The junipers are thriving with the winter rains here in the San Francisco Bay Area. They do well for long periods of drought, but the little extra water is always welcome. We have two junipers on the property, one is a "big bonsai" tree that is close to the entry, and the other is a partially pruned tree that is located in the lower yard. I brought a sprig into the kitchen to display in the plant aquarium.
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| Juniperus californica |
Junipers are in the Cupressaceae family. The California juniper is a shrub or small tree that grows to 10-26 feet (3-8 meters), and is distributed the length of California. The bark is "shreddy" and the foliage is blueish-gray and scale-like. The fleshy seed cones are like blue, waxy berries and usually contain a single seed. Male cones shed their pollen in the early spring. The juniper is typically dioecious, but a small percentage can be monoecious.
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| "Big bonsai" juniper |
The juniper is ideal in a heat and drought-tolerant garden, and prefers sun to shade. It provides habitat for native species of birds, deer and small mammals, and is a larval host for the sequoia sphinx moth (Sphinx sequoiae). The California juniper provides soil erosion control on slopes; handles dry, rocky and alkaline soil; and is used for bonsai.
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| Contorted juniper bark |
The junipers thrive in our yard and provide shade and privacy. They are lovely to look at and and interesting to monitor as they go through their seasonal cycles.
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