Wildlife Oasis – Neil Cummins Native Habitat Garden

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Garden Features

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Drought Tolerant

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Edible Garden

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California Natives

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Deer Resistant

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Drip Irrigation

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Pesticide Free

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Rainwater Harvesting System

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Sheet Mulching

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Lawn-Free Landscaping

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Wildlife Habitat

The Neil Cummins Native Habitat Garden and the Hawks’ Garden are two beautiful outdoor spaces to visit in Corte Madera. 

The Neil Cummins Native Habitat Garden, nestled along the fence next to the holding pond in Corte Madera Town Park, is a stunning oasis of nature that provides a haven for local wildlife. This garden was designed with sustainability in mind, featuring drought-tolerant native plants that provide food and shelter for birds and insects throughout the year.

The Native Habitat Garden, along with the Monarch Waystation, also serves as a valuable resource for the Western Monarch butterfly, with native milkweed for egg-laying and nectar plants for feeding. The Town of Corte Madera and the Larkspur-Corte Madera School District played key roles in bringing the garden to life, with the Town providing the land and the school district providing the water. The garden was designed by Dan Dufficy of CNL Native Plant Nursery, an expert in habitat gardening who advocates for organic and indigenous gardening methods.

The Neil Cummins Hawks’ Garden, located just on the other side of the fence on the school campus, is a 2,000 square foot outdoor learning space for students. It includes galvanized metal planters, wooden planters, and in-ground beds. Edible plants and pollinator plants are interspersed throughout the garden to provide opportunities for students to learn about food crops and ecosystems. The garden was established by the Neil Cummins Elementary PTO in 2016 and includes a designated pollinator garden and ADA compliant features.

The Hawks’ Garden features a food-growing area with galvanized tubs and wine barrels planted with vegetables, herbs, and fruit. Pollinator-friendly flowering plants, such as borage, nasturtiums, and sunflowers, are interspersed with the food crops. There are also wooden garden beds and an in-ground area dedicated to pollinator-friendly plants, including California natives and wildflowers. Fruit trees, including fig, lemon, lime, pomegranate, and apple, can also be found within the garden.

The Neil Cummins Native Habitat Garden and the Hawks’ Garden are both unique and valuable outdoor spaces to visit in Corte Madera. The Native Habitat Garden provides a model for sustainable gardening that benefits both people and local wildlife, while the Hawks’ Garden serves as a valuable learning space for students. These gardens offer visitors a chance to immerse themselves in nature and discover the beauty of the local flora and fauna.

Plants in this Garden

Lessingia filaginifolia

California Aster, Silver Carpet
Organization

California native, perennial groundcover with a variable form from 1-3’ high. Lavender, yellow-centered, daisy-like flowers bloom in late summer and fall. The most commonly available cultivar is L. f. ‘Silver Carpet’, which forms a mat of silvery foliage 6-12” high and 4-8’ wide. Provides both a nectar and larval food source for butterflies. Light pruning after flowering keeps this plant tidy.

  • Water: Low
  • Light: Full Sun
  • Soil: Well Drained
  • Foliage: Evergreen
  • Leaf Color: Gray GreenGreenSilver
  • Flower Color: LavenderPink
  • Blooming Season (s): SpringSummerFallWinter

Grindelia spp

Gumplant
Organization

Group of herbaceous perennials in the sunflower family that are native to the Americas. Grindelia stricta is native to the west coast of America, including California, with yellow daisy-like flowers in the dry summer months. Spreading gum plant (G. s. var. platyphylla) is a low-growing groundcover form that can reach 6-10’ across. Suitable for meadow plantings.

  • Water: Low
  • Light: Full SunPartial Shade
  • Soil: Well Drained
  • Foliage: Evergreen
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Flower Color: RedYellow
  • Blooming Season (s): SpringSummerFall

Verbena spp

Verbena
Organization

Fast-growing perennials that thrive in hot locations and produce clusters of small, showy flowers in summer.

