Nursery in Elgin Arizona just south of Sonoita. The Nursery was owned by James (Jim) Koweek of Elgin and he later moved his Diamond JK Nursery to Sonoita Arizona just to the north at the Junctions of Hwy 82 & Hwy 83. He has since sold it and now has a Soil Preparation Services company and website here: http://www.azreveg.com/

Photo: Mine

This particular Apache Pine was up that same Carr Canyon Rd. I planted one of these Apache Pines on my Anza property in the early 1990s. After I sold that property in 2002, in 2003 it was rented out by the new owner to a guy who was a tree trimmer. He had lots of equipment and wanted a place for parking it. Understandable since Anza is known for having plenty of citizens with sticky finger tendencies. But he leveled half a dozen fairly large pines to do this along with Chaparral and the Apache and Arizona White Pines were among these. When I visited a few years later and discovered the loss, it was similar to my shock with the Rattlesnake Mountain Torrey Pine removal. Oh well, it was no longer my place anyway. But that Apache pine was almost 10 foot tall with good branch density when I left. The foliage of course stood out with it's bright green (almost Ponderosa looking) and did also prove that such pines would do well there. For all you off the hill plant shoppers, get a clue.

Photo: Mine

Just by way of location and height reference for the former Apache Pine on my property as of 2002. This photo above is a fortunate Coulter Pine that was not touched by the tree trimmers Ax or Chainsaw. You can see the height and branch circumference here are very very healthy. The Apache Pine was on the other side of this photo angle to the north and this tree was only one and a half foot tall compared to the 10 foot tall Apache when I left. So the Apache would have been more than doubled in it's size today if still alive. Also keep in mind as far as growth and health issues go, none of these trees on my former property are watered and have even endured the low rainfall years (eleven or twelve) since 2001 until this present day. So they still haven't done too bad. Shows what a healthy mycorrhizal grid network will do for a landscape system.

And Finally - 

Photo: Mine

Photo: Mine

Photo: Mine

These last three pictures are of the meadows of grasses and flowers leaving Ramsey Canyon back toward Hwy 91 South. Keep in mind the best time of year to visit is July/August when the summer Monsoons are in full force. Sad to say, from the climate shifting News Reports I am hearing, there may be an abnormal shift from July/August to September/October. This may well screw up many things with regards several ecosystems in the southwest.

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Good Reading References:

U.S. Forest Service & Alligator Jumiper Fire Ecology

Wildlife Habitat transformation in my Mum's front and backyards

At time of posting here back in Sweden, there is some ridiculously load music festival behind my country Gingerbread House. So I use something here called Spotify which is popular here for music listening. It's similar to Pandora and other sites. For the moment I have doors & windows closed and playing James Taylor to drowned out the insanity coming from the world outside. Okay, where do I start ?

In the words of Oliver Wendell Douglas of Hooterville

"What the  . . . ?"  

This is what I saw very early every Tuesday morning at Mum's place when taking the garbage out to the curb for Trash Pick up day. At first, I unconsciously assumed some bird/s were using it as a perched, until one day I decided to look up.

Credit Photo: Mine

This nest was a surprise to me as I have never really seen this before, although I have been familiar with the builder of it for years both in the wild and in the urban landscape business. This sort of hybrid looking mud & straw Swallow nest on steroids is the home for the Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans). 

Below is a nice 56 second video done by Las Pilitas Nursery owner and Nature educator Bert Wilson. It shows the common Black Phoebe which is a dapper flycatcher in the western U.S.A.  They reside near riparian water habitats in the wild, but also known around urban landscapes, especially in and around lawns. You will often see them on a fence post perch next to the lawn, a near by roof top gable or other lookout perch where they incredibly spy out some type of small winged insect in the grass for which you can't even see. They will then suddenly pounce upon the unsuspecting insect and if they at first miss the critter, they then do a number of acrobatics until the catch is made. Unfortunately I don't have all my photos with me back here, as they are on my mum's Picasa3 page. Again here is the video and very familiar sound made by this bird.

