Californians should be skeptical of creating a ‘right to housing’ in the state constitution

• June 17, 2023

California voters may soon have to decide whether to enshrine a “right to housing” in the state constitution.

Assembly Constitutional Amendment 10 provides, in its entirety:

“The state hereby recognizes the fundamental human right to adequate housing for everyone in California. It is the shared obligation of state and local jurisdictions to respect, protect, and fulfill this right, on a non-discriminatory and equitable basis, with a view to progressively achieve the full realization of the right, by all appropriate means, including the adoption and amendment of legislative measures, to the maximum of available resources.”

If you’re wondering what this proposed constitutional right would actually accomplish, you’re not alone. Previous “right to housing” proposals have either failed to pass or been vetoed by Governor Newsom for lack of specificity.

At its most superficial level, if the law merely states that everyone should have a roof over their head, there’s little debate over that self-evident proposition. But the real question is whether this somehow creates an enforceable obligation for government to provide housing to all who want it. In other words, would this amendment create a “private right of action,” a question which lawyers frequently confront when interpreting statutes or constitutional amendments.

The short analysis of ACA 10 prepared by the Legislative Counsel merely observes that “the California Constitution [already] enumerates various personal rights, including the right to enjoy and defend life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.” But is this “right to housing” the same as the historical rights with which we are so familiar?

More fundamentally, what is a “right?”

Americans are most likely to be familiar with the Bill of Rights, comprised of the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Even a cursory reading of these amendments reveals that they are specific prohibitions on governmental power.  For example, the First Amendment prohibits Congress from making laws establishing religion or abridging freedom of speech. The Second Amendment prohibits Congress from abridging the right to bear arms, and the Fourth Amendment safeguards citizens’ right to be free from unreasonable government intrusion in their homes through the requirement of a warrant.

Thus, the Bill of Rights reflects the fundamental nature of true rights which are limitations on government.

What is not included in our historical understanding of “rights” are “rights” to goods or services provided by others. For example, progressives like to claim that everyone has a “right” to health care. But this would necessarily entail that some other person either pay for the medical services – through taxes – or be required to provide the service without payment.

Related Articles

Let’s be clear here. By suggesting we should hesitate to declare a “right” to health care or, for that matter, to housing, does not mean that, in a well-ordered civil society, we shouldn’t provide an adequate safety net to those less fortunate. California can create the most robust welfare state imaginable – if it hasn’t already – without declaring all the benefit therefrom as “rights.”

The danger in creating a society where everything is a “right” is that it becomes difficult if not impossible to know when to stop.

For guidance, perhaps we should return to First Principles – the rights as understood by the Founders of the Republic. That is, that true “rights,” also known as natural rights, are prohibitions against government interference in our lives so that we may live as freely as possible in our pursuit of happiness.

If rights include those things that can only be paid for by the forced redistribution of wealth by our government, doesn’t that necessarily violate the rights of those whose property is taken?

California needs to tread carefully in declaring rights to public services. Taken to its logical conclusion, we’ll be left with no rights at all.

Jon Coupal is president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

​ Orange County Register 

John Eastman should lose his law license

• June 17, 2023

Free societies understandably have a difficult time dealing with those who threaten their institutions and seek to destroy their democracies. Such societies allow broad latitude for political speech and require due process, which is why it’s taken so long for federal courts to mete out sentences in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. This is how it should be.

While it’s one thing to sort through video footage and prosecute charges against hooligans who breached the Capitol, it’s another matter to hold accountable politicians who riled them up and lawyers who plotted antidemocratic strategies. That brings us to a local figure – former Chapman University law professor John Eastman, who help devise Trump’s effort to overturn the election and cling undemocratically to power.

Eastman didn’t storm the Capitol, attack police or defecate in Capitol hallways – at least not literally. But, as Politico explained, he “spent the final weeks of the Trump administration stoking false claims of election fraud in order to put pressure on GOP-led state legislatures to appoint alternate slates of presidential electors.” He authored an infamous memo gaming out scenarios to keep Trump in power.

Related Articles

We would oppose any prosecution of him given that dark plotting doesn’t amount to law-breaking, but we appreciate the State Bar of California’s effort to strip him of his law license. Whatever the results, the hearing, which includes several witnesses, should expose Eastman’s shame-worthy behavior.

