Santa Barbara Mesa Insectary Garden

Flora Vista & Red Rose Way, Santa Barbara, CA
Across from Monroe Elementary School
​431 Flora Vista Dr, Santa Barbara, CA 93109

Insectary Signposts - Travel East, beginning at the stop sign, to locate the plants in the order listed below. Each plant is labeled.

Plant List Updated
January 12, 2019

The plants in the Santa Barbara Mesa Insectary Garden are natives from California and Baja California.  If you are knowledgeable about specific insects for a plant, please contact us. 
   * Asterisk = SB Botanic Garden Pollinator List
   [Insects in brackets, nectar or host] = Lotusland Butterfly List

Wooly Blue Curls, Hummingbird Sage, Lupine

Low Brick Wall

1. Grindelia stricta, Coastal Gum Plant,  Sticky Yellow Flowers [Buckeye}
2. Galvezia speciosa ‘Pink Panther’, Island Snapdragon, Hummingbirds
3. Berberis repens, Yellow flowers, blue berries

Senecio palmeri ‘Silver and Gold’ Guadalupe Island Senecio

Stop Sign & Insectary Sign

1. Salvia mellifera, ‘Sweet Honey’ Black Sage [Funereal diskywing, gray haistreak] *
2. Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls
3. Ceanothus hearstiorum, Hearst Ranch Buckbrush and Hearst's Ceanothus (2 plants) [hedgerow hairsteak, pale swallowtail]
4. Ribes aureum var. aureo, Golden Current *
5. Salvia 'Dara's Choice' (Salvia mellifera x S. sonomensis) *
6. Ceanothus hearstiorum, Hearst Ranch Buckbrush and Hearst's Ceanothus (2 plants)  [hedgerow hairsteak, pale swallowtail] * 
7. Hyptis emoryi ‘Silver Lining’ (3 gray small – 120 degrees to freezing), Desert Lavender
8. Baccharius pilularis ‘Pigeon Point’ Dwarf Coyote Brush  (Tick Bush) (3 plants) It is common to find wasp galls on leaves.
9. Abutilon palmeri, Cupped soft apricot flowers on long stems,  3’’4’ h/w, SBBG 2018 Fall Gopher 1-2019, SMG 01-18-19
10. Salvia ‘Bon Bon’, Hybrid 'a cross between Salvia clevelandii "Aromas' and Salvia leucophylla "Point Sal' *
11.  Leymus triticoides 'Lagunita', Lagunita Wild Rye
12. Ribes speciousm, Fuchsia Flowering Gooseberry *
13. Asclepias fascicularis (Lavender Flowers) Narrow Leaf Milkweed, provides food for monarch butterfly caterpillars and provides nectar for hummingbirds and nest building materials for other birds​. *
14. Salvia 'Allen Chickering', (Salvia clevelandii x S. leucophylla) *
15. Asclepias speciosa (Fragrant, pale pink flower) Showy Milkweed, Monarch Butterfly, birds, insects. *
16. Keckiella cordifolia 'Mountain Flare' - Orange Heartleaf Penstemon. Great plant for attracting hummingbirds and seed eating birds later in the season.
17. Ceanothus Impressus ‘Vandenberg’, Santa Barbara Ceanothus  [hedgerow hairsteak, pale swallowtail] *
18. Lessingia filanginifolia (tiny leaves), ‘Silver Carpet’, California Aster
19. Garrya elliptica ‘Evie’
20. Erigeron glaucus, Seaside Daisy
21. Eriagonum crocatum, Saffron Buckwheat *
22. Aristolochia californica, California Dutchman's-pipe. The only host plant for California pipevine swallowtail butterfly (Battus philenor hirsuta) Flowers have an unpleasant odor which is attractive to tiny carrion-feeding insects. (vine on Parking sign pole)​

Cucullia alfarata caterpillar, Champhorweed Owlet Moth

Scientist photographing caterpillars at Santa Barbara Insectary Garden

Parking Sign

1. Lobelia laxiflora, Mexican Lobelia, (Red Fuschia flowers) Hummingbirds 
2.  Heuchera ‘Wendy’, Wendy Coral Bells

Stepping Stones - First Group

1. Salvia ’Bee’s Bliss’ (3 plants by stepping stones) *
2. Encelia californica ‘Paleo Yellow’, Bush Sunflower, Butterflies, bees, and other insects. *
3. Eriogonum giganteum, St. Catherine’s Lace (UC Davis Arboretum ‘All Star’) *
4. Eriogonum crocatum, Saffron Buckwheat *
5. Muhlenbergia dubia (grass with tall spikes) Pine Muhly [firey skipper, common ringlet]