Photo Credit: Mine

Unfortunately I don't have a zoom lens on my camera and the fact that I even got this shot was a piece of luck. This is a Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus) which you can see at the center of the photo in the Coast Live Oak branch above the full bloom of the Bird of Paradise Bush (Caesalpinia gilliesii) which I previously wrote about a few weeks back Here. I often would sit in the afternoon sun enjoying the afternoon warmth, when I'd here this distinctive chirp sound, only to see this bright deeply yellow/orange coloured bird feeding off the nectar of the Bird of Paradise Bush flowers which are now in full bloom. 

Credit: (IBC) The Internet Bird Collection

These birds literally love nectar and you will often see them at Hummingbird feeders trying to find a way for a quick sip. There actually are Oriole bird feeders which have larger beak openings for the Orioles, but landscaping with the right plants will attract them also. They are so timid and shy, so photographing is more of a challenge without zoom lens.

Photo Credit: Mine

My Mum's Pozo Blue Sage which is in full bloom now and it's very aromatic fragrance permeates the entire front yard is also attracting numerous Bees like the Honeybee seen here. Although I don't have a picture of them, every so often 4 or 5 large black carpenter bees would show up all at once. I'd usually see them when I was leaving or on my way somewhere else in the Bronco I was driving while there on my visit. A cute little hummingbird was always present as well, but that was until my niece's little black cat caught it and brought it to the front door. The cat previously was bringing large grasshoppers to the front door. Over here in Sweden, many with outdoor cats have a bell attached to their collar to alert the birds. 

Photo Credit: Mine

This is my Mum's Island Manzanita I wrote about here "Canyon Sparkles" Island Manzanita when I first came to visit. It is beautiful, but I've been disappointed that it had not yet bloomed while on my visit. As you can see, there are unopened bloom clusters ready and willing, but perhaps the time is not right. Admittedly, it did have one bloom cluster with two petite looking Chinese Lantern flowers, but that was it. Should have stayed longer - *smile*

Finally there were the small grove of California Sycamore woodland setting I created back in 2005. The previous plant residents behind the house were Fruitless Mulberry and Texas Umbrella or China Berry tree. Both needed to come out. The China Berry was extremely messy and weal brittle branches began falling during strong windy storms. The Fruitless Mulberry was also messy, but also had trunk and branch rot from improper pruning by my father. Below is the photo from back then and the updated background photo as the back area appears today with the California Sycamores, Canary Island pines, Tecate Cypress and Torrey Pine. Most of Southern California on this last visit has been a huge disappointment for me as far as the public's lack of interest in landscaping and the horrible example of it's Municipal, County, State and Federal leadership. I have no faith that this will ever change anytime soon. Anyway, below is some of the transformation with regards creating a microclimate of sorts for plants that cannot take full sun. So-Cal is so lucky as to have a climate that can be used for any plant theme concept. Pity that most don't realize it.

Photo Credit: Mine

This was taken in January 2005 when my wife and kids came for a visit. Notice the Texas Umbrella tree on the left and the Fruitless Mulberry on the right just behind the roof line of view.

Photo Credit: Mine

This photo is actually taken in the backyard in August 2007 where you can see the progress of the California Sycamore woodland. This was taken also during the finishing up of the cobblestone pathway which was the final blow to my knees. Should have worn pads. I've done lots of stone steps and brick or cobblestone pathways in the Landscape business. The trees at this point are 2 1/2 years old, but the grass is no longer there and has been replaced by bark mulch layer with native under story plants like Snow Pea, Chaparral Currant, Fuchsia Flowering Gooseberry and California Coffeeberry. Tecate Cypress is to the left in this picture and the exact spot where I'm standing is over a small Torrey Pine which is so large now (20') that taking this same photo angle would be just about impossible. I have a strategy for establishing such a plant community rapidly in both the urban landscape and habitat restoration in the wild and then allowing Nature to run it's course and it has to do with observations I've made over the decades about Bajadas or Alluvial Fans in Southern California mountain foothill regions. I've revisited some of these places on my last trip and I'll share them with everyone next week. Trust me, it's worked for me every time.

