Why no garden should be without this bright ornamental plant

As time passes, I have come to regard the African bush daisy (Euryops pectinatus) as an ornamental plant that no Southern California garden should be without – and not only because it’s one of my wife’s favorite plants. Euryops is a splendid, spherical, sun-loving shrub that grows 4 to 5 feet tall, with lacy grayish leaves and a capacity to flower nonstop.

It’s not that Euryops daisy is a stunning plant or just plain beautiful. In fact, many people would not plant it at all because of its brash, yellow 2-inch-diameter daisies. Full-on yellow is a color that many garden designers seem to avoid, the current fashion favoring salmon, rose, mauve, lavender and violet. If yellow is seen at all, it appears in pale tones. It’s as though our long summers offer enough heat and yellow sunshine, so why overdo it with yellow flowers?

However, the virtues of yellow are its qualities of contrast and counterpoint. At this time of year, yellow warms up a cold, moribund garden. At any time, yellow can serve as an accent in a garden where softer, cooler colors – say in the blue to violet range – prevail. When bright yellow flowers grow among more subdued flowers, the latter are highlighted and given a glow they need in order to be fully appreciated, especially under the dull, sullen skies of winter.

In a garden in my neighborhood, plants whose colors are less than brilliant on their own become more vivid when contrasted with the adjacent radiant yellow of Euryops daisies. In this garden, Euryops daisies are cheek by jowl with Abutilon megapotamicum, a Chinese lantern species with dull orange petals and pale red sepals; these daises are adjacent to Erysimum Bowles Mauve, a wallflower with clusters of deep lilac blooms; they are just a few feet away from Polygala dalmaisiana, the sweet pea shrub. This shrub is flowering in pinkish violet, a color the Sunset Western Garden Book calls “hard to handle,” but one that shows up nicely against a background of yellow daisies.

Stretching across the middle of this same garden, there are peach-colored roses and violet-purple princess flowers. The yellow of the Euryops is like a beacon that projects onto the orange and purple, bringing these colors – not particularly noticeable under gray winter skies – to life. The green-leafed  Euryops variety (Euryops pectinatus var. Viridis) has another highly desirable quality in ornamental plants – deep, yet luminescent green leaves. As the Latin variety name suggests, the color of the foliage is what painters call viridian, a chrome-green you associate more with tropical than with dry-climate plants.

This, however, is another contrasting virtue of green-leafed Euryops. Increasingly, the trend is to plant more drought-tolerant species, most of which have light green, dull green or gray-green leaves. But try placing a few Euryops plants in a garden of sages, lavenders, artemisias, penstemons and tree mallows. The glowing green Euryops leaves will handsomely complement the foliage of the other plants, especially the lacy, silvery laminae of Artemisias.

Euryops daisies require a certain amount of attention to look their best and to flower virtually without interruption. As with hybrid roses and other constant bloomers, it is important to remove flowers as soon as they fade. Otherwise, the energy that could be used to produce more new flowers will be diverted into the development of seeds and flowering will cease. Also, dead euryops leaves tend to cling to their stems, requiring manual removal when they turn brown. Euryops daisies are tolerant of most soil types and — where flowers are left on the plant and soil is kept slightly moist — will self-sow throughout the year as seeds are constantly being dropped from the continuously blooming flowers. Honey Euryops (Euryops virgineus) is a truly spectacular species that grows 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide and is blanketed with tiny yellow flowers all year long. I have seen this plant here and there but have not been able to find a local source for it. If anyone knows of such a source, please advise since it’s a species guaranteed to take your breath away.

Euryops daisies do not require much water when established. They are South African in origin and have cultural requirements matching those of other familiar plants – gazanias, geraniums, and birds of paradise (Strelitzia reginae), for example – native to that part of the world. The more water they get, the less they flower. During the summer, a good soaking no more than once a week is sufficient. Watering South African – or Mediterranean or Southern California native – plants with spray sprinklers several times a week will lead to root fungus and stem canker diseases, shortening their lives. To extend their lives, plant them in sandy soil.

The word Euryops comes from two Greek words – “eury,” which means broad or wide, and “ops,” which means eyes. To the inspired namer of plants, some feature Euryops resembles wide eyes, perhaps the flower buds just before they open.

California native of the week: There are some plants that you only need to encounter once and you instantly feel a connection to them that goes straight into your soul. They are like those rare people whom you meet by chance and yet, in a moment, are overtaken with a sudden yearning to spend more time in their presence. Manzanita is an instantly memorable plant. Delicately designed lantern-shaped flowers, essentially white but blushed with pink, are offset by leathery green leaves and deep cinnamon bark. I don’t know what God was thinking when he created manzanita, but it must have been something like, “And now, to give people a glimpse of botanical perfection, I think I’ll make a manzanita.” Those inverted flower urns or lanterns may as well be crafted from Chinese silk, the foliage constructed of a unique green or blue-gray elastic polymer. As for manzanita wood, it has the look and feel of polished bronze sculpture. Manzanita means “little apple” in Spanish and refers to the edible fruit. Arctostaphylos is manzanita’s botanical name, denoting “bear grapes” (arcto = bear, staphyle = grape cluster), alluding to the fact that bears snack on the fruit. Leaves are suitable for brushing your teeth and treating poison ivy. Manzanitas are classic chaparral plants and require fire to germinate their seeds. Certain species may also survive fire by forming burls or thickened trunk bases that persist and send up new shoots following immolation of all top growth. Some of these stout, weathered burls are a thousand years old. There are more than a hundred species of manzanita including ground covers, shrubs, and trees. Nearly all are native to California and many of them bloom in January.

Are there any winter-blooming plants you would like more people to know about? If so, tell me about them in an email to joshua@perfectplants.com. Your questions, comments, gardening conundrums and successes are always welcome.