Examples:

  • V. bonariensis (3-6’ x 2-3’) is an upright perennial from South America with long, airy flower stalks. Reseeds readily and should not be planted near riparian areas where it can be invasive.
  • Garden verbena (V. x hybrida, 6-12” x 2-3’) is a popular and showy groundcover available in many colors.
  • Cedros Island verbena (V. lilacina ‘De La Mina’, 1-2’ x 2-3’) from the Cedros Island off the coast of Baja California is a popular native for its deep purple flower color and uniform growth habit.
  • Water: Very LowLow
  • Light: Full Sun
  • Soil: Well Drained
  • Foliage: Herbaceous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Flower Color: PinkPurpleRedWhite
  • Blooming Season (s): SpringSummerFall

Penstemon heterophyllus

Blue Foothill Penstemon, California Penstemon
Organization

Penstemons are a large group of woody or herbaceous perennials with narrow leaves and tubular flowers. Foothill penstemon is a widely known and grown California native with iridescent purple-blue flowers during spring and early summer that are attractive to hummingbirds. The cultivar known as ‘Margarita BOP’ is widely available, reliable, and garden- tolerant. Remove spent flower spikes to encourage more flowers.

  • Water: Low
  • Light: Full SunPartial Shade
  • Soil: Well Drained
  • Foliage: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Flower Color: Blue
  • Blooming Season (s): Spring

Mimulus aurantiacus and hybrids

Sticky Monkey Flower
Organization

The orange, tubular flowers of sticky monkey flower can be enjoyed in many locations throughout Sonoma and Marin counties in spring and summer, a testament to how well this plant is adapted to hot and dry conditions. The slightly sticky leaves benefit from light pinching and pruning to maintain an attractive appearance and support for the beautiful flowers. Many hybrids provide color variation. Do not confuse this plant with the red-flowered scarlet monkey flower (Mimulus cardinalis), an herbaceous riparian plant that requires regular water to thrive.

  • Water: Very Low
  • Light: Full SunPartial Shade
  • Soil: Sandy
  • Foliage: Evergreen
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Flower Color: OrangeRedWhite
  • Blooming Season (s): SpringSummer

Eriogonum spp

Buckwheat
Organization

Diverse group of flowering, evergreen shrubs and perennials and annuals found throughout the western United States. Most available in nurseries are native to California and generally prefer drier sites. Flowers colors include yellow, white, pink, and red and are held above foliage in umbels that dry over time and are popular in flower arrangements. Buckwheats provide pollen and nectar for bees and butterflies, larval food for butterflies, seeds for birds, and cover for many creatures.

Examples:

  • Santa Cruz Island buckwheat (E. arborescens, 3-4’ x 4-5’) densely mounded with white flowers.
  • Saffron buckwheat (E. crocatum, 1-2’ x 2-3’) with chartreuse-yellow flowers and pale leaves.
  • California buckwheat (E. fasciculatum, 2-3’ x 3’) and its low-growing cultivars such as E. f. ‘Warriner Lytle.’
  • Catherine’s lace (E. giganteum, 4-8’ x 6-10’) with delicate, white flowers and soft pale leaves.
  • Red-flowered buckwheat (E. grande var. Rubescens, 1-2’ x 2-3’) low-mounding perennial with rose-pink flowers, coastal bluff buckwheat (E. latifolium, up to 12” x 1-2’.)
  • Sulfur buckwheat (E. umbellatum, 6-18” x 1-3’) with intense yellow flowers and cultivars E. u. var. aureum ‘Kannah Creek’ and E. u. Var. ‘Shasta Sulphur’.
  • Water: Very LowLow
  • Light: Full SunPartial Shade
  • Soil: Well Drained
  • Foliage: EvergreenHerbaceous
  • Leaf Color: GrayGreen
  • Flower Color: PinkYellowWhite
  • Blooming Season (s): SpringSummerFall

Clematis lasiantha

Pipestem Clematis
Organization

The deciduous pipestem clematis is native to dry foothills of California and Baja California and is one of the few flowering vines that requires little-to-no supplemental water. Pipestem clematis produces an abundance of 1-inch, creamy white flowers in spring that develop into attractive, fluffy seed heads. Allow to grow through shrubs or trees or train on a pergola, archway, or fence.

