http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/california_oak1.html

Here is a link, that might be helpful.

I wanted to plant some Matilla Poppies. Are yours in full sun? Any Advice???

I was puttering around on Las Pilitas last night. Looks like Valley Oak is a good option.

Some of my Poppies are on the south side of my garage. Because of a fence and a metal carport on the neighbor's side, they are shaded in Winter near the ground. They have to grow up to reach full sun.

My poppy has also spread to my driveway on the east side of the garage and into part shade at the front of my house under a deciduous tree. I notice the canes lean toward the sunny driveway. I get flowers in all three locales. The older the clump gets, the longer and better it flowers. It'll give you blooms the first and second years. The third year is when it really takes off.

It's very, very important that you don't disturb the roots when planting from the pot. Handle it like it's a bomb that will go off with the slightest wiggling.

You may want to consider whether to not you want to invite Poppyzilla into your garden. This is a plant that when it's happy ends up all over the place. It's growing from cracks in my asphalt driveway. It even ran under my house and came up on the other side. But that spot was too wet for it so it did not persist. It spreads kinda weirdly. You'll have a sucker emerge five to thirty feet from the main clump. I think my neighbors call it "that @#&! poppy".

It becomes a really really beautiful nuisance.

Englemann oak is very nice. Valley white oak (quercus lobata) can get huuuuge. Black oak (kellogii) doesn't get very big, at least for me (I live near the beach).
Plenty of live oaks to pick from, but they are extremely slow growers. You could try lobata (it grows fast) and keep the tree in check by pruning. Like the big-leaf maple (macrophylla) and sycamore, these trees can dominate a yard.

I've been reading around and now I'm leaning toward Black Oak. Doesn't get as huge and wants a wee bit more water. I have a hedge at the curb I water so it would get 'distance' water when it got bigger.

There are Black Oaks within ten miles of here as the crow flies.

Thanks for the info on the Matilla Poppy Dis, Do you think that the reason it is going crazy is how much water you are giving it or is that just its nature? I will do some research..Might be a good plant for the back area of our property. The flowers look so pretty!

One thing I did read about oaks is that what you plant underneath is important (oak understory), but if you were on the Las Pilatas site, you probably read that too..not sure if that is where I read it. Also keeping non-native grasses away, mulching and proper watering techniques are important. I think that if there are Black oaks growing in your area, that is a good indication that it would do well for you. The oaks sure are great trees. I would love to find a place to plant one on my property.

Matilija poppies are invasive when happy. It's in their nature. When they're not happy they die. I may water it maybe twice in the summer and that is to prolong the flower show. It flowers for a solid two months for me. Pretty good for a native.

Under the oak I plant will be oak leaf drop. Maybe when it gets shady enough and the kids are grown I will plant some fuchsia flowered gooseberry.

The Bornstein book recommends Kellogg Oak as a street tree. It has to be pretty adaptable for that.

I find Las Pilitas to be very informative, but I shy away from their use of chemicals because my yard is used by children and cats. I find the best weed killer to be a heavy litter of leaves or just plain shade and sparing water. Nothing seems to grow in shade in my soil. I have some Lavatera Assurgentifolia. Drops lots of leaves and there are no weeds under it. The only thing that grows under it are Lavatera A. seedlings.

Thanks dis..I too was concerned about Las Pilates recommendations of Herbicides for getting rid of weed. I cannot bring myself to use them, but they are very informative.

Thus I spent 3 days pulling non-native grass and weeds off a slope about 160' long by 30' wide (sloping steeply). I am hoping for rain in the next couple of days, to bring out any I missed. I am thinking that slope might be a good place for the Matilla Poppy. I also will be adding Ceonothus, Manzanitas, Mexican Elderberry etc. and others that get by on little or no summer water. I am working on my plant list now. I do like the Lavateras.

Sounds like you have alot of good info on native plants..Thanks for sharing!

I was thinking that Gooseberry might be a good option on my slope as a barrier to stop the neighbors from trying to claim it as their property!

The Kellogg Oak does look like a good choice... wonder if I can find a place for one???

I have 6 acres of native woods here in the coastal mountains. Kellogg or Black Oak is a common tree here. It is very susceptible to Armillaria or Oak Root fungus which is energized with any summer water. It is also a host of SOD or sudden Oak death. It does however make good firewood and I never have to cut the trees down as they fall from diseased roots,usually across my road. I cannot recommend planting one. Al

SOD probably would not be an issue because I will avoid the secondary host plants (did a bit of research). SOD seems to prefer a cooler moister climate than mine. Summers here are hot and dry.

Buut, Oak Root Fungus probably is an issue. I have a peach tree that has looked sickly for years. I think it survives because I forget to water it in the summer. I really need to remove it. Cost has been a barrier.

Q Lobata is the only Oak listed as being resistant. It seems likely that I might end up with a huge monster on my hands if I plant one. P'raps I need to consider another kind of tree altogether. Chilopsis or Western Redbud would not get too big.

As to prickly barrier plants: Rosa Californica is super easy to grow. I call it the Rose from Hell. It sends up super spiny canes and spreads like crazy. I planted it in the hedge on the north side of my back yard which is right next to the road. I have trouble with what ever I plant out there getting trampled -except the rose. People stay away from it for some reason. :D

Years ago I was on a garden tour with the UC Santa Cruz Aboretum Associates to a garden in Monterey. This lady had a specimen tree in her front yard so beautiful her neighbors on both sides planted one also. Saratoga Horticultural Foundation in Morgan Hill had one on their patio and I bought one from them for our place in Calistoga. It is now 15 years old and as beautiful as all the others I have seen. Look for a Arbutus Marina, it is not the same as Arbutus unedo. Much of the beauty of this tree is the form and the red peeling bark. I have seen some for sale limbed up, ruined,as the form is no longer there. Al

Oooh. Very Manzanita-like.

I think I know where to find one. There's a nursery near me that specializes in natives, mediterraneans and other not so water greedy plants.

Just went on a search for the Arbutus Marina..what a beautiful tree... Wonder if it will do well inland So. Cal?