Last year, the congressional committee investigating January 6 sought Eastman’s emails, but he resisted by invoking attorney-client privilege. In a scathing rebuke, Orange County federal Judge David O. Carter ruled that the emails were not deserving of protection from release. And Carter made it clear why, however difficult, it’s necessary to hold democracy’s enemies accountable.

“If Dr. Eastman and President Trump’s plan had worked, it would have permanently ended the peaceful transition of power, undermining American democracy and the Constitution,” Carter explained in his ruling. “If the country does not commit to investigating and pursuing accountability for those responsible, the Court fears January 6 will repeat itself.”

Let the disbarment proceedings begin.

​ Orange County Register 

Anaheim to buy land near Angel Stadium for new park

• June 17, 2023

Anaheim will pay $200,000 to buy land along the Santa Ana River and turn it into a new park near Angel Stadium.

The City Council recently approved purchasing the property to create the 3-acre park with trails, a children’s play area and a butterfly garden. The trails will have enough room for horses.

“This is an opportunity where we identified an underutilized space,” city spokesperson Erin Ryan said. “This is just an example of finding and adding new park space to our portfolio.”

The Orange County Flood Control District owned the property and sold it for less than the average market value of land in the area, officials said. Money from Platinum Triangle development fees and a Land and Water Conservation Fund will pay for the new $4.5 million park. The city already maintains 57 parks.

Residents will be able to access the park from the Santa Ana Regional Bike Trail and Orangewood Avenue, Ryan said. It is expected to be open by 2026.

The stretch that will become a park had been where unhoused people created a tent encampment until the city cleared it in 2018.

Eventually, the park could become a part of a major river walk project Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken recently spoke about in her State of the City address.

That OC River Walk project would have new trails, pedestrian and bicycle bridges and add inflatable dams to recharge the Santa Ana River.

There’s no set date for when the river walk project could become a reality; the city has created the website, ocriverwalk.com with more on the vision.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Gov. Newsom’s mostly boring interview with Hannity

• June 17, 2023

I watched Gov. Gavin Newsom’s interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday so you didn’t have to.

It wasn’t really worth it — and I only watched because a cruel editor spiked my original column idea and made me watch this instead.

The interview broke no new ground and was what I would have expected: Lots of posturing and many half truths. Kudos to Newsom for going on Fox News, which he often attacks, for the first time since 2010. But here’s a dirty secret: It’s not really that big of a deal.

Primetime hits on any cable news channel are always challenging, and an hour leaves plenty of time to misspeak or go blank, so it requires a lot of preparation.

Newsom was prepared.

But at the same time, it’s often easier to venture into unfriendly terrain because all you’re looking for are sound bites and conflict. Just argue, dodge and object — Newsom excelled at all three.

It would be substantially harder for Newsom to sit down with California media and answer detailed questions from people who intimately know what’s happening in the state and who would bring up prior false or misleading statements in subsequent interviews.

In other words, Newsom going on Hannity is not nearly as admirable or challenging as if Newsom sat down with the Southern California News Group editorial board, for example, or had regular press briefings with the Sacramento press corps.

Of course, Newsom doesn’t have to look too hard for media allies in California.

Here’s the reaction of Newsom’s interview from John Diaz, former editorial page editor of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Indeed, @GavinNewsom was prepared to roll Hannity’s tired talking points with a rapid-fire succession of facts. Gavin at his absolute best. Great for @FoxNews viewers to see this reality check.”

Such hard-hitting coverage!

While Hannity offered his opinion and was deliberately provocative at times, like insisting on using the term “illegal aliens,” his questions were pretty fair, and Fox News viewers, despite whatever Diaz believed happened, were given no reality check.

California has significant challenges that the Democrats in charge, especially Newsom, can’t seem to fix. That’s not a right-wing conspiracy. Throwing money at problems does not seem to be working.

California struggles with literacy, K-12 education, crime, poverty, cost of living, homelessness, housing, water and energy and nothing seems to be getting better.

While Newsom did have answers for questions on some of these topics and others, the answers were insufficient in light of the results and often lacked very important context.

For example: Newsom told Hannity he cut homelessness in San Francisco as mayor by a third. This is a far cry from his promise to end homelessness in the city within a decade, but, as Newsom argued, at least he tried.

