A dramatic plant with striking, pale blue-green, aromatic foliage and tall spires of white flowers. Very adaptable as long as the drainage and air circulation is good. Cut back in winter. Excellent pollinator plant; deer proof. Full sun, low water, 4 x 4 feet or more when mature.

White Sage is a strikingly beautiful shrub with very aromatic leaves, and flowers that, though small, are profuse and loved by the bees. It’s a plant native to the much drier, hotter chaparral of Southern California. 

Tarweed is in full bloom from late summer through fall, providing pollen and nectar when little else is available for bees and beneficial insects. A great choice with asters, goldenrod and grasses; heavy bloomer, reseeds readily. Usually 4 to 6 ft. tall, full sun, very low water needs.

This species of Gilia is unique to California and very easy to grow. Each plant yields hundreds of half-inch flowers on upright stems surrounded by soft, lacy foliage. Gilia is very attractive to bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. Spring blooms, low water, 18” tall, reseeds.

The state flower of California, every garden should have this cheerful annual. California poppies like fast draining soil and plenty of sunshine but are very hardy and will tolerate poor soil conditions as well. Put out seed once winter rains start. Will reseed easily. 12” high, spring-summer blooming.

The blooms of this native clarkia range from white, pale pink, salmon, and bright pink to magenta. Flowers in full sun or partial shade. Clarkia grows in sandy, well-drained soils, but also thrives in clay soil. Spring blooms, 1-3’ tall, drought tolerant, moderate water for best flowering display.

A beautiful Western perennial, perfect for the border or in a meadow blended with bunchgrasses, poppies, clarkia and flowering bulbs. Summer blooming, flowers open over a long time; full sun, low water, 12-18” tall, needs good drainage, deer ignore it.

Growing Blue Flax from Seed

Blue Flax is ordinarily seen growing wild in meadows and grassy fields, and in these conditions it is a small plant, usually no more than a few linear stalks with a cluster of flower buds that open daily. In a controlled garden situation the plant becomes much more substantial, with multiple stalks emerging from an enlarging clump.

The seeds are a medium size, so they can be tamped down into a starter mix and very lightly covered with a sprinkling of vermiculite or perlite.  I sow the seeds in a 4” pot, outside in a protected situation, either in late summer or in early spring. The seeds germinate within two weeks, and then need another two or three months to develop into a sturdy seedling ready to transplant to a garden bed, or a container. 

Hummingbird Sages set their large flowers on spires that are easily accessible to the hummingbirds. This Salvia is endemic to California with a  natural range that begins at San Bruno Mountain and extends south to Orange County. In its natural habitat, it colonizes somewhat shady areas (unusual for California Salvias) and soils rich with humus.  

Coffeeberry is one of California’s most common shrubs, found growing naturally in various woodland, riparian and chaparral communities. It is very adaptable; growing tall and rangy in the shade of Bay or Oak trees, or growing in a much more compact form in full sun or on exposed bluffs along the coast. Plants grown from seed display various traits in accordance with their habitat; larger and greener leaves in shadier situations; smaller, gray-green leaves in full sun. Young stems are an attractive ruby color.

In the garden Coffeeberry can be planted in full to part sun; it accepts average garden water, as long as the drainage is good. It is also possible to plant Coffeeberry during the rainy season and let it establish without regular water; it will just grow more slowly. Plants can be kept to size with careful pruning; healthy established plants can be cut to the ground and allowed to crown sprout.  Deer will browse the foliage, so it is best to protect young plants until they become established.

Small yellowish-green flowers held in tight clusters appear in late spring and attract many beneficial insects and butterflies. Pale Swallowtail, and Gray Hairstreak butterflies use Coffeeberry as a host plant for their larvae. Fruits ripen to a blue-black in late fall; many birds and small mammals relish the berries.  

Toyon is another of California’s common shrubs that grows naturally in a multitude of environments; it is at home in the chaparral and woodlands throughout the state, and into the mountains of Baja California. In the wild plants display a great deal of variability in leaf size and shape, color and size of the berries, and growth habit. In my hillside oak woodlands I discovered a Toyon that has grown to a 30 foot tree with a trunk about 6 to 7 inches in diameter!

Leaves of Heteromeles arbutifolia are medium green and leathery with serrated margins. Clusters of small white flowers appear in early summer and attract multitudes of butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects. A bounty of berries start to form in summer, ripening late in fall, and staying on the plant through much of winter.  The berries are relished by lots of birds; attracting residents like mockingbirds and house finches, and migratory songbirds like robins, and cedar waxwings. The native peoples also harvested the berries, but only after several months of ripening; using them to prepare drinks, meals and medicines. Toyon is the only native plant that continues to be commonly known by its native American name.

In the garden Toyon can be planted in average soil with good drainage with full sun and given average water. It can also be planted in the light shade of established oaks, and does fine without extra water once established. Toyon needs to be protected from the deer to become established.

 

 

Deer Grass is one of the most impressive of the native bunchgrasses. Established plants are large, and sometimes flowering stalks reach well over five feet. It is dramatic as a specimen and stunning when planted in a large drift. Be sure to give plants enough space  between them to allow for the graceful spread of the foliage. Deer Grass is easy and carefree, and also useful for erosion control on slopes.

This bunchgrass needs full sun and little water; but will adapt to regular water in a mixed border planting. Flowering stalks appear in late summer. Use deer grass with large leaved shrubs, such as Saint Catherine’s Lace or Silk Tassel Bush for maximum contrast. I also like to plant something small and flowery, like Bidens at the edges of this big grass.

Native grasses provide lots of seed in the fall for birds and nesting materials in the spring.  All year long insects find cover within the dense foliage. This plant is totally deer proof; they do not eat grasses, but do find cover, and a place to rest in amongst large drifts of Deer Grass.