  • Water: Low
  • Light: Full SunPartial Shade
  • Soil: Most Soils
  • Foliage: Evergreen
  • Leaf Color: Green - Dark
  • Flower Color: BlueLavenderPinkRed
  • Blooming Season (s): SpringSummer

Muhlenbergia spp

Muhly Grass, Deer Grass
Organization

Large, showy, clumping, warm-season grasses native to the Southern United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. Can be grown in masses but require sufficient space for the mature size and form to develop. Arching plumes of flowers on long stalks provide significant ornamental value to these low-maintenance and drought-tolerant grasses.

Examples:  Pink muhly (M. capillaris, 2-3′ x 2-3’) with feathery pink flowers; pine muhly (M. dubia, 2-3’ x 2-3’) with light purple flowers; Lindheimer muhly (M. lindheimeri, 3-5’ x 4-5’) with creamy yellow flowers that provide a pronounced display; and the California native deer grass (M. rigens, 3’ x 3-4’).

  • Water: Low
  • Light: Full SunPartial Shade
  • Soil: Well Drained
  • Foliage: Herbaceous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Flower Color: CreamPink
  • Blooming Season (s): SummerFall

Sambucus spp

Elderberry
Organization

Fast-growing shrubs and small trees for sun or part shade that attract pollinators from far and wide to large clusters of cream flowers in spring, followed by berries in summer that provide food to many types of birds. Fruit can also be used for culinary purposes. While naturally fairly wild-looking, elderberries can handle being cut back to the ground in the winter or pruned to maintain size and shape.

Examples:

  • Blue elderberry (S. mexicana [nigra] spp. caerulea, 8-25’) is native from Oregon to Baja California and beyond.
  • Black elderberry (S. nigra, 20-30’) is native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia, and is available in nurseries in the form of many named cultivars. Cut leaf black elderberry (S. n. ‘Black Lace’, 8’ x 8’) has intense dark, fine foliage. Cut leaf elderberry (S. n. ‘Laciniata’, 10’ x 10’) has green leaves, and variegated black elderberry (S. n. ‘Marginata’, 6-12’) has variegated leaves.
  • Water: Low
  • Light: Full SunPartial Shade
  • Soil: Well Drained
  • Foliage: Deciduous
  • Leaf Color: Green
  • Flower Color: White
  • Blooming Season (s): SpringSummer
  • Fruit Color: BlackPurple

Erigeron spp

Beach Aster, Seaside Daisy
Organization

Group of flowering annuals and perennials mostly native to North America. Two species are commonly grown in California gardens. Beach aster (E. glaucus, 12” x 18”) is native to coastal California and Oregon and has purple flowers with yellow centers from spring into summer. Santa Barbara daisy (E. karvinskianus, 10-18” x 2-3’) has white and pink flowers with yellow centers. This plant can self-sow aggressively but is easily pulled.

Examples: E. g. ‘Wayne Roderick’ has deep purple flowers. E. g. ‘White Lights’ is a white- flowering form from Sonoma County.

  • Water: Low
  • Light: Full SunPartial Shade
  • Soil: Most Soils
  • Foliage: Herbaceous
  • Leaf Color: Blue GreenGreen - Dark
  • Flower Color: LavenderPinkWhite
  • Blooming Season (s): SpringSummerFallWinter

Favorite Plants

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Ceanothus spp

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Mimulus aurantiacus - Sticky Monkey Flower

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California fuschia

Favorite Garden Suppliers

CNL Native Plant Nursery

254 Shoreline Highway Mill Valley

Green Jeans Nursery

690 Redwood Highway Mill Valley

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