Except that’s not really what happened. As PolitiFact wrote in 2018 when Newsom was using a similar talking point (claiming a 40% reduction back then), much of his progress came from bussing thousands of people out of town. And as is painfully obvious, San Francisco’s homelessness problem is as bad as ever.

Related Articles

Newsom also ignored key context when he applauded President Joe Biden for creating more jobs than the past three Republican presidents combined.

Big if true! Except it’s not, really. Though Biden has enjoyed a solid run of jobs numbers during his term, the vast majority of jobs created were COVID-recovery jobs that came once government stopped keeping businesses shuttered.

On California’s economy, Newsom sidestepped questions about high taxes and cost of living by highlighting things like California’s abundant “venture capital,” which of course means nothing to the millions of Californians living in poverty.

As for his fearlessness, Newsom dodged both easy and hard questions. What grade does he give Biden’s presidency? Wouldn’t say. Nor would he say whether he supported his own committee’s recommendation of giving $1.2 million each to qualifying individuals for reparations.

I could go on, but that’s the gist of it.

It was typical Newsom.

Follow Matt on Twitter @FlemingWords

​ Orange County Register 

CalOptima Health wants to create a facility to better serve OC’s unhoused, aging population

• June 17, 2023

CalOptima Health, the provider of publicly funded health coverage in Orange County, is investing about $49 million to create the Community Living Center of Tustin, with the purpose of addressing challenges faced by the one of the county’s most vulnerable populations, those experiencing homelessness and aging.

From 2017 to 2021, the number of people 55 and older who accessed homeless-related services in Orange County increased by about 89%, according to the state’s Homeless Data Integration System. They are part of a growing “silver tsunami” of older adults who are falling into homelessness for the first time after the age of 50.

CalOptima is in the process of converting this building on Yorba Street in Tustin, CA to a senior facility for those 50 years old and older. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

“A lot of it has to do with the financial crisis of 2008. The early baby boomers, they have good jobs and pensions and things of that nature, but the baby boomers toward the end of that generation oftentimes had lower paying jobs with no pensions … they were much more fragile financially,” said Kelly Bruno-Nelson, CalOptima’s executive director of Medi-Cal/CalAIM, adding that when the housing crisis hit, a lot of these people were pushed into the ballooning rental market. “So, they were one spouse dying or one job loss away from homelessness.”

Some who are struggling with homelessness use walkers or are in wheelchairs or are experiencing cognitive issues.  They may need assistance with bathing or other daily needs. Because of that, Bruno-Nelson said there’s difficulty in figuring out where they can go.

“They can’t go to a shelter because shelters oftentimes have bunk beds, services are very far away. These individuals are in wheelchairs, but the hallways aren’t wide enough. They’re incontinent so they can’t wait to get to the restroom. There is no nursing. They can’t maneuver in a traditional shelter,” Bruno-Nelson said. “Recuperative care is for a short period of time and is also unlicensed. Because of that, they can’t help with bathing or with dressing. They can’t administer medications. So it’s really not much better.”

These shortcomings leave this population with two options: go to a nursing home prematurely, if an option, or live on the street. CalOptima wants to build a facility where the unhoused, aging group can find all the services they need under one roof.

The Community Living Center of Tustin will overhaul an existing building on Yorba Avenue to a combine recuperative care and the services of the already existing Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, also known as PACE.

All guests will be allowed to stay until they find stable, permanent housing, the agency said. CalOptima Health anticipates the average length of stay will be one year. Most guests will be exiting recuperative care facilities or hospitals. The center will not provide housing to individuals who do not need medical assistance or rehabilitation services.

The only individuals who will be eligible for the facility are adults 55 years or older who are unhoused and meet the medical criteria. The only way for an unhoused senior resident to get a bed in the center will be through a direct referral from a hospital, Tustin law enforcement or a shelter within the city of Tustin.

Overall, the recuperative care center will take care of 119 unhoused older adults working toward a permanent housing placement. The PACE center is expected to serve up to 500 individuals from both the surrounding community and the recuperative care center.

Each semi-private room will have its own bathroom and shower. The building will be divided into five “pods,” roughly 25 beds in each, that will be staffed with its own social worker and nurse, as well as a guest safety associate stationed 24 hours a day. Each pod will also have its own living room and space for socializing.

The facility will include an indoor gym, store, beauty salon and cyber café. PACE services include routine physicals, outpatient surgical and mental services, rehabilitation therapy and transportation services. The recuperative care program will provide additional services such as medication management, three meals a day, support in accessing benefits and interim housing until permanent housing is secured.

