Ceanothus thyrsyflorus ‘Repens.’ Image: Kousvet
When I asked readers for native plant favorites not included in our short list of six favorites, we had a few votes for Ceanothus a.k.a California lilac, wild lilac, and soap bush. In case you’re not familiar with this stunning plant, it’s a family of shrubs and ground covers that have dark green leaves and deep purple or sometimes white flowers.
The reason I didn’t include it is that it didn’t meet my “bombproof” criteria, at least in our garden. It’s one of the many plants we’ve managed to kill. It’s true that once you get it going, other than yearly pruning, you can retire to the nearest bar and rest on your gardening laurels. But getting it established can be tricky. The most common mistake is over-watering during the summer months and planting in overly fertile soil. We didn’t over-water, so how we manged to kill three of them is a Root Simple gardening mystery.
That said, many of our neighbors have had no problems with Ceanothus. If you have a well drained sunny spot, it’s a good bet. I’m particularly fond of the short sprawling varieties such as Ceanothus thyrsiflorus repens.
The UC Davis Arboretum keeps a list of “All Star” plants that includes Ceanothus ‘Concha’ and Ceanothus maritimus ‘Valley Violet’. You can find more Ceanothus varieties on the Las Pilitas Nursery website.
Ceanothus americanus Image: United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Our East Coast readers can plant Ceanothus americanus, a plant used by early settlers as a substitute for British tea.
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Yes! They are pretty bombproof once established, but that can take a while. They are also pretty slow growers in my experience. It can take several years for them to fill a bare patch of earth, which may be too long for some people looking to change their weeds to garden plants ratio quickly (ask me how I know!).
Yay! I was wanting to post “ceanothus” in answer to your last post, so glad you’ve got this one here. The bees looooooooooooove it, the flowers are pretty, profuse, and can be used as a soap substitute, and the leaves for tea. The root is also wonderful medicine for a lot of things (you’ll see it commercially as “red root”), but knowing how slowly they grow – and especially if you’ve put the work into your yard to get one comfortably established, not like you’d want to do that, eh? 😉 I really miss the one we grew at our old house.
P, Thanks for gently pointing out my most embarrassing typo of 2017. And thanks for the additional information on Ceanothus as a useful plant.
Ceanothus does pretty will in my clay soil that gets bombarded with a lot of rain up here in Oregon. One thing you missed mentioning about them is that they are a great permaculture plant. In permaculture, you want to stack functions; ceanothus fixes nitrogen into the soil, and as mentioned in an earlier comment; the bees loves them some ceanothus!
that’s pretty well, not pretty will. sheesh.
Hi Paula!
I am in Washington, just North of Portland. What part of Oregon are you in? I have clay soil as well – enough clay that we have natural ponds on our property – and I cannot imagine one of these doing well here, but would love to plant one and try it. I am an herbalist, and would love to grow it medicinally.
Did you find it locally? I’ve never seen it at any of the nurseries around me.
Thanks!
I would like some ideas for garden in apartaments. We do not find easily this ceanothus here in China, but they are very nice.
+1 for ceanothus. I have a couple of the Julia Phelps variety in a dry, hot, sunny and lonely spot in a side yard. Planted three, two survived, and thrived. They actually grew pretty fast and continue to do so. But I recall they only stick around for maybe 5-7 years before dying, though I’m not sure how true that is. I think mine are hitting the 5 year mark, and they are going strong.