Eriophyllum nevinii ‘Canyon Silver’, Woolly Sunflower

Erigeron glacus, Seaside Daisy

Stepping Stones- Second Group

1. Salvia ’Bee’s Bliss’ *
2. Penstemon eatonii [variable checkerspot] *
3. Mimulus ‘Burst Berry’ Monkey Flower, Mimulus Jelly Bean Orange [Common buckeye variable checkerspot] *
4. Festuca californica ‘River House Blues’ California Fescue
5. Erigeron glacus, Cape Sebastian (shorter petiole)
6. Eriogonum arborescens, Santa Cruz Island Buckwheat [Western tiger swallowtail, gray hairstreak, painted lady, comon buckeye, firey skipper, marine blue, hedgerow hairstreak, Morman metalmark] *
7. Carpenteria californica, Bush Anemone
8. Solanum umbelliferum ‘Mid Hill’ Bluewitch
9. Eriogonum grande rubescens, San Miguel Island Buckwheat [Western tiger swallowtail, gray hairstreak, painted lady, comon buckeye, firey skipper, marine blue, hedgerow hairstreak, Morman metalmark] *

Eriogonum grande rubescens, San Miguel Island Buckwheat

Stepping Stones - Third Group

1. Bouteloua ‘Blonde Ambition’ Blonde Ambition Blue Grama, Eyelash Grass *
2. Mimulus ‘Dark Pink’ Jelly Bean Pink Monkey Flower [Common buckeye variable checkerspot] *
3. Mimulus 'Berry Burst', Berry Burst Monkey Flower [Common buckeye variable checkerspot] *
4. Mimulus ‘Red’, Jelly Bean Red Monkey Flower [Common buckeye variable checkerspot] *
5. Ceanothus ‘Diamond Heights’ Diamond Heights Carmel Creeper, 1’x6’ Variegated lime w/ dark green. Blue flowers in spring. [hedgerow hairsteak, pale swallowtail] *
6.  Salvia ‘Desperado’ Salvia apiana x S. lecophylla   (looks like white sage) Attracts bees and hummingbirds. *
7. Epilobium canum (Orange Flowers) California Fuschia
8. Artemisia californica 'Canyon Gray' Coastal Sagebush, prostrate form. [western tiger swalllowtail, monarch, firey skipper, painted lady]

Lobelia laxiflora (Red Fuschia flowers) Mexican Lobelia, Hummingbirds

Stepping Stones - Forth Group

1. Rhamnus californica, Coffeeberry [grey hairstreak, pale swallowtail] *
2. Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls, Grape Kool-Aid Fragrance, Hummingbirds are very attracted to the flowers.
3. Eriophyllum nevinii ‘Canyon Silver’, Woolly Sunflower

 
Round Stepping Stones - Last Group

1. Salvia spathacea, Hummingbird Sage [ Western tiger swallowtail]*
2. Senecio palmeri ‘Silver and Gold’ Guadalupe Island Senecio
3. Salvia leucophylla ‘Point Sal’ The flowers are highly aromatic and attract a variety of birds and insects. *
4. Eriogonum grande rubescens, San Miguel Island Buckwheat, Red Buckwheat, Popular with pollinators, especially butterflies. [Western tiger swallowtail, gray hairstreak, painted lady, comon buckeye, firey skipper, marine blue, hedgerow hairstreak, Morman metalmark] *
5. Heuchera ‘Santa Ana Cardinal’, Santa Ana Cardinal Coral Bells
6. Eriophyllum nevinii  ‘Canyon Silver’ (grey w/ yellow flowers) Woolly Sunflower
7. Aristolochia californica, California Dutchman's-pipe. The only host plant for California pipevine swallowtail butterfly (Battus philenor hirsuta) Flowers have an unpleasant odor which is attractive to tiny carrion-feeding insects. (Vine on School sign pole.)

Lupinus succulentus - Arroyo lupine

Naturalized Wildflowers

1. Lupinus succulentus, Arroyo Lupine [many butterflies, common blue] *
2. Eschscholzia californica, California Poppy (Papaveraceae) *

Plants that died - we all lose some.
To reduce the impact of gophers - plant Salvias or other members of the mint family.

Salvia spathacea - Hummingbird Sage

1. Verbena lilacina ‘de la mina’ – gopher Jan 2019 *
2. Venegasia carpesioides (Giant Yellow) – Gopher 2019, Canyon Sunflower, Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds
3. Dendromecom harfordii, Island Bush Poppy (died after moving it, did not survive the transplanting, April 2018)
4.  Artemesia ‘David’s Choice’
5.  Arctostaphylos ‘Emerald Carpet’ (low flat wood plant with ½” leaves) (died after being stepped on)
6. Sisyrinchium bellum, Blue Eyed Grass, Died or dormant? *

​Santa Barbara Mesa Insectary Garden - Calscape List - not including crosses and plants from Baja California.

Calscape Santa Barbara Mesa Insectary Garden Plant List Link   

Send an email - Visit Contact page.

Photo Credits

Photos By Trish Odenthal

Island Fence Lizard - Sceloporus occidentalis becki

Horticultural Links - Garden Resources

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden - www.sbbg.org/

• * (Asterisk)  Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Native Plants for Pollinators List 

Theodore Payne Foundation - theodorepayne.org/
Lotusland - www.lotusland.org

• Lotusland Attracting beneficial bugs birds and butterflies [Butterfly nectar or host]
  

Calscape - California Native Plant Society - ​https://calscape.org/

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