“The shelter system is not built for this population, it’s built for economy of scale. It’s built to serve as many folks as possible. It’s meant to serve a younger, more physically agile group of individuals,” Bruno-Nelson said, adding that this facility will be designed to serve the older residents in ways traditional shelters are not.

Bruno-Nelson said CalOptima is working with the city of Tustin now to get through the Planning Commission and have the project approved.

​ Orange County Register 

Rising tide of new surfers adds diversity to ocean

• June 17, 2023

Justin “Brick” Howze has a saying: “You can’t be it, if you can’t see it.”

“Just seeing Black people at the beach, surfing on waves, encourages others to enjoy the ocean,” Howze said.

The majority of surfers in the United States are white males, but a recently released study that tracks the sport’s participation highlights a cultural shift in the sea, with statistics showing more Black and Hispanic surfers taking up wave riding in recent years.

For Howze, who for the past year has hosted “Beach Bounce” gatherings for the Black community at Dockweiler Beach, there’s a needed change in a public place meant to be for all to enjoy.

“They don’t realize they are part of a social justice movement,” he said of the beach partygoers who show up to the gatherings, with another planned for Sunday, June 18. “They are just out there having a blast.”

Turning negative to positive

Howze calls himself an “unapologetic pandemic surfer,” who like many others, picked up the sport in pursuit of an outdoor pastime.

The Long Beach native, who also spent his younger years in North Carolina, was always drawn to alternative sports like BMX and hockey.

When he moved back to the Los Angeles area to pursuit a career as a music maker and DJ, he knew nothing about surfing, just that he was drawn to it. He didn’t take lessons, simply got a board from a friend and watched an online video on his way to the beach for his first surf session.

Just as he was getting the hang of it and learning the rules of the waves, he “dropped in” on another surfer, the faux pas of paddling into a wave someone already is riding, irking the more experienced wave rider.

That’s when another older surfer in the water butted into the exchange, calling Howze a derogatory, racially-charged word, shouting it out over and over again.

It wasn’t the man’s verbal attack that was bothersome, it’s something Howze said he has learned to shrug off over the years. But more concerning and perplexing was why no one in the water came to his defense.

“Nobody did anything about it. That was the thing that showed me nobody cared,” Howze said. “There’s no protection in this space, there’s no community in this space, at least for someone who looks like me.”

Howze has a social media following and recounted the incident online with his friend who was also in the water. News articles were written about the altercation, putting a spotlight on not just the incident, but the lack of Black community in the surfing world.

Howze started hosting beach gatherings under the name Ebony Beach Club, a nod to a Black beach club in 1957 that never got off the ground because of government interference.

The first Beach Bounce, which offered free surf lessons, drew 150 people last April, then doubled that number at the next gathering. The August gathering drew 2,000 and by September, 5,000 mostly people of color showed up, he said.

“This is what was needed, this is what was missing,” said Howze. “All these people are getting over their fear of the ocean and being able to do it together.”

Not all the Black beach partygoers want to learn to surf, Howze said. “But everyone knows they can now.”

A changing surf industry

Head to any popular Southern California surf break and you’ll instantly know that the sport of surfing is surging by the number of bodies bobbing on surfboards, waiting for waves.

The recently published study by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, or SFIA, dug into surfing’s participation and demographics. The report is aimed at giving surf leaders and businesses insight into industry trends, but also offers a glimpse into the evolving cultural changes within the sport.

While modern-day surfing in the United States is a mostly white, affluent male activity, a growing number of Black and Hispanic surfers are adopting the board sport, according to ActionWatch, which compiles the data for the report.

In 2022, there were an estimated 3.7 million surfers, a number that grew from 2.9 million just three years earlier.

While the sport of surfing grew as a whole about 6% in recent years, Black surfers make up the largest group for percentage growth – a 120% increase in the past five years, said Eric Stanton, senior director for ActionWatch, the company that compiled the stats for the SFIA study.

“The growth has been pretty significant,” he said. “It happened across all ethnicities, but some have a more interesting growth than others.”

In 2022, Black surfers made up the third largest group in the water, with 423,000 surfers, compared to 218,000 surfers in 2019, doubling in participants.