Photo Credit: Mine

This was taken on our visit back in May 2011.  Notice the roof line and the California Sycamores woodland along with the Canary Island Pines. The Canary Island pines were never planned, but volunteered from the mulch I had brought over from work just a year before I left for Sweden. Below, this is how things appear as of a couple weeks back at the time of this writing April 2013. I'll later post some pics I have of the California Sycamore plants under story which in itself replicates unique plant communities which exist under many Oak woodlands in California. The exciting thing is that such plant community establishments under Sycamores or Oaks are actually wildlife magnets which makes the whole gardening/landscaping game worth it if done properly.

Photo Credit: Mine

What We Need Here is Wildfire to Propagate !!!

"What we have here is (a) failure to communicate Educate ?"

Credit: Grolsch Filmworks

Ideology and Philosophy are often times like a terminal  disease which infects not only when it comes to this world's Leadership policy making and other governance schemes, but also when it even comes even to our own understanding of the Earth's Natural World. The sad state of our natural world's health is a testament to human leadership's misuse and abuse of natural resources and lack of understanding when it comes to not only management of these, but also attempting to put it all back together again when humans have blundered somewhere once again. This post will deal with what should be our education and understanding about Fire Ecology and the Big Business intrusion which attempts to profit from it.

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We all remember that line by Strother Martin in the classic 1960s film "Cool Hand Luke", where the penal system was trying by force to get the convicts to comply to their totalitarian Authority. In many instances, this world's various authorities (Political &  Business, Science & Religious) do the same thing when it comes to education and communication. It's almost like the old time saying about young ones, "Children should be seen and not heard." Today's authority resents being questioned. Unfortunately the general public is often times so apathetic that such failed leadership gets away with it. Many of the average folks appear to rather like  feeling a sense of laziness in letting others do their thinking and research for them. Some people today are like sponges; they soak up whatever they come across. It is all too easy to absorb whatever is around us. As long as their personal comfort isn't disturbed too much, they allow that authority to dictate how the world around them should work and function. This is also true of our conventional understanding and official teaching on how Nature itself operates. The fact that Nature is presently in dire straights everywhere globally should give us pause. So as to not to suffer the consequences of being a mere blind follower, we need to be selective about the information we take into our minds. We need to scrutinize whatever is presented to us, deciding what to accept and what to reject. However, we do not want to be so narrow that we refuse to consider facts that can improve our thinking. How can we find the right balance?  By adopting a standard with which to measure the so-called new and enlightened information. On the one hand, we need to have an open mind, that is, receptive to new information. On the other hand, our minds should also see the danger of information that is entirely inconsistent with the reality and the truth of just how the Natural World really works.

First off, people need to acquire the quality of discernment in their ability to properly critique what they are being told by those claiming power of their authority.  Discernment is  "acuteness of judgment and understanding."  It is  “the power or faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes one thing from another.”  A person who has this discernment perceives subtleties of ideas or things and has good judgment as to what to believe and how to properly act upon what he/she is being told. Using discernment, a person will be able to recognize those who are merely using smooth slick talk and complimentary speech for a purposed outcome in order to seduce the hearts of inexperienced ones to back a plan, proposal or scheme with reference to an ideological concept. Discernment enables you to discard irrelevant information or misleading facts and distinguish the substance of a matter. But how can anyone really discern when something is misleading?

Credit> Youtube - Craig Chaddock (thumbwave)

Tecate Cypress Regeneration

Let's take an example of the mismanagement of the Natural World and focus on one particular narrow subject of interest which is fire ecology. This would be the propaganda fed to the general public on the need of a fire's importance in Nature for many living plants in the Chaparral Plant Community in order to propagate and  germinate it's species. Narrowing the focus even further in our figurative fire ecology microscope, let's take all things Cypress.  It is said by many experts and parroted by your ignorant average Joe/Jane world citizen who comment on countless public forums & other public boards that Cypress trees cannot propagate unless fire rages through an area causing cones to release 1000s of seeds and consuming everything that would be competition for growth and resources. For example, in 2006, the Orange County Register (see Reference below) had an article about the U.S. Forest Service helping Tecate Cypress trees recover. There was a subtitle and other specific one liners in the article which actually revealed what much of the rest of the story line was going to contain, it said this - 

"Heat Frees Seeds, But Flames Decimated Trees"

"The Fire that trees can't live without might in this case prove lethal."

