Australian Natives

HUMMINGBIRDS, BUMBLE BEES, AND BUTTERFLIES ALL FLUTTER BY AMONG THE AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS CURATED AND CULTIVATED BY JO O’CONNELL, OWNER OF AUSTRALIAN NATIVE PLANTS. Located on N. Ventura Avenue, O’Connell’s growing grounds are fi lled with rare plants from both Australia and South Africa, making her collection the largest selection of Australian native plants within the United States. Knowledgeable, passionate, and an Aussie herself, O’Connell o ers not only plants, but consulting, contracting, and growing tips for each species she cultivates.

The beautiful pink hues and deep purple tones of the grevilleas intermix with the vibrant oranges and reds of the kangaroo paws, who all in turn echo o the deep, varying shades of green from the banksias

and leucadendron. Together, the plants all appear in a propagated mosaic, refl ective of the diversity of Southern California and Ojai itself. Each individual bud showcases its personality among a sea of living color.

Jo O’Connell fi rst came to Ojai in 1989 to work on the Taft Gardens, a 252-acre preserve of California-native Open Space located in the foothills of Ojai near Lake Casitas. Shortly after, O’Connell moved to Ojai with her husband Byron Cox and established Australian Native Plants.

With a mission to provide plants that are hardy, drought tolerant, and bird- attracting, O’Connell quickly gained popularity throughout Ojai, curating

by GRANT PHILLIPS

gardens for homes and businesses including a pepper garden along Foothill Road and another in the East End. But much like O’Connell, her plants had to adapt to the new environment.

“The soils here are much richer than they are in Australia and South Africa,” said O’Connell.

“There’s so many colorful plants for all soil types.” Australian soils tend to be more acidic than the alkaline soils typically found in Ojai and Southern California. This can cause iron to lock up. But O’Connell listens to her plants when they produce chlorotic or yellowing foliage, and adapts quickly. “It’s an easy fi x,” assures O’Connell. “It’s just an application of sulphur, if you know your soils are alkaline, or you can add iron chelate.” The well-established plants have also provided O’Connell with the ability to propagate, creating new plants from her cuttings through layering, budding, and grafting. Certain plants can o er up to 50 cuttings, and with time to grow, those cuttings can produce even more the following season, a cycle that has helped O’Connell during the challenges of Covid-19. “Since Covid, Australia is not even shipping seeds,” said O’Connell, who is unable to make her yearly trip collecting seeds due to Australia’s harsh lockdowns. “They ship to my sister and she then ships to us.” But through methods of propagation, along with having set herself up nicely with her work at Taft Gardens, from which she can still collect seeds, acclimation has been a bit easier. “It hasn’t a ected me too badly,” said O’Connell. “I’m

