INTRODUCTION 

 AND CULTURAL NOTES 



We are just beginning to really appreciate our 

 native plants, trees and shrubs, and to realize fully 

 their beauty, charm and value for cultivation in 

 our gardens. In hunting the world over for exotics 

 to bring here, we have exhausted the supply from 

 many lands, until few countries have as large and 

 varied a list of plants from all climes as are repre- 

 sented in the gardens of California. Yet we have 

 neglected many of the most beautiful, the most in- 

 teresting, and also the most appropriate of all, be- 

 cause they harmonize so perfectly with our sur- 

 roundings, and are so well adapted to our climate 

 and conditions; our own native plants, planted here 

 by nature herself, the first of all gardeners. When 

 we wander out into the hills, in the canyons, or by 

 the mountain streams, and see the gnarled old syca- 

 mores, picturesque live oaks, or the tall, stately 

 maples and eottonwoods, the banks covered with 

 wild grape vines, California fusehias and honey- 

 suckles, the open plains of golden poppies, or even 

 the dry hillsides with the Spanish bayonets stand- 

 ing erect, their many thousands of white flowers 

 glistening in the sunshine, we realize after all how 

 set, how formal, and how limited have been our 

 own garden plots, compared with all the wild beauty 

 and grandeur of the native landscape. We want 

 some of this right near us, in our own grounds. A 

 little nook here, or a little patch there, only let it 

 be just "wild." 



The appreciation that many of my friends, and 

 the public, have shown in my work of collecting 

 and growing our California native flowers, trees 

 and shrubs, has induced me to issue this little 

 -booklet, with the hope that it may be a_ source of 

 interest and service t,o many, and that they may 

 be induced to try at least a few of the species de- 

 scribed herein, in their own gardens. 



Some very fine effects can be had by planting 

 many of the perennials in large masses, or in 

 groups or clumps between shrubbery or trees, and 

 in nooks and corners. Some of the most desirable 

 are the Pentstemons, especially P. spectabilis, a 

 tall growing species with long spikes of rich blue 

 and purple flowers; P. centranthifolius or the 

 "Scarlet Bugler" as it is commonly called; with 

 its vivid scarlet flowers and glaucous green stems 

 and foliage; the Scarlet Larkspur, a tall, much- 

 branched plant, with bright scarlet flowers; the 

 Blue Larkspur; the Castillejas or "Paint-brushes"; 

 the wild Columbine; the Yellow Lupin; the Cali- 

 fornia fuchsia and the Solanums. 



The seeds of the perennials can be sown in pots 

 or seed boxes, using light, well-drained soil, and 

 covering the seed very lightly, and as soon as large 

 enough the plants can be transplanted; or the seed 

 may be sown in the open ground where the plants 

 are to remain and flower. I have had good results 

 with many species from the latter method, but 

 great care must be taken not to disturb the beds 

 during the dry or dormant period, as one is apt to 

 forget that they are there, and the plants are easily 

 Destroyed. 



