Show your LGBTQ+ Pride Outside with a Rainbow Garden!

Greetings,

Warmer days have arrived at last here in Richmond, and with blooms abound throughout the nursery we are poppin’ with pollinators and a vibrant array of colors over here! 

The month of June is LGBTQIA+ pride month in honor of the Stonewall riots of New York in 1969. Most folks are probably aware that the rainbow flag is the iconic symbol that represents the LGBTQIA community, but what is perhaps lesser known is how that came to be… Urged by Harvey Milk to make a symbol for the LGBTQIA+ community, a local San Francisco gay man, artist, and drag queen named Gilbert Baker set out to make a statement about diversity in the late 70’s, and chose the symbol of a rainbow to fit this mission because he felt that the variety of colors in the rainbow visually captured the sentiment of celebrating diversity well. The fact that rainbows are found in nature also aligned perfectly with the message that queerness and diversity are natural, and exist all around us. Baker opted to use a flag for the symbol because he saw flags as a powerful symbol of pride– a way of proclaiming one’s visibility and being proud of who you are. Each of the colors of the rainbow had its own meaning, with 8 colors originally– Hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit. Upon mass production of the rainbow flag the colors changed slightly because of production issues, so it has since evolved into what is now the most widely known variant as a six color flag (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet).

Some of you reading this might be thinking, what does LGBTQIA+ Pride Month possibly have to do with California native plants? Quite frankly, plants are queer as heck! There are countless examples of ‘queer’ reproductive strategies in the botanical world– we won’t be delving into this topic at length right now, but if it interests you we suggest reading “Queer is Natural: An Interview with The Scrappy Naturalist” by Leslie Patron on Peninsula Open Space Trust blog and checking out the accompanying online event on Wednesday June 5th. There is also a great article called “Re-imagining Reproduction: The Queer Possibilities of Plants” by Banu Subramaniam and Madelaine Bartlett from the Journal of Integrative and Comparative Biology that is worth a read!

Ultimately, the LGBTQIA rights movement and Pride month are at their core a celebration of diversity and a fight to protect it, which is vital for native plants, our environment, and us humans alike! After all, we are part of the natural world too– our diverse ways of existing in this world are equally as important to protect as the plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria that we coexist with. 

Celebrating diversity and working together to protect it is foundational to our business too! This month, we will donate all of our revenue from plant sales on Saturday June 15th to the Oakland LGBTQ Center to support their mission of “enhancing and sustaining the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, their families, and allies by providing educational, social, and health related activities, programs, and services”– If you’re interested in ‘feeding two birds with one hand’ to support the Oakland LGBTQ Center’s mission as well as ours, we hope you’ll shop with us on the 15th so you can get some native plants in the ground and contribute to our donation to the Oakland LGBTQ Center in the process!

We also want to shout out some local events happening this week to kick off pride month!

Saturday June 1st, 9am – 3pm

Pride Outside: Celebrate National Trails Day and Queer Community in Richmond, CA 

Hosted by the Watershed Project at the Booker T Anderson Community Center (960 S 47th St, Richmond, CA 94804)

“Join us for a community restoration event in the morning, a picnic lunch, and end with a guided bird and plant walk along the San Francisco Bay Trail. Join us in community with fellow LGBTQIA+ folks and allies – All are welcome!”

Sunday June 2nd, 11am – 3pm

Richmond Pride Parade 2024

Hosted by Richmond Rainbow Pride

This year’s Richmond Pride Parade will be a walking parade that will begin at Nicholl Park (on the Macdonald Ave side) and make its way to the Civic Center (traveling east up 26th from Nicholl Park)

Wednesday June 5th, 7pm

Queer is Natural 

Hosted by the Peninsula Open Space Trust

*online event, registration required

“🌈 Explore the colorful world of nature with “Queer is Natural”! Join Megan and Dr. Christine Wilkinson virtually on June 5th at 7PM as we dive into the fascinating phenomenon of queerness in the animal kingdom. To be perfectly queer (pun intended), this event is a must for anyone curious about the natural world and its queer connections.”

Without further ado, here are some of our wonderful native plants for…

Creating your own Rainbow in the Garden this Pride Month 🙂

Red Bush Monkeyflower

Diplacus puniceus

(Previously named Mimulus aurantiacus var. puniceus)

Available in D16 pots for $8.50 each!

• Small, fast-growing shrub that reaches about 2 ft. tall.
• This southern cousin differs from our local orange monkeyflower by producing bright red flowers.
• Their glorious trumpet shaped flowers can last for most of the year (depending on rainfall pattern)– great news for the humming birds that drink the nectar!
• Avoid direct watering in late summer or early fall as it may kill this plant.
• Best to let it go dormant for the hottest months of the year, and then watch it come back with the fall-winter rains.