Hispanics make up the second largest group with 686,7099 participants, up from 545,000 in 2019.

Asians and Pacific Islanders make up the smallest group, with 281,000 participants in 2022, up slightly from 252,000 in 2019.

From the surf business perspective, the question is how to keep those new customers engaged with surfing, to feel welcome enough to stick around.

Several surf brands have done collaborations with groups dedicated to diversifying the line up, said Vipe Desai, president of the Surf Industry Members Association. Hurley a few years ago teamed with Black Girls Surf, while Vans last year partnered with Textured Waves, another group dedicated to growing the number of women surfers of color.

“It’s one thing to have models, but it’s another to actually partner resources that promote growth with different ethnic groups,” Desai said. “All these things make a difference.”

The Surfrider Foundation last year launched the campaign “The Beach Belongs to Everyone,” a message of inclusion for all who want to enjoy the sea.

“It will take other efforts on a continual, consistent basis to show the sport of surfing is open and welcome to diversity,” said Desai.  “I think this is a good start, but there’s much more that needs to happen as well.”

Other factors that have helped introduce surfing outside of affluent coastal communities include its Olympic debut in 2021 and wave pools popping up inland so even those living far away from the coast can learn to surf, Desai said.

Related Articles

Brands and businesses should be open to the new wave of surfers as a way to evolve the sport and industry, he said. “Let people in and let them do what they want to do with surfing and how they want to build it into their vibe and character.”

While overall surfing participation numbers have increased, the number of core surfers – the ones who went out more than eight times in a year – took a dip in recent years. So if businesses want to succeed, they need to think about the people testing out surfing and figure out how convert them into loyal surfers, he said.

“That’s where new people are going to come from,” he said. “the new diverse community of people will drive surfing’s next phase of growth.”

Howze hopes his efforts reverberates not just in the Black community, he said, but shows other groups such as the LBGTQ or Asian surf clubs that the ocean is welcoming for all.

“I want everyone to feel comfortable in each other’s spaces,” he said. “That’s when we start to see change.”

​ Orange County Register 

Curt Miller believes Sparks are ‘ahead of schedule’ 10 games into season

• June 17, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Sparks coach Curt Miller has nothing but great things to say about his former Connecticut Sun team, which he guided to the WNBA Finals last season.

“I think (Connecticut) is the odds-on favorite to win it. I don’t care (if) I say that. I think Connecticut is loaded and so we know what’s coming through the door,” Miller said ahead of the Sparks’ Sunday game against the Sun.

However, Miller is equally impressed by the way his team has responded to adversity after playing 25% of the 40-game regular season. If the season ended today, the Sparks (5-5) would be a playoff team, something that hasn’t happened in Los Angeles since 2020.

“A quarter into the season, with the amount of adversity that we’ve had, the two season-ending injuries (Steph Talbot, ACL) and Katie Lou Samuelson (pregnancy) before we even started the season, and then everything that’s happened,” Miller said. “We have the most games missed by any team in the league and we’ve been in nine of our 10 games and are .500. If the season ended today, we’re a playoff team, which they haven’t been recently, so I think it’s a remarkable first quarter for us. I’m so proud of where they’ve put themselves. If we can get healthy again, let’s see what happens but I think we’re ahead of schedule and I think we’ve really performed well.”

Los Angeles Sparks head coach Curt Miller shares his assessment of his team after 10 games into the 2023 WNBA season. The Sparks are 5-5 overall and would be a playoff team if the season ended today. #WNBA #WNBATwitter pic.twitter.com/lEuth6Pqd8

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) June 17, 2023

Sparks point guard Jordin Canada finished with a regular-season career-high 22 points in the team’s 77-72 home loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Friday night.

The Sparks will host Connecticut (8-3) on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena. It’s the second game of a five-game homestand and the third in a stretch of six games in a 12-day span. Connecticut is led by a trio of talented forwards – Alyssa Thomas, Brionna Jones and DeWanna Bonner – who are averaging a combined 48.5 points and 23 rebounds per game.

“We have to lock in and move on, understand that obviously there are some things that we could work on,” Canada said. “We’re going to see (Minnesota) again (on Tuesday), but the schedule is crazy playing every other day. You just have to move forward, basketball is ups and downs. You’re going to win some and you’re going to lose some, but it’s all about how you respond. We have an opportunity on Sunday to come back harder and respond.”

