Farewell-to-Spring – Clarkia unguiculata – elegant clarkia – woodland clarkia
Farewell-to-Spring is a common native California that grows in the understory of Chaparral, Foothill Woodland, Valley Grassland, Coastal Strand. It is an easy plant to grow. The pest part of this type of plant is it is an annual. That means it has to be grown from seeds every year. That is a good thing. [...]
Luke Hass Fine Gardens
For CA native and non-native landscape designs and information, contact Luke Hass at Luke Hass Fine Gardens Luke Hass Fine Gardens 2750 Shasta Road Berkeley, California 94708 510 299-4529 For more Information on Luke Hass, Click here For is garden samples, Click here
Mealy bug – woolly aphid
Mealy bugs are certainly the worst and more common insect that attack cactus and succulents, They can live on the plant or on the roots in the soil and are capable of very rapidly killing large specimens. It is easier to keep mealy bugs out of a collection of cacti and succulents than to control [...]
Lygus
The insects appear as small oval creatures. Adult lygus are approximately 3 mm wide and 6 mm long, colored anything in a range from pale green to reddish brown or black. The bugs can be solid shaded or mottled, and have a distinctive triangle or V-shape on their backs. Adults are capable of flight, and will often [...]
Locusts – grasshoppers
Locusts are part of a large group of insects commonly called grasshoppers which have big hind legs for jumping. Locusts belong to the family called Acrididae. Locusts differ from grasshoppers in that they have the ability to change their behaviour and habits and can migrate over large distances. When conditions are favourable for reproduction, locust [...]
Leafminers – Sawfly Leafminers – Elm leafminer
Leafminers are insects that have a habit of feeding within leaves or needles, producing tunneling injuries. Several kinds of insects have developed this habit, including larvae of moths (Lepidoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), sawflies (Hymenoptera) and flies (Diptera). Most of these insects feed for their entire larval period within the leaf. Some will also pupate within the [...]
Leafhopper
Leafhopper adults are elongated, wedge shaped and somewhat triangular in cross-section. They jump and fly off readily. Depending on species, they range in size from 1/8 to 1/2-inch and their bodies are colored yellow, green, gray or they may be marked with color patterns. Nymphs resemble adults but are wingless. They can run rapidly, occasionally [...]
Wolfberry – Goji Berry – Lycium chinense – mede berry – barbary matrimony vine – bocksdorn – Duke of Argyll’s tea tree – Murali – matrimony vine – red medlar – Tibetan goji – Himalayan goji
It is native to southeastern Europe and Asia. Fruits are consumed fresh or dried like raisins. They are also used as an ophthalmic herbal medicine in China and were included more recently in some dietary supplements. The dried berries taste somewhat like cranberries and have a very high content of beta carotene. The young shoots [...]
Island Bush Snapdragon – Galvezia speciosa
With its bright red flowers and lime green foliage, Galvezia speciosa (Island Bush-Snapdragon) is one of the happiest plants in the landscape. Galvezia likes full sun or part shade, and since it is native on California’s channel islands, will not tolerate severe frost. It is a woody perennial that mounds up to about three feet [...]
Showy Milkweed – Asclepias speciosa
This flowering plant is a hairy, erect perennial. The large, pointed, banana like leaves are arranged opposite on the stalk like stem. The eye-catching furry pale pink to pinkish-purple flowers are arranged in thick umbels. Their corollas are reflexed and the central flower parts, five hoods with prominent hooks, are star-shaped. The fruit is a [...]
Ninebark – Physocarpus capitatus – Rosaceae (the rose family) – Pacific ninebark – tall ninebark
It is a dense deciduous shrub growing to 1 to 2.5 meters tall. The name comes from the appearance of the bark, which is flaky, peeling away in many layers. The shrub has distinctive maple-like lobed leaves 3-14 cm long and broad, and clusters of small white flowers with five petals and numerous red-tipped stamens. [...]
