Napa Valley in bloom
NAPA, Calif. — This past winter’s rains have prompted Napa Valley to burst into extravagant bloom. I was driving down a not particularly scenic stretch in midtown Napa a few weeks ago and noticed that the strip in front of the Napa Valley Unified School District was ablaze with red poppies and blue cornflowers worthy of a Monet painting. A little farther down Jefferson was the Chardonnay Lodge with a spectacular display of double-arched trellises bearing fat pink roses in addition to a lush little vineyard. But the biggest surprise was to come.
While looking for a friend’s house in north Napa, I made my usual series of wrong turns and was brought up short by an arresting display of Dr. Seussian-style flowers that were 10 feet tall. They looked like wavy brocaded pine trees and were surrounded by succulents, Cerinthe, lantana and all manner of dramatic plants. But these flowers — or were they trees? — were definitely the showstopper.
I recognized them as echium, which I had seen used as dramatic accents in a winery garden, but I had never seen so many in one relatively small area. I hopped out of my car, took some photos and left a note at the door asking the resident if I could use the pictures in a Master Gardener column.
As luck would have it, the homeowner was Loretta Radey, who was my UC Master Gardener mentor several years ago. She told me she bought her house in 2000, when she first moved to Napa. Her father was a gardener back in Wisconsin, and she grew up surrounded by gardeners but didn’t garden herself until she came here.
Napa’s alluring climate was an inducement, but she just loved plants, all kinds of plants, and she wanted to transform an ordinary yard into her own creation. She used to have a California pepper tree that grew so big it covered her driveway and interfered with the sewer line.
Radey told me she had evolved in her preferences. Initially disliking formal European-style gardens, she eventually realized they well suited to formal European-style architecture. Today she likes all sorts of garden styles. Her yard looked like a tapestry. It was covered with flowers of various colors and textures, but it was the echium that literally stood out.
“They create their own topiary,” she said.
Echium can reach 10 feet tall. The ones in Radey’s yard were echium wildpretii, also called Tower of Jewels. Their surface looked embroidered, and they were covered with bees. (Beekeepers like echium for that reason.) The plant is a biennial, so it doesn’t bloom the first year but grows as a fluffy plant. The second year it takes off.
Radey recently cut her echium back, but if you allow the plant to set seeds, it will reseed and spread. For this reason echium is classified as an invasive plant.
Echium wildpretti is originally from the Canary Islands. It was named for the 19th-century botanist Hermann Josef Wildpret. It is a popular landscaping plant in England but is intolerant of low temperatures, so it needs to be covered in winter. It likes sun and doesn’t need a great deal of care.
I must point out that echium is poisonous. Like many dramatically decorative plants — my favorite Brugmansia comes to mind — it should not be ingested, and you should wear gloves when handling it to avoid contact dermatitis. This is a good practice anyway.
While I have read that echium is used in folk medicine, those folks must have unusually sturdy livers and kidneys. Don’t risk it.
For a list of poisonous and non-poisonous plants, type “UCANR safe and poisonous garden plants” into your favorite search engine and a list from UC Davis will appear. After reading it you might be tempted to fill your yard with river rocks and Astroturf. Resist that impulse and remember that the plant itself is not the problem; ingesting the plant is.
Radey buys her plants from several local nurseries, in Richmond, Vacaville, Sonoma and, of course, Napa County. The wonderful climate allows us to grow all manner of plants, both ornamental and edible. Why not source your seeds and plants from local vendors who understand our area?
Amazon and big-box stores will always be with us, but there is a lot to be said for shopping locally. Central Valley in St. Helena, Van Winden’s Garden Center in Napa and Mid City Nursery in American Canyon have employees who not only know what they are talking about — they all know plants — but they will happily do special orders for you.
More than that, money spent locally turns around several times in our community, which is important these days. In addition to the stores mentioned above, some specialty growers attend our farmers markets and other public events. When you’re shopping for plants, think about supporting local small businesses.
Workshop: Join UC Master Gardeners of Napa County for a workshop on “Low Water Plants” on Saturday, June 24, from 10 a.m. to noon at Las Flores Learning Garden, 4300 Linda Vista Ave., Napa. Find details and reservation link at Low Water Plants
Library talk: Join UC Master Gardeners of Napa County on Thursday, July 6, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. for a Napa Library talk on “What’s Bugging You: Insects and Pests in the Garden,” via Zoom. Register to get the Zoom link.
Food-growing forum: Join UC Master Gardeners of Napa County for a forum on “Beverages From Your Garden” on Sunday, July 9, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the University of California Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Ave., Napa. Register here.
Library talk: Join UC Master Gardeners of Napa County for a talk on “Resilient Landscaping for Drought and Fire” on Tuesday, July 11, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at St. Helena Library, 1492 Library Lane, St. Helena. Register here
Help desk: The Master Gardener Help Desk is available to answer your garden questions on Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the University of California Cooperative Extension Office, 1710 Soscol Ave., Suite 4, Napa. Or send your questions to Master Gardeners. Include your name, address, phone number and a brief description of the problem. For best results, attach a photo of the plant. You may also leave a voicemail message with the same information at 707-253-4143.
Editor’s Note: Cindy Watter is a UC Master Gardener of Napa County.
What a delightful article about the blooming Napa Valley. I have wondered what the name might be for Echium. I am so pleased to tell a dear friend who grown them in her front yard in the Bay Area. I also will tell her not to handle the plants without gloves. I'm sure she has no idea it can be dangerous.
Might you be able to identify the amazing plants on the drive into Peju Winery? They are very intriguing.
Thank you for sharing your article and photos, as well as upcoming classes. Very helpful.