Lost Coast Brewery Native Plant Garden

Fremontia is a widely planted and beautiful California native. 'California Glory' is a hybrid of Fremontodendron californicum and F. mexicanum, and was introduced in 1962 by Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. A fast grower, it can reach over 20 feet tall and as wide, but can be maintained through judicious pruning as a large shrub or small tree to complement other native plantings. From late spring through fall, Fremontia bears numerous large, attractive yellow blossoms. Although Fremontia are native to more inland and southern portions of the California Floristic Province, they can perform admirably in our north coastal environment when given excellent drainage, full sun, and protection from strong winds. Fremontia is notoriously intolerant of summer irrigation. In the LCBNPG five specimens of Fremontia can be seen just below the Paver Pavilion.

Ceanothus ‘Skylark’ is a showy horticultural selection of our native “blueblossom” ceanothus. Its beautiful dark blue flowers are in bloom in the LCBNPG from spring through early summer. ‘Skylark’ ceanothus is drought tolerant but can also tolerate some water and does well in clay soils. With its small, shiny evergreen leaves, ‘Skylark’ looks good year round, and will grow to approximately five feet tall by six feet wide. A total of 35 young specimens of ‘Skylark’ ceanothus are present along the top border the LCBNPG. Planted in fall 2016 to replace older declining plants, they create a meandering row which defines the top edge of this garden. Several horticultural sources state this ceanothus “loves” adobe, which works to our advantage in the dense, clay soils of the LCBNPG. Look for our new ceanothus ‘Skylark’ plants to begin blooming in earnest in 2018.

Dr. Hurd manzanita is a beautiful evergreen shrub that performs well in our coastal environment. It grows fairly rapidly and may ultimately reach approximately ten feet tall and as wide. Like many manzanitas, the beautiful mahogany red stems are best displayed by careful and early pruning to open up the structure of branches.  The pure white clusters of small urn shaped flowers cover this manzanita from mid to late winter to the delight of hummingbirds and bumblebees. On the north coast, Dr. Hurd manzanita should be planted in full sun. It will tolerate clay soils if given adequate drainage and no supplemental watering after the first year. One mature specimen and five newer plantings of Dr. Hurd manzanita are present in the LCBNPG.

‘Blood Orange’ monkeyflower is one of numerous horticultural selections developed over many decades from what is now botanically recognized as Mimulus aurantiacus. ‘Blood Orange’ monkeyflower is a small, heavily flowering semi-woody shrub reaching approximately two feet tall and as wide. It is tolerant of a range of soil types and moisture regimes and blooms in the LCBNPG over several months from spring through fall. Like other monkeyflowers, ‘Blood Orange’ benefits from frequent tip pruning to promote dense growth, removal of spent blooms to extend the flowering season, and annual cutting back to form sturdier plants. In the LCBNPG, ‘Blood Orange’ monkeyflower is planted in several locations easily viewed from the Paver Pavilion.