Fremont’s Bush Mallow – Malacothamnus fremontii – Malvaceae
Fremont’s Bush Mallow is a shrub that is native to California and is endemic (limited) to California alone. It grows in the Yellow Pine Forest, Foothill Woodland, Chaparral and Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands. It’s best to plant it on a slope. A fast growing, thicket forming, native shrub with silvery white felted foliage 4 – 6 ft. [...]
Scented Penstemon – Penstemon palmeri – Scrophulariaceae – Pink Wild Snapdragon
Scented Penstemon is a showy, fragrant penstemon that puts on a display, from summer to mid-fall, of large, tubular, white flowers tinged with pink or lilac. Can bloom first season; the multiple flower stalks may reach 5 – 6 ft. Beckons hummingbirds and thrives in hot, dry conditions. Protect with mulch in winter. One of [...]
Cape Gooseberry – Physalis
The genus is characterized by the small orange fruit similar in size, shape and structure to a small tomato, but partly or fully enclosed in a large papery husk derived from the calyx. Many Physalis species are called groundcherries. One name for Physalis peruviana is Cape Gooseberry, not to be confused with the vast majority [...]
Leaf-feeding beetles/insects
Beetles are generally characterized by a particularly hard exoskeleton and hard forewings. The beetle’s exoskeleton is made up of numerous plates called sclerites, separated by thin sutures. This design provides armored defenses while maintaining flexibility. The general anatomy of a beetle is quite uniform, although specific organs and appendages may vary greatly in appearance and function between the many families in the [...]
Leaf beetle larvae
Adults are 1/4” to 3/8” long, oval, yellow to olive-green, with longitudinal dark stripes running the length of the wing covers. There are three black spots behind the head. Larvae are worm-like, up to 1/2” long when mature, and dull yellow with black stripes. Eggs are yellow-orange, pointed and laid in clusters. Eggs turn purple-black [...]
Imported cabbageworm
Wingspan about 2 inches (5.1 cm) (male slightly smaller), with a black area near the tip of the forewing and a small black spot on the front edge of each hind wing. Female has two black spots on each forewing; male has only one. Velvet-like green, with a faint yellow stripe down their back, a [...]
Grasshoppers
Found throughout North America, the 200+ species of grasshoppers range in size from 1″ to 2 1/2″ and in color from brown to yellow to the familiar green. Some do not fly at all although some are excellent flyers and all have enlarged hind leg bones that enable them to leap and jump over relatively [...]
Fungus gnat
Fungus gnats are tiny mosquito-like insects, about 1/8 inch in length. You will generally first notice them darting about new seedlings. Adult fungus gnats are mostly an annoyance, but the larva can do damage to young plants and seedlings by feeding on the new, tender roots. It is also thought that they feed on the [...]
Fruit flies
There are four stages in this growth process; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Following is a (very) brief description of each of them. Stage 1: Egg – Fruit flies can lay up to 500 eggs in their lifetime of less than two weeks! They will only lay their eggs in the surface of moist, organic [...]
Gold Rush Nursery – Santa Cruz, CA
CA Native and Non CA Native plants. We specialize in plants that are water-wise and/or provide food or habitat for birds, butterflies and beneficial insects. We take care to ensure that none of our plants are invasive. The plants we grow are selected for their suitability for the greater San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas of [...]
Fleahoppers
Nymphs and adults frequent the stems and surfaces of plant leaves, sucking the sap from individual cells and and causing their death. The result is a whitish or yellowish speckling on the foliage. Extensive feeding may cause stunting of plant growth and death of seedlings. Deposition of black spots of fecal material on the plant [...]
Fire Ants – Solenopsis wagneri or Solenopsis invicta
Fire ants are nasty, stinging, swarming ants. Every year they cost Americans more than $6 Billion in property damage, hospital trips, skin treatments and fire ant control efforts. Because of their attraction to electricity, fire ants are responsible for knocking out street lights, airport runway lights and countless household electrical devices. Every year, fire [...]
Fall Webworm
The large silk webs enclosing tips of branches are sure signs of fall webworms. The caterpillars remain inside the webbing, and if food runs out new foliage is encased. The caterpillars are covered with long white to yellowish tan hairs. Two races of fall webworms occur in North America, the blackheaded and redheaded races. The [...]