Fire that trees cannot live without ? While there certainly is an excessively large scale propagation strategy these Cypress trees have in the event of a localized environmental destruction and for getting things off to a fast head start, this is NOT the ONLY way in which these trees propagate and move into virgin territories. Still it's those large stand out one liner quotes in headlines that sticks in people's minds. And these are what are used as a propaganda tool for most of these unnecessary Prescribed or Controlled Burns associated with other words or terms like 'Fuel Management' which for the most part are conducted in remote wilderness type locations far far away from any Urban development. I know this from living in the San Jacinto Mountains for over 20+ years.  I have over the years discovered many locations of mature Cypress tree forests where actual germination does occur within mature stands of old growth chaparral. One such location is the turnout on Hwy 79 south of Julian California where many many years ago Cuyamaca Cypress trees were planted, I presume as a decorative addition to the area we know as "Inspiration Point Road" which is nothing more than a large loop for viewing the Anza Borrego Desert State Park to the east below. Long before the 2003 Cedar Fire blew through this Hwy 79 Overlook, these trees were actually already spreading around everywhere. Just to the south side of this Turnout Overlook on several hills, there were hundreds of these trees spreading into what can be described as pure dense stands of old growth stunted wind blown Manzanita scrub which had been shaped to the hilltop environment by constant never ending prevailing west winds from off the Pacific Ocean. Yet you won't really find any literature written about this. 

One of the best ways to understanding how Nature actually works is quite literally to question and put to the test many of the conventional logic and reasoning being fed to the general public as to land management. It actually takes personal effort of literally dumping the electronic devices, getting off one's back side and getting out into the field regularly. And I mean regularity. It is far better for each individual personally to choose what he will feed his mind with when it comes to references. You've heard it said that we are what we eat, and this can not only apply to food for the body, but also what you feed the mind. No matter what you are reading or watching or listening to when it comes to Scientific Land Management, test to see whether it has propagandistic overtones or is truthful. Clearly in these later days, much of the Fire Ecology does not deal with the reality of how Nature actually operates. Also keep in mind that if you really want to be fair-minded, you also have to be willing to subject our own personal biased opinions and ideas to continual testing as you take in new information. You have to realize that they are, after all, opinions, which no doubt were formulated through the opinion of those with Authority who educated you in the beginning. Even our own ongoing education and understanding's trustworthiness depends on the validity of our own facts, on the quality of our reasoning, and on the standards or values that we choose to apply to them.

Getting back to the flawed understanding with regards Fire Ecology, here's one of my personal favourite locations of old growth Tecate Cypress trees regenerating without fire and these are the isolated pocket stands found on Quatay Mountain near Descanso CA. Take a look at the map below. Please pay close attention here.

Credit: GOOGLE

Traveling here from Interstate 8 on Hwy 79 north which takes you beyond the town of Descanso itself and beyond the Jct of Hwy 79 & old US 80 which heads towards Quatay and Pine Valley. Look for a development with a sort of Grand entrance which is called Tecate Cypress Trail, then proceed a half mile beyond that to the east up the grade. When you come to another road on the left called Samagatuma Valley Road and directly across from that road you will see this fence on the south side which is the secret  Tecate Cypress Stand Trailhead . Now it's not an official one, but someone a decade ago did cut a easy pathway up to those trees. So access is  possible.

