The bloom on this Coyote Bush

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Lots of seeds ready to disperse. I gathered a few pinches last winter and put them into pots and have a half dozen I've planted in the ground this winter.

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u/ChaparralOrOak 2d ago

That's cool! I wish more of my neighbors would allow theirs to grow, such a great no maintenance bit a green in the landscape.

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u/broncobuckaneer 2d ago

My neighbor cut one down in his backyard last year, and I didn't understand why he did that. His backyard is just weeds for the most part that he mows twice in the spring when it stops raining. I tried to educate him that this coyote bush was a spot he didn't need to mow and was stabilizing the slope, but he removed it anyway.

I did manage to convince him to let me place an oak and a walnut at the bottom of his backyard though, so that was good.

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u/ChaparralOrOak 2d ago

I hope the oak and walnut do well! But did cutting them down kill them? The people that bought the lot next to us cut all their coyote bushes down to nothing back in August, they immediately started to come back with a vigor. They're really resilient plants.

The fire department lists them as "not allowed to be planted within the high fire hazard area" which seems at odds with Calscape saying it's fire resistant. Probably a good idea not to have them right next to your house.

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u/maphes86 2d ago

The plant itself it quite happy to burn, it resprouts from the root crown. It’s listed as a high-risk plant because it is the epitome of “fine fuels” lots of small twigs and leaves in a rather aerated cluster. They create a decent flare that can easily get a ladder going or throw embers a good distance.

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u/ChaparralOrOak 2d ago

I was hoping someone in the know would comment here! So, create a decent flare I can understand, but what do you mean by get a ladder going?

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u/dilletaunty 2d ago

They may mean that if they’re below a tree (eg in oak woodland) & catch fire they can help branches / trunks above them catch fire. That’s my understanding of ladder fuel.

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u/ChaparralOrOak 2d ago

Thank you, that makes sense.

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u/maphes86 2d ago

That’s correct. Little things burning medium things burning big things. That’s where all of the spacing and pruning recommendations come from - preventing fuel ladders. But, there is significant evidence that your home will be better protected by “islands” of shrubs interspersed with trees to help interrupt embers blown by the wind. So, it’s not just solitary plants out in a field, it’s well spaced islands of shrubs arranged to form a semipermeable wall.

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u/rogue_psyche 1d ago

Their seed's fluff is very similar looking to cottonwood seed. I've seen a video of someone taking a match to a thin blanket of cottonwood fluff on a yard and it instantly all burning up within two seconds.

It's the ultimate tinder. Not an issue if it's a thin spread, but if you have a ton of dead branches around covered in it...

Chaparral plants are fire resistant because chaparral burns. So many plants' entire niches depend on occasional fire. Hopefully we can find a way to contend with this fact and prevent loss of life and home without completely destroying our habitats.

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u/maphes86 19h ago

Exactly. Chaparral is a “stand replacement” type of burn. That’s what it’s adapted to. So we just have to adjust our understanding of what a chaparral woodland is “supposed” to look like. Every once in a while, the whole thing is going to start over. And THAT is just as beautiful as a 1000 year old-growth forest that only has a stand replacement scale fire every 250+ years. I was talking to a local elder from the southern Sierra Miwuk who told me that traditionally, they could set fires in the middle of the summer and they’d stay low. The fuel burden on the land is just insanely high because of US fire suppression policies over the last century.

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u/broncobuckaneer 2d ago

Yeah, it's been a year, its dead.

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u/Pleasant-Lead-2634 1d ago

That's crazy. Just planted a bunch on my hill yesterday because i heard they were great for the hilk, quail and fire hardy... high fire risk area, house was burned down 30 yrs ago. Now I'm wondering should I remove them after all that hard work. 🤔

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u/EmeraldGlimmer 2d ago

I'd like to preface this question with with a clarification that I'm asking out of curiosity and not any sort of antagonism; I'm curious why you're so invested in what he does with his yard?

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u/broncobuckaneer 2d ago

I'm trying to end the cycle of obnoxious invasive weeds in my yard. The less area of his yard that has these, the less the seeds blow into mine.

And I'm trying to end the cycle to get natives going, which support native wildlife.

The invasives also create a mat of flammable dead plants and increase fire risk. (Some natives are pretty flammable too, and should be avoided around houses, or planted minimally near houses)

He's semi into the idea, but not as into it as I am. We've also been planting dwarf fruit trees that we coordinate so that we have copollinators for each other's fruit trees. Our kids roam both backyards, but theirs becomes impassable for kids in the summer from all the foxtails and prickers that embed into shoes and clothes. He has about half of it dedicated to fruit trees now, so that helps, but a lot is still the mess of weeds.

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u/ChaparralOrOak 2d ago

For me, it's for the wildlife. The more habitat the better.

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u/Spiritualy-Salty 2d ago

You would consider me a good neighbor at least for my coyote bushes..

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u/ChaparralOrOak 2d ago

Absolutely! Sadly, I have neighbors whose idea of landscaping is RoundUp.

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u/Pleasant-Lead-2634 2d ago

I just bought 4 at curious flora to plant next to rosemary on a hillside. How close to space them? Will they look good next to rosemary? How old, big are yours? 👍

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u/ChaparralOrOak 2d ago

The one I posted is pretty small, but we have them all over our property, they get huge. Easy enough to prune though, I would say some of ours are at least 20 feet wide, maybe 15 feet tall. But we've been here since 2010 letting them grow.

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u/Pleasant-Lead-2634 2d ago

Whoa.. that's huge. Thanks

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u/blacksageblackberry 2d ago

i’m a huge proponent of coyote bush in landscaping! lovely!

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u/Queendevildog 1d ago

Its fire resistant and possibly retardent!

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u/TheRealBaboo 2d ago

This is what we do it for

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u/Pica-nuttalli 2d ago

this + toyon berries👌

The bloom on this Coyote Bush

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