“There’s no time to sulk and be down about this game,” added Sparks forward Dearica Hamby, who nearly had a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds against the Lynx. “The WNBA keeps going.”

Sparks starters Jordin Canada and Dearica Hamby on moving forward after Friday’s 77-72 loss at home against the Minnesota Lynx and getting ready for Sunday’s home game against the Connecticut Sun. pic.twitter.com/lPvdbOq1gU

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) June 17, 2023

COOKE STARTS FOR BROWN

Sparks starting shooting guard Lexie Brown, who is averaging 13.3 points per game and shooting 42% from 3-point range, missed Friday’s loss to the Lynx with a non-COVID illness. Rookie guard Zia Cooke, the 10th overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, made the first start of her career in Brown’s place.

Cooke finished with five points in 25 minutes and left the arena with some defensive pointers from Sparks legend Lisa Leslie.

“It felt good to be able to start for the first time,” Cooke said. “(Lisa Leslie) was giving me the best pointers, defensively telling me what I need to improve on, telling me everything I need to know and it made me feel good because it shows that she’s watching me out there. She’s not just here watching the game, but she’s actually paying attention to what I’m doing and giving me real feedback for me personally so I appreciate that.”

Ten games into her rookie season, Cooke said constructive feedback is paramount to her development.

“I know I don’t have it figured out and I like to get information. I like to be a sponge to the game,” she said. “This system is very hard to adjust to so it’s easier for me when I have people around me that are going to tell me the right things to do.”

Sparks rookie guard Zia Cooke on her first career start in the WNBA and what Sparks legend Lisa Leslie told her after the game. #WNBA pic.twitter.com/BIZp9gnpCd

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) June 17, 2023

LINEUP ADJUSTMENT

Layshia Clarendon, who started six games at small forward this season, suffered a partial tear of the right plantar fascia in the June 9 victory over Chicago. Clarendon is currently in a walking boot and will be out for approximately 4-6 weeks.

In Claredon’s absence, the Sparks have turned to a starting frontcourt that includes 6-foot-6 Azurá Stevens at small forward, 6-2 Nneka Ogwumike at power forward and the 6-3 Hamby at center.

I’m breaking down the Los Angeles Sparks 77-72 loss at home to the Minnesota Lynx and Jordin Canada’s new career-high of 22 points but more importantly it’s time to assess the Sparks after 10 games into the season. What’s your take on the 5-5 LA Sparks? #WNBA #WNBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/qZmiqM1Gir

— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) June 17, 2023

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

What you should know about indicator plants in your garden

• June 17, 2023

Just the other day, at the base of the trunk of my neighbor’s eucalyptus tree, I spotted a laurel sumac (Malosma laurina) seedling that had only recently sprouted. I have frequently seen volunteer seedlings of Mexican fan palm, Shamel ash, mulberry, Brazilian pepper, and fig trees in my neighborhood, but never a laurel sumac. 

Such seedlings, known as volunteers, generally sprout from seeds that have been consumed and then passed through the gut of birds or other animals before being excreted. The stomach acid of these animals assists in dissolving some of a seed’s protective covering, known as the seed coat, creating an aperture wide enough to allow a radicle or baby root from the plant’s embryo to poke through, followed by the emergence of the first leaf, after the excreted seed has been hydrated as the result or rain or irrigation. It’s also possible, of course, that a volunteer seedling results when the wind blows a seed from a nearby tree into the garden.

Years ago, I learned that laurel sumac, a California native, is an indicator plant where avocado trees are concerned. In other words, wherever you see laurel sumac growing, you can plant avocado trees with confidence that they will thrive in that environment. Since laurel sumac is frost sensitive, you can assume that frost is not an issue where it grows, an important factor in deciding where to plant avocado trees, since they are frost sensitive, too. Early growers of orange trees in Southern California would also select sites for planting orange trees, which are also frost sensitive, based on laurel sumac’s presence. You can view laurel sumac growing all along Sepulveda Boulevard between Sherman Oaks and West Los Angeles.