Caution should be in order here as I have no idea as to who now owns this part of Guatay Mountain and in the past I did stumble upon an *cough-cough* Illegal Farm Irrigation pipe if you know what I mean. My main point here is that once up into these trees, you can locate and find many young Tecate Cypress seedlings in among various chaparral plant undergrowth. You will also often find some open cones on the trees themselves. It actually took me a couple of visits in my seed collection before I began noticing there were all these seedlings (which I actually had seen before but gave no thought) and finally I started questioning the reasons for their existence which defied the traditional storytelling I had bought into in my formal education. There among the old growth Cypress and actually much of the old growth Chaparral, I began to discern various age groups among all the Cypresses. Some a foot tall, some five foot tall, some taller. Why ? If it have taken a fire to create these large older Tecate Cypress Forests in the first place, then why were there all these numerous decades younger aged trees ? But a clue was the sound I often heard up here. The sound of a bird pecking on wood. Looking around I discovered these small brown birds pecking on the cones themselves attempting to get at the seeds. I'm no bird expert, but hopefully someone else living there or reading this experience will be alert enough with camera to document this phenomena. Clearly, these birds have a measure of success in penetrating the hard cone, but that doesn't always mean they get every seed. I'm sure some fall out and drop onto the ground or sail into the breeze and land far away from the parent tree. I haven't gone to this place on my present 3012 Spring visit here this time around, but at least you all have a reference point for a personal educational visit. 

Credit: SDSU.EDU

The large list of areas where Tecate Cypress exists in large woodland settings. Tecate Peak, Otay Mountains, Quatay Mountains, Santa Ana Mountains and a colony on Cedros Island off Baja California are the prime locations given for viewing these trees, and yet smaller colonies in Peutz Valley near Apline CA and Lawson Valley near Jamul CA to name a few. The photo above comes from the Otay Mountain Wilderness Recovery Program in 2005. This was a fire that occurred simultaneously in 2003 south of the 2003 Cedar fire. As an important side point here, take note of the reference to the Peutz Valley region where it is listed as an area of Tecate Cypress naturalization. Interestingly, there historically were no Tecate Cypress woodlands prior to human intrusion into the area west of Alpine and north of El Capitan Reservior. What happened was that some residents back in the 1970s planted some as landscape features on their property. There was never fire here in Puetz Valley like that of the 2003 Cedar Fire, so the question becomes:

 "How did Tecate Cypress Seeds advance themselves and naturalize out in the surround chaparral and adjacent canyons without the 'Dogma of Fire Ecology' being foremost in this process ?" 

Hmmm, could birds pecking on cones be the answer ? I do have one other easy example location, but unfortunately I believe the 2003 Cedar Fire would have easily devoured this spot. I use to collect a lot of seed here at this location as well. There are actually many such places not mentioned in much of the literature dealing with Tecate Cypress habitats. Mostly what are written about are four or five main locations. This place however is on the western face of Cuyamaca Peak along Boulder Creek Road. The location has a name, Wildcat Spring which is a concrete Water Storage Tank, but next to a moist seep area. There were always many older Oaks associated with this place and old growth Tecate Cypress. Underneath the tree canopy and out in the fringes of the surrounding chaparral there were various size seedlings, but always newly fresh year old seedlings every time I visited. Curiously it was experiences like this that made me again question this flawed Fire Ecology thinking. It was clearly evident that these trees were in no need of fire, something you will hardly find anywhere in any literature or textbooks. I did once scoop an 8 inch high seedling into a five gallon pail at Wildcat Spring and brought it home to my place in Anza California. Here I took this photo this past 2013 Spring.

Photo Mine

 To the right here is a photo I took last week of that very tree as it appears today on that property within the Redshank/Ribbonwood, Mountain Mahogany, and Holly Leaf Redberry where I planted it. Take note below here. This was planted in the late 1980s, inoculated and nurtured for a couple of years and then left to it's own thereafter. It is now about 10 foot tall. These next sets of photographs are taken on a neighbouring property of my Brother's home in Ranchita California which is directly south of Anza and in much of the same chaparral at 4000' elevation. These are his neighbour's Arizona Cypress planted along a western fence line border for privacy and a windbreak. They appear to be no longer watered or cared for and have actually spread themselves not only several yards away from the parent trees, but also across the dirt road into the Chaparral. These trees have spread across the road into the Chamise. But also please take note of the chainlink fence line in which numerous seedlings have germinated and the question is why ? For me it's the best proof, other than being an eye witness to birds pecking at Cypress cones and eating seeds, then some seeds making through their intense digestive track only to be pooped out as they perched for a rest. Always take special note of fence lines to understand a bird's favourite diet. *smile*

Photo Mine

Photo Mine

New trees have spread outside of the fence area where the much larger trees are 10 foot away from the fence. I find many fences are great places for many seeds of any kind to germinate. It has a sort of artificial protection and organic build up which creates a mulch and nutrient catchment.