Scarlet Bugler

Penstemon centranthifolius

Available in D16 pots for $7.30 each!

• Upright perennial herb that is summer deciduous and grows from 2 to 4 feet tall and about 1 foot wide.
• A series of long red flowers appear in the spring through summer.
• The flowers are a strong hummingbird attractant.
• Prefers well draining soil but does fine with clay soil and poor drainage.
• It provides abundant color as a flowering accent plant on banks or mixed with other flowering perennials around rocks and pathways.
• Bonus for those that have cold winters, Scarlet Bugler is very cold tolerant.

Mahogany Red Poppy

Eschscholzia californica ‘Mahogany Red’

Available in D16 pots for $7.30 each!

• This selection of Eschscholzia californica was bred in England for its deep-red flowers.
• Like its golden counterpart, Mahogany Red will bloom through the summer with a bit of regular water.
• Remove spent heads to promote another round of blooms.
• For those concerned with cross-pollination: You can preserve the red hues of successive generations by removing flowers that are varying in color.
• Blooms March to October

California Poppy

Eschscholzia californica

Available in D16 pots for $7.30 each!

• This herbaceous perennial wildflower is our beloved California state flower. 
• Blooms close at night and during cloudy weather. 
• In the landscape, use in borders, bulb cover, in containers, massing/bedding, and in rock gardens.
• Plants will re-seed – to avoid this simply remove the old flowers.
• Blooms March to October.

Large Flowered Collomia

Collomia grandiflora

Available in 4″ pots for $7.30 each!

• Annual herb that is both native to California and is cultivated as an ornamental plant.
• Its erect, fuzzy, red to green stems range in height from 4″ to 3′ tall.
• Notably named for its beautiful orange flowers that bloom mid-summer in showy clusters.
• Perhaps most intriguing, it has vibrant blue pollen atop its anthers in the center of each trumpet-like flower.
• In the garden, this species is fairly easy to grow in open spaces with dry soils and full sun to part shade.

Sticky Monkeyflower

Diplacus aurantiacus

(Previously named Mimulus aurantiacus var. aurantiacus)

Available in D16 pots for $8.50 each!

• This sub-shrub grows to 3 – 4 feet tall and is an excellent choice for a hardy, deer resistant bush
• Sticky monkeyflower blooms prolifically with one inch orange flowers that attract hummingbirds.
• For the best care plant in well drained soil and give very little water once established – too much water can cause root rot.
• Cutting back spent flowers can provide a longer blooming time.
• Plant on slopes for erosion control.
• Cut back hard to renovate plant at anytime during growing period.
• Flowers April to October.

Western Wallflower (Yellow Form)

Erysimum capitatum

Available in 4″ pots for $7.90 each!

• Western wallflower is a fragrant perennial (often biennial) that usually grows to a height of 1-2′, but can reach a size of 2′ wide by 3′ tall, showing 25+ flower sprays. 
• This short lived perennial or biennial plant will re-sow and replace the mother plants.
• The fragrant flowers of the Yellow Form are golden yellow and appear in tight racemes or panicles with a long succession of blooms lasting from March – July, or longer with water.

Lindley’s Blazing Star

Mentzelia lindleyii

Available in 4″ pots for $7.30 each!

• Upright annual wildflower that grows 1-2 ft. tall x 1 ft. wide
• Named for its golden yellow satiny five petal blooms centered with a fountain of extra long stamens that appear from late spring to early summer.
• Its blooming season may be extended with deadheading.
• In the garden, this annual prefers well to medium draining soil and is tolerant of heat, drought, and wind.
• It’s the perfect addition to open areas between a variety of trees/shrubs, or it pairs nicely in a meadow garden with lupines, poppies, Clarkia sp., Chinese Houses, and more! It also does well in containers.

Tufted Poppy

Eschscholzia caespitosa

Available in D16 pots for $7.20 each!

• Annual herb that is quite similar in appearance to its relative, the California Poppy, but has smaller showy yellow flowers.
• Blooms throughout spring and summer (March – August), attracting native bumblebees and butterflies, and providing a glorious show of color in a sunny garden.
• Because it is an annual, it is best used in a meadow-like setting where it can reseed.
• Pairs beautifully with other annuals such as lupines, Chinese houses, and clarkias.

California Sagebrush

Artemisia californica

Available in D16 pots for $8.50 and 2-Gal for $30.25 each!