Interestingly enough, laurel sumac, like avocado trees, grows especially well on slopes. There are two reasons for this. First, both plants require excellent soil drainage. Avocado trees are plagued by Phytophthora root rot where soil drainage is impaired which explains why large acreages of them, whether in Santa Paula or in Temecula and Fallbrook, are grown on steep slopes. Second, even in areas with occasional frosts, planting on slopes is still an option where frost-sensitive plants are concerned since frost, like water, rolls downhill and settles there.  After a frosty night, plants at the base of a slope may show cold damage while plants growing upon that same slope remain healthy. Even in a garden, following a freeze, plants in low spots may display frostbitten, blackened leaves while plants only a foot or two away, but at a slightly higher elevation, may be fine. 

Indicator plants serve a variety of purposes. Dandelions and spotted spurge (Euphorbia maculata) thrive in compacted soil so where you see them you know that soil improvement is necessary, while wild mustard grows in sandy soil and is an indicator of a good area for planting California natives. Clover (Trifolium repens) is a sign of a nitrogen deficient soil (or lawn) while two weed species – chickweed (Stellaria media) and lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium album) – indicate a soil that is nitrogen-rich.

Through trial and error, we can identify our own indicator plants as far as watering is concerned. Especially now that hot weather is just around the corner, we want to minimize irrigation frequency so that our plants acclimate to our soil as it becomes increasingly dry. The longer we can go without watering, the deeper the roots of our plants will grow. I have a variety of flowering annuals and perennials in a bed that receives half-day sun; slightly wilted petunias guide me as to when watering is necessary.  

When flowers on apple trees drop off it’s time to plant corn and we are rapidly approaching the deadline for planting it unless we are willing to accept unsightly gray smut fungus bulging out of our ripening ears. When jacarandas are in full bloom, as they are now, it is a sign that spring is ending and summer has arrived. all the more reason to make sure mulch is in place before the assault of sizzling heat.

“Tough Plants for Tough Places: Invincible Plants for Every Situation” (Firefly Books, 2023), by Sharon Amos, provides us with the security of knowing which plants we can rely upon to grow, regardless of sun or shade exposure, soil type, or climate conditions. One of my favorite plants is sea holly (Eryngium bourgatii) and I was delighted to learn that it thrives in extreme conditions of drought, high wind, and sun-baked soil. This species is a study in purple flowers, purple thorns, and purple stems, growing two feet tall and two feet wide. 

This book was my portal to the discovery of ivy leaf or hardy cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium), a tough ground cover suitable not only for dry shade and every type of soil, but for the coldest winters you can imagine, including those in North Dakota. Of Mediterranean origin, all cyclamen species are spring and summer dormant, with flowers and foliage appearing in late summer or fall. In the manner of the familiar cyclamen planted for winter color, hardy cyclamen’s soil must be kept dry during its dormancy period to protect its tubers from rotting. However, in the case of hardy cyclamen, if you can keep it alive you will be rewarded with new plants sprouting from its seeds.

Select from 12 hardy cyclamen varieties, including one with silver leaves, at plantdelights.com, an online nursery that delivers a cornucopia of uncommon plants to your door. Incidentally, cyclamen is derived from “kuklos,” the Greek word for circle and refers either to the shape of the plant’s tubers or to the earthward, circular movement of its flower stems once petals have wilted. Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) is another extremely tough species. It thrives in any well-drained soil and is unrivaled in the quantity of lavender blue flowers that it displays and in its status as an insect-attracting pollinator plant. Maintenance is easy; just cut it down to the ground when it finishes flowering in the fall.

California native of the week: Laurel sumac (Malosma laurina) is an evergreen that exhibits vigorous growth throughout the year. After a wildfire, it is the first plant to recover as it sends up new shoots from the remains of its woody base. Laurel sumac is a robust shrub that reaches a height and girth of 20 feet. It makes an outstanding informal hedge. New foliage is strikingly red in color before it turns dark green, but stems, leaf edges and leaf veins remain red. Laurel sumac is sometimes referred to as taco plant because its leaves curve upward from the center like taco shells. This tendency of its leaves to fold up is shared by sugar bush (Rhus ovata), a botanical cousin, and is a strategy employed to prevent water loss. Some people experience an allergic reaction to this plant. While not as notoriously dermatitic as poison oak – a California native in the same plant family – contact with laurel sumac may create a skin rash on some people. Laurel sumac foliage is famous for its fragrance, which has been likened to that of both citrus and apples.

Do you have any plants you use as indicators for performing garden tasks or evaluating soil conditions? If so, please let me know about them. Your questions, comments, and photos are always welcome and should be sent to [email protected].

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register