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You never know where new gardening ideas and inspiration can come from. The other day I stopped by to help my friend to water a garden that is located by the river in South Felton. We both enjoyed the unique combination of plants and garden art placed strategically though out the garden. It was clear that this soothing garden was created with love. If gardening keeps you sane, don’t stop because of the drought.Covered with huge white, heavily ruffled flowers, a Rose of Sharon ‘Helene’ anchored the entry to a small deck overlooking the San Lorenzo River. With a reddish-purple eye and handsome, leathery dark green leaves, this attractive shrub will bloom nearly continuously over the summer and fall without setting seeds.Other gems in this garden that caught my eye included a Japanese painted fern paired with purple leaved coral bells. A foxtail fern and variegated hosta looked great nearby. Japanese forest grass, oakleaf hydrangea, liriope, helleborus and winter daphne grew among the ferns.These are shade plants and most like a regular drink of water. They are combined with plants with similar water requirements in this garden but if your garden is in more sun remember that it doesn’t take a lot of water to make a garden beautiful. A garden that is un-thirsty can fill you with joy.Gardening makes us learn new things. If you water less frequently, some plants may decline or even die eventually. Remove those that do and replace them with plants that will thrive with less water.Some plants to try as replacements are agastache or Hummingbird mint. Plant them near your organic edible garden to provide nectar for pollinators as well as for the hummingbirds. The flowers are edible as a salad garnish, in baked goods and in cocktails while their foliage can be added to herb salads or in a cup of tea.Other perennials that bloom now and into fall include asters, gaillardia and all the salvias. The California fuchsia is just starting its long fall bloom cycle, too.I like the bright flowers of gloriosa daisy, especially the longer lived Goldsturm variety. These perennials make good cut flowers and are tough and easy to grow. They are descended from wild plants native to the eastern U.S. but require only moderate water once established.Need more late summer perennials to extend your season? Coneflowers will continue to bloom until frost then go dormant for the winter. Now days there are many colors to choose from in addition to the traditional rosy purple daisies. They are lightly fragrant and make good cut flowers for bouquets. The clumps spread slowly and can be carefully divided after three or four years. If faded flowers are left in place, the bristly seed heads provide food for finches in winter.The herb, Echinacea, is derived from varieties of this flower. Echinacea purpurea and other varieties are used as a fortifier of the immune system, mainly to prevent flu and minor respiratory diseases by increasing the body's production of interferon. The roots are the part of this plant used for medicinal purposes.Echinacea was used by Native Americans more than any other plant in the plains states. It was used to treat snake and insect bites because of its antiseptic properties and to bathe burns. They chewed the plant’s roots to ease toothaches. It was also used for purification. The leaves and the flowers can be used in teas as well.Enjoy un-thirsty color in your garden this fall.-Jan Nelson, a landscape designer and California certified nursery professional, will answer questions about gardening in the Santa Cruz Mountains. E-mail her [email protected], or visitwww.jannelsonlandscapedesign.comto view past columns and pictures.

While staying at a friend’s house during the evacuation I was able to stroll through her garden. She’s also a landscape designer and her garden is as beautiful as you’d imagine. She’s addicted to plants and keeps adding to her megs collection on a regular basis. Among the blooming perennials I came across were some of my person favorites. All three are wonderful low water, wildlife and pollinator friendly plants. The first plant that caught my eye was an epilobium ‘Everett’s Choice’. The name Epilobium is considered current but this group of sub-shrubs used to be called Zauschneria and are so different from the other epilobiums like Fireweed that many California native plant enthusiasts and even the experts often still refer to them as Zauschneria. This low-growing vigorous ground-hugging shrub remains under 6 inches tall by up to 4 to 5 feet wide with fuzzy gray-green leaves that are covered with long whitish hairs. Vivid red-orange tubular flowers are produced in profusion in the late summer into fall. It does best in full sun but will tolerate some shade. Quite drought tolerant but remains a fuller and more attractive plant with an occasional summer watering. It likes well-drained soil best but will do OK in heavier soils if not over watered. California fuchsia are deer resistant and attractive to hummingbirds.  The second plant that caught my eye is also a hummingbird magnet. Kniphofia, also called Red Hot Poker blooms spring into summer with torch-like clusters that open from the bottom up. The selection at my friend’s garden was probably Echo Mango. Whether the cultivar blooms with red, yellow, orange or mango colored flowers this perennial grows to about 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide in full sun. It is evergreen and requires little summer water. Deer don’t like this plant either so that’s a plus and it’s hardy to below 15 degrees. Many of you already grow sedum spectabile ‘Autumn Joy’. A succulent perennial to 1-2 feet tall it has wide cabbage-like rosettes of pale blue-green leaves and rich, dark pink flowers that put on a spectacular show above foliage in summer and fall. Plant in sun in a dry well-drained soil and water however much or little you want. The foliage dies back in the winter but is root hardy to below -30 degrees. This group of sedum was given the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit in 1993. Beautiful in the rock garden, perennial garden or spotted into a natural meadow setting it attracts bees and butterflies and is deer resistant. The seed heads can be left for winter interest as well as a food source for birds but stems should be removed prior to the new buds opening in February.  Any one of these plants would be a lovely addition to your garden if you don’t already grow them.   

One of my resolutions this year is to get my garden certified as a wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

Santa Cruz County historians have a few bragging rights regarding famous residents of the past.  Zasu Pitts and Alfred Hitchcock represent the movies; Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, and Neil Young left us a musical legacy.  Sports not so much.  A few baseball players reached the big leagues.  Harry Hooper eventually was enshrined at Cooperstown—Hal Chase will never be.  This year, however, we can applaud another Hall of Famer—a golfer—and it’s about time. 

Mea culpa. It was brought to my attention by a reader who suffers from pollen allergies that blooming acacias are not the cause of allergic reactions at this time of year. Acacias are largely pollinated by insects and have heavy pollen that doesn't tend to become airborne. It's the non-showy, quiet ones you have to watch out for. Warm temperatures earlier in the year are already creating havoc for those who have to deal with seasonal allergies.

Eleven yr. old Noah Hall stood in his yard, looking at the flames on the ridge above his half-built home in Boulder Creek, preparing to evacuate. Holding a small 6” wooden cross he had made during vacation bible school, Noah wondered, ‘Should I take it with m-? Should I leave it here?’ Noah set the cross down beside the garage of the half-built home, got in the car, and evacuated to Felton to a parking lot to spend the night. The next 2 weeks were spent in an evacuation center, eyes peeled to TV updates, to see if their houses made it.