• This perennial shrub grows 3 to 4 feet tall and wide.
• California sagebrush looks great growing with sticky monkey flower in the garden. 
• This plant can be cut back periodically to keep it more compact.
• California sagebrush is the preferred nesting site of the federally threatened California gnat catcher, and quail love it.
• Botanically, it is not a true sage, but its silvery foliage has a pleasing, sage-like fragrance.

Mugwort

Artemisia douglasiana

Available in D16 pots for $7.30 each!

• This herbaceous perennial grows 1-3 ft tall, and is a choice foliage plant.
• Its aromatic leaves are dark green on top and silvery beneath, which provides nice contrast. 
• In the garden, use Mugwort in a lush, riparian setting. 
• This plant tolerates more shade and heavier soils than other Artemisia species
• Ethnobotanical uses include a tea to soothe poison oak rashes, and it is reported to produce lucid dreams when placed under your pillow.
• Blooming period: June to October

Chia

Salvia columbariae

Available in 4″ pots for $7.30 each!

• Chia is an upright annual that grows to about 1.5 feet tall.
• The blue-purple flowers appear in the spring.
• Plant with other California natives to mix up the colors to best suit your taste.
• Once this little gem goes to seed, shake the pom-poms that the flowers left behind and collect up the nutritionally valuable seeds.
• Just make sure to leave some behind for next years crop and the birds!

Giant Blue-Eyed Mary

Collinsia grandiflora

Available in 4″ pots for $7.30 each!

• Erect annual herb native to coniferous understory and woodland environments from northern California up to British Columbia.
• It grows .2 – 1.2 ft. tall with a thin stem and narrow leaves that look grass-like before producing a showy inflorescence from mid spring to mid summer.
• Each inflorescence produces multiple levels of several pea-like flowers that are bright blue-purple with white upper lips.
• While this species is relatively small, it is prized for its much larger features than most other Collinsia  species.
• Giant Blue-Eyed Mary is a versatile option for dry rock gardens, seasonally wet meadow gardens, and butterfly/moth pollinator gardens.

Blue Eyed Grass

Sisyrinchium bellum

Available in d16 pots for $7.30 each!

• This 1ft. tall perennial with 1″ blue-purple flowers is a horticulture favorite. 
• A great plant for borders, containers, or massed on a grassy slope in the garden.
• This plant has small, iris-like leaves, and can be very drought tolerant but will flower longer with some summer water. 
• It flowers January to June.
• Blue eyed grass prefers some moisture and good drainage, but will tolerate summer dryness
• Blue-eyed grass is widely distributed in California on open, grassy slopes. 
• Plant with other grassland species and enjoy the show!

Caterpillar Phacelia

Phacelia cicutaria

Available in 4″ pots 25% off for $5.48 each!

• Caterpillar Phacelia is an upright annual shrub that grows up to 2 ft. tall and wide.
• It grows mainly in chaparral plant communities, often in burnt areas or on rocky slopes.
• It is named for the caterpillar-like appearance of its hairy, tightly coiled flower buds that uncurl as the pale lavender to white flowers open up from March to May.
• Caterpillar Phacelia is a wonderful choice for pollinator gardens and water-wise gardens.
• It prefers a fast-draining soil and is very drought tolerant, so it’s perfect for sandy, gravelly, or rocky sloped areas where other plants have a tough time growing.
• Like other phacelias, the hairs can cause dermatitis, so best to handle with gloves!

Western Dog Violet

Viola adunca

Available in 1-Gal pots for $14.50 each!

• Rhizomatous, semi-evergreen, compact perennial that grows 4-6 inches tall.
• Spade to heart-shaped leaves create the perfect backdrop for the brilliant deep purple petals flowers bloom throughout spring and summer.
• Grows best in well drained moist soils.
• An excellent ground cover and can be used on slopes, in beds and borders, under shrubs, in rock gardens, or woodland gardens.

Fragrant Pitcher Sage

Lepechinia fragrans

Available in D40 pots for $10.90 and TB4 for $15.70 each!

• A small evergreen shrub up to 3 feet tall with a 2 foot spread.
• Giving it some summer water will help to retain the leaves.
• Fragrant pitcher sage has attractive flowers and the most pleasing scent.
• The fragrant showy, lavender flowers are produced along lax 1 to 2 ft. long flower clusters.
• To produce plants with a full, dense appearance, frequently pinch back the foliage of young plants.
• Will do best with some periodic summer water and partial shade during the day.

Happy Pride, ‘Bee’ Well, and Go Natives! from all of us at the Watershed Nursery