starting to collect more seeds from plants that I’m growing here.” O’Connell’s adaptability and continued success with her growing gardens has resulted in a list of helpful tricks and tips that she shares with all of her clients. These range from beginner instructions like never planting a dry plant in a dry hole or waiting for the heat wave to fi nish before planting, to the more scientifi c suggestion of utilizing leaf litter and sulphuric acids to increase the concentration of hydrogen ions in the soil, which can help lower the pH levels. Pruning is also an essential element for maintaining her nursery and the livelihood of her plants. It not only increases their longevity, but allows for fl owers to bloom. “Pruning is another big issue with a lot of stu ,” said O’Connell. “If you cut it when its young or pinch out new growth tips, then you’ll get branching, and it makes a stronger plant so the plant can hold itself up.” O’Connell respects the gardens she’s worked on that keep up with this sometimes neglected aspect of gardening. “My favorite gardens are the ones that are maintained,” said O’Connell. “Because that means the people care and they’ll look after it, and the garden grows and fl ourishes.” One key to Australian native plants’ resiliency comes from their ability to absorb and store a variety of nutrients within their roots and vascular systems for long periods of time. This makes them drought tolerant and able to grow in sun-soaked settings. “Overwatering is not a good thing,” said O’Connell. “You’ve got to give them a deep, infrequent watering, so their roots push down deep into the soil, and you keep the mulch so the top root systems are nice and cool.” With soils low in phosphorus or potassium in parts of Australia and South Africa, the native plants have evolved with root systems capable of absorbing a variety of nutrients out of the soil. While this may seem like an adaptable skill with many rewards, it can also create complications when trying to grow plants with nutrient-rich fertilizer. “If you start putting Miracle-Gro on them, for the most part, all you’re doing is killing them,” said O’Connell. The plants retain their nutrients in such a way that they too can absorb too much of a good thing. Their resiliency also serves as a protective barrier during wildfi res, a lesson O’Connell learned fi rst-hand. In December of 2017, O’Connell lost her home and much of her growing grounds to the Thomas Fire as it spread from Sulphur Mountain Road chaparral onto her property. The nursery, however, stayed relatively intact as surrounding plants took most of the damage. “I lost all the plants across the front of the property, down to, say, a third,” said O’Connell. “I would collect seed and cutting material from it, and it was really disappointing.” Certain Australian native plants can slow the spread of wildfi res, like Callistemon ‘Little John’ and eremophilas. “All plants will burn, but certain plants can slow down a fi re,” said O’Connell. “Some embers cannot ignite for nearly 40 minutes and I think that’s what helped save the little cottage that I’m living in now.” After the fi re, certain plants grew back and bloomed to new extremes, appearing with fl owers as signs of hope. Plants like the emu bush and Little John (bottlebrush) fl owered for months afterwards. In addition to being fi re retardant, certain banksias benefi t from the fi re exposure, opening up seed pods and gaining nutrients from potash. “That’s the banksia,” said O’Connell, pointing to her fl owering tree at the edge of her nursery. “I couldn’t believe a year after the fi re, it had so many fl owers, it was just beautiful.” Other plants like eucalyptus contain ligno-tubers, or underground dormant buds, so when they get cut or burned, it initiates them to spring back. O’Connell too, had the opportunity to spring back from the destruction by building her new home and o ce on the property, a process with challenges due to lingering repercussions from the fi re. “I still don’t have power here since the fi re,” said O’Connell, “which makes the watering process di cult.” O’Connell has shipped plants to gardens and nature preserves all around the world including countries like Bolivia, Hong Kong, Canada, and Singapore, where O’Connell contributed to Gardens by the Bay, a Mediterranean garden whose Flower Dome is the largest greenhouse in the world. When shipping plants over long distances, a risk is involved regarding sustainability. Her protea, for example, have incredibly soft leaves that are vulnerable to changes in climate. “They were trapped inside a box for a month and just couldn’t make it … feel this,” said O’Connell reaching out to her protea. The furry and delicate texture of the leaves shows the tenderness and grace required to cultivate the South African species. “And this here” said O’Connell, pointing to the Eucalyptus orbifolia, also known as the round-leaved mallee. Their toughness and texture showcase a healthy vascular system spreading throughout each leaf. By touching their tough leaves, you can feel the resiliency radiating from them, proving they can handle droughts, frost, wildfi res, and even a global pandemic. “I don’t know how I’ll ever retire,” said O’Connell. “I just really like what I’m doing.” The growing grounds are an ongoing communal e ort for O’Connell and her family. While O’Connell propagates and cultivates, her husband Byron assists with the pruning. Her dogs Blue and Wallaby help to take care of the raccoons, coyotes, and mountain lions, and even her cats take care of the rodents when they’re brave enough to venture outdoors. O’Connell has a fl ock of chickens who roam the prem-

ises who take care of the snails, insects, and other garden critters. “You’d fi nd thousands of snail eggs in the pot plants,” said O’Connell, who spoke of the di culty of snails during shipping, along with their appetite for plant leaves. “But now, I don’t see a snail.” Even with her family of helpers, O’Connell, like many of her plants, is still an Australian native. “To be living outside of Australia, this is probably the best place I could be,” said O’Connell. “But really, my heart is in Australia.” Her longing is for the rain forests, the animals, her family, and the exotic birds that fl ock to the di erent native fl owers of the country. “I miss the birds,” said O’Connell. “I guess that’s why I grow the plants, I miss the birds that are associated with these plants out there. They’re big, and colorful, and can be tamed, and I really miss that.” While certain people may have apprehensions mixing indigenous plant species with exotic ones, O’Connell assures that the history goes deeper than our current situation. “Some of these trees were around since the dinosaurs were around. These are ancient trees,” said O’Connell, pointing out the Grevillea robusta, which has been here since the 1800s. “They’re pretty good at adapting.” Whether it’s softening succulent gardens, adapting to the houseplant trend, or fi lling in front yards, Jo O’Connell has an option for all types of prospective plant lovers. “I don’t care how people get into plants, whether it’s houseplants or big pot plants or succulents,” said O’Connell. “I just want to see young people getting into plants.” The plants have an ability to adapt and intermix with the native species of California for long periods of time, forming a new collection of cooperative plants that have all learned to not just coexist, but help one another. “I think Australians, South Africans, and Californians look good together and they grow in well together too,” said O’Connell. “To heck with the people who say Californians and Australians can’t live together, if you ask me.” To visit O’Connell and walk among her personal rainforest and gardens, head over to 9040 N. Ventura Ave in Casitas Springs. The growing grounds are open by appointment only.