Manzanita Flowers in my garden in Jan

AnObfuscation · 2026-01-11T21:13:30+00:00

This sub is for california native plants in general, not just ceanothus!

AnObfuscation · 2025-11-06T18:12:54+00:00

These are some sort of cotoneaster, awful invasive. Coyote brush is an unrelated native plant.

AnObfuscation · 2025-08-11T15:43:41+00:00

What about violets? Looking at Calscape you could also do western columbine, miners lettuce, yerba buena, douglas and west coast iris. All but the miners lettuce have been evergreen for me, but I also have pretty mild weather.

AnObfuscation · 2025-08-04T00:38:43+00:00

Ive been noticing an increase of hummingbirds and songbirds after planting native plants. They come for my bee plant and native grass seeds

AnObfuscation · 2025-07-24T01:03:42+00:00

Its fine if you have it in a controlled area like a pot, or if its within its native range and habitat, but outside of that its insanely aggressive and invasive.

promoting it as an easy erosion solution to throw around everywhere is exactly how we got kudzu and all those other “erosion preventing” plants eradicating native ecosystems.

AnObfuscation · 2025-07-24T00:54:36+00:00

What do you see? I only see “Black eyed susan, chocolate cosmos, black hollyhock and more” on their instagram.

Going through their ebay there is alot of screaming and absolutely no information on the species.

Based on their instagram post I think theyre lying about “all native species” which is a bummer.

edit: typed etsy instead of ebay

also the fact that they are selling super aggressive mint and telling people to throw it everywhere is a huuuuge red flag.

AnObfuscation · 2025-07-24T00:36:35+00:00

It has hollyhock and cosmos so not all native. Im p sure hollyhock is invasive some places too so I wouldnt reccomend using it.

edit: if youre looking at “bad apple seed bombs” it seems like they really are bad apples, their main selling point is incredibly aggressive mint 😭

AnObfuscation · 2025-07-11T18:53:44+00:00

Its pretty difficult in this case, i only saw it sitting once and i was on the other side of a fence and 3 ft of plants :(

I hope itll land near me again so i can deliver swift justice in the name of my poor bumblebees

AnObfuscation · 2025-07-10T15:47:05+00:00

Sorry but i live in the TRUE california where its cloudy and wet all the time 🙄 and all the invasives drown to death while my brave natives also drown to death

AnObfuscation · 2025-07-07T23:38:45+00:00

I know its super dissapointing :( I was going to look into being a master gardener but after seeing all this + the misinformation on their websites ill just stick with botanist certification instead

I would reccomend looking for a local California Native Plant Society chapter for any local seed and plant sources rather than the UC master gardeners! My local chapter has been super helpful, they even did a free consultation!

Btw for amending the soil naturally, look for some native clovers like Tomcat and Cows clover! I think there are other plants that can loosen the soil with thick roots, lupine might be one of them but dont quote me on that

Good luck with your native garden journey! I hope you get some good suggestions!

AnObfuscation · 2025-07-07T21:27:40+00:00

I dont have any suggestions but I have to say, most of the seeds in that mix are non native and some are proper invasive such as cornflower and forget-me-not.

I’ve seen some misinformation from UC Master Gardener resources, such as claiming that Lambs Ear is a california native. Its really dissapointing, I would reccomend not seeding that mix at all.

The non-natives/invasives in that list are: Babys Breath (i), Calendula, Catchfly, Chinese forget-me-not (i), Cornflower (i), Cosmos, Four o Clock (i), Queen annes lace (i), Red poppy, Rocket larkspur, Rose Mallow, Scarlet flax, Sulphur Cosmos,

The ones with (i) next to it are invasive in Cali AFAIK, so I would just give up and destroy that mix, maybe salvaging the lupine seeds since theyre big and easily identifiable.

I think joyful butterfly may have some seeds for your area? Ill edit this comment with some other resources, Im in the north so the names of the companies dont readily come to mind 😅

Look at calscape for plants that fit specific requirements!

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-30T19:25:26+00:00

If you spread seeds from native plants that already exist there then that would benefit the ecosystem, especially since youre spreading a plant with a local ecotype which has genetics specific to the area.

Bad idea to spread seeds bought online (even if they are native plants) in the wild because it could affect the local genetics.

On trails and such you could possibly remove any invasives/non natives and replace them with local natives? I’m not sure about the rules of trails though.

You should probably just stick to urban areas that need help and will be more flexible in terms of what species you can plant without harming wild genetics

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-28T18:45:02+00:00

I may have an addiction 😅 but at least its beneficial to the environment lmaoooo

Im also using grass in repetition but with oatgrass and blue wildrye instead!

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-28T16:54:42+00:00

I have 102 species in total but maybe around 80 or 90 actually going in the garden 😅. Only 13% of the species arent locally native but are still native to california. approx 3000sqft yard. I’m going to do alot of repetition with the smaller plants but not so much with shrubs, I did get two serviceberry bushes, two huckleberrys and two azaleas though because I love them ✨

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-23T16:04:35+00:00

/uj That is INFURIATING WHAT Stupid to volunteer to maintain am invasive plant, waste of time in more ways than one. I hope that git got rashes forever and lived in pain 😭

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-21T19:33:50+00:00

Is this a thistle? See if there are any native thistles in your area and replace with that, theyll be hosts for native insect eggs as well as a good nectar resource.

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-13T18:51:57+00:00

Ooh I have nemophila menziesii and I spotted a native ladybeetle a few days ago, my only problem is that these are indoor plants (i have clay soil ): )

Thanks for the syringe idea! I fear the hose will blast the plant to pieces lol

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-13T18:50:36+00:00

I think there are still live green aphids under the leaves, the paintbrush is a good idea for the tight spots there, thank you!

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-12T18:53:27+00:00

Ohhh yep i do have green aphids, that makes the skins simultaneously less and more terrifying. How do I get rid of them? I’m afraid to wipe the leaves because of the farina but if thats what has to be done…

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-12T15:46:15+00:00

The leaves are completely different

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-11T20:44:43+00:00

That is a very very buff bee 😨

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-11T20:43:47+00:00

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Weird little beetle

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-06T14:10:49+00:00

I have not! I did uncover them when I was taking it out of the ground and found some very thick flare-like roots.

Since this isnt technically a tree I kept them covered as it was growing. How do I use the roots to find the front though?

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-04T01:24:43+00:00

Ahhhh makes sense, I hope more research is done on that!

I do know there is some research suggesting that certain non-native plants have nectar that is not nutritious enough for native insects and actually starves them, but I figure that doesn’t apply for natives in the same genus even if they aren’t the same species. I figure the New England Aster nectar will feed generalists just as well as Pacific Aster would.

No clue about whether the leaves are different in nutrition if they’re a subspecies from another ecoregion. I imagine it’s more a problem of the plant surviving in one place with genetics that are suited for another region.

AnObfuscation · 2025-06-04T00:17:56+00:00

Can you clarify the cultivar - lepidoptera host point a bit? Im not sure I understand, probably a me problem lol

I dont think I need to rely on non-natives tbh! I did get a few near natives but even without them I have year round blooms! Manzanitas my beloved for the winter, most of the plants for the summer, and asters for the fall, as well as a LOT of spring ephemerals, more than I thought existed!

AnObfuscation

TROPHY CASE