Photo Mine

This view is looking over the chain link fencing and revealing several seedlings within the property itself.

Photo Mine

This photo is far away from the property with adult trees and is across the road on the other side, and admittedly is not much to look at. The tree is barely hanging on though still alive below near the ground and the growth is new this year. Still this location is across the road, west of the road and property. The trend here is an east to westward movement. That is interesting as this area receives heavy Santa Ana Winds which come in Fall and early Winter. Do the dry hot winds open and disperse the cones and seeds ? Who knows, but it is clear that the wind direction does have a direct effect on these trees spreading westward through the chaparral.

This post isn't really a slam against anything forestry, but it is puzzling why such outdated flawed understanding which influences and dictates the need for Prescribed or Controlled Burns are justified to help nature. That just isn't the case. I have worked with many of these officials before and I will tell you that pride of academic accomplishment and credentials means everything to them. Sometimes you have to explain things to them in a way that makes them believe it was their idea in the first place. Or at least subtly send them in the right with the illusion of it being theirs. What ever it takes to get things done. Mostly I post hoping the private land owner, gardener or landscaper gets the point and  benefits the most, but not on my word, but getting out there and seeing for themselves. Nothing burns understanding into those brains cells faster than personal observation and experience coupled with practical application back home. I entertain no such hope that government will ever change. People today are told and even encourage to question everything today. I'm not necessarily for that as all I'm seeing now in the Global News Reports are more chaos and disunity. As we have seen, there are many in authority today who would like to delude us with so-called Scientific persuasive arguments about fire ecology.  Therefore, when we are presented with these modern day persuasive science arguments, we should ask questions.

For example, examine whether there is any bias. (there almost always is) Next, what is the motive for the message ? (in other words, who's going to profit off the venture) If the message is rife with name-calling and loaded words (Chaparral is boring & mundane or Fuel in need of Management), why is that ? Loaded language aside, what are the merits of the Fire Ecology practices themselves ? Also, if possible, try to check the track record of those so-called experts in authority who are speaking. Are they known for speaking the truth ? And If “authorities” are used in reference, who or what are they ? Why should you regard this person - or organization or publication (Textbooks) - as having expert knowledge or trustworthy information on the subject of fire Ecology or the land management in question ? If you sense some appeal to emotions, ask yourself,

‘When viewed dispassionately, what are the merits of the land management message ?’

Photo Mine

This is a side point, but also fits in with the rest of the post subject. This tree, which I believe was Alligator Juniper (Juniperus deppeana) was acquired from a old growth forest floor high above Sierra Vista Arizona up in the Huachuca Mountains. It was about 5 inches tall when planted in 1994 and now is about three foot in height among the chaparral where I planted it. Other than inoculation with Pisolithus tinctorius (the infamous 'Dog turd Fungus') which did take hold as evidenced by that first year's truffle formation, which even surprised Dr Donald Marx of Plant Health Care Inc or PHC in Frogmore South Carolina, nothing more was done for the tree after that. This photo was taken in the Spring of 2013 and although still small, it has successfully made it under it's own with the help of mycorrhizae. BTW, there are artist drawings by naturalists depicting the extinct South Carolina Parakeet up in Bald Cypress trees with cypress cones in their mouths. What a pity that some things go extinct before we understand the full complexity of the roles they once played in Nature. 

Further Interesting Reading:

Orange County Register: "Forest Service helps tecate cypress after fire"

Also check out the link on Tecate Cypress Seed germination which also should illustrate some pertinent points made above: 

 Seed Germination & Old School Ideology vrs How Nature Actually Works