california native flora

Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’ – Ray Hartman Mountain Lilac

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This past weekend we introduced our fourth Ceanothus specimen into our garden. ‘Ray Hartman’ Ceanothus is a hybrid of two California native Ceanothus – Arboreus and Griseus. Compared to the other native Lilacs in our garden this one is fast growing and more tolerant of garden conditions. In fact it’s a very hardy plant known to do just fine in full sun in the interior valleys where summer temperatures regularly break triple digits. It’s more likely to suffer at the hands of a fussy gardener than from anything the weather can throw at it. It is important to remember this plant should not get any summer water once established and keep fertilizer well away.

We got this to act as a screen for our ugly A/C. I’m not sure this will really thrive as a planter specimen but I want to find out. We previously were using a Bougainvillea as the screen but I think a Ceanothus will be more appropriate in that part of the garden. Not to mention I just prefer California natives.

A healthy, happy Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’ likes full sun, is drought tolerant and can grow up to 15′ tall. It is evergreen and has pretty clusters of blue flowers in the spring. The flowers have a pleasant fragrance and attract the full bhuna of desirable backyard visitors.