 |
|
 |
|
|
|
| California native plants that grow in full shade | |
|
Yarrow grows only few inches tall. It has soft lacy foliage. Flower stalks are a few feet tall and terminate in large white flower clusters. It makes an excellent groundcover for part shade. It tolerates sea side conditions.
Bush anemone is an evergreen shrub native to the foothills in Fresno county. It is popular for its shiny dark green foliage and large white flowers. It grows unhappily on 15 inches of rain fall in nearly full sun. It really prefers a little moisture and some shade to be health and happy
In the demonstration garden we have a Sierra Sticky monkey flower under a coast live oak in nearly full shade. It will flower more in part shade than in full shade. This monkey flower was watered 3 times when we planted it 5 years ago. Now it thrives on rain alone ( ~15 in).
Southern Monkey flower likes part or full shade. This monkey flower fries in full sun here. This plant was watered three times when we planted it two years ago.
California Flannel Bush is an evergreen shrub that can reach 10 ft high. It is drought tolerant and cold tolerant. It prefers well drained soil.
Christmas berry or Toyon is a large dense evergreen shrub. Toyon grows 6 to 8 ft tall and 4to 5 ft wide. It is covered with red berries around Christmas. The birds love this shrub. They use it for cover and eat the berries. It will grow in part shade or full sun.
Siskiyou alum root has bright green foliage and cream colored flowers. It is very cold tolerant.
This hearty alum root tolerates -10 deg F. It grows to 3 ft tall and has tall reddish flowers. It likes part shade
Yellow Bush snapdragon is an evergreen shrub with glossy dark green foliage. It reaches around 6 ft tall. It has arching branches that end in showy yellow flowers. It is very drought tolerant as it is native in the chaparral of southern California. It likes part shade or full sun.
Keckiella cordifolius, Climbing Penstemon This is also called heart leafed Penstemon. The foliage is a dark shiny green and heart shaped. The branches are arching and terminating in multiple orangish-red Penstemon-like flowers. This isn't a vine but it will hold on to neighboring shrubs when the branches get to long to support their own weight. In part shade it will get around 6 to 8 ft tall. It is very drought tolerant. Hummingbirds like it.
This is our most delicate Pitcher sage. New stems are dark brown showing of large faint purple flowers.
California Honeysuckle is a showy pink honeysuckle. It is popular with hummingbirds. It is very drought tolerant and does well in part sun.
Twin berry is a deciduous shrub with orange flowers that emerge in pairs. Later fat black berries take their place. Birds like the berries. It usually reaches about 6 ft tall and about 3 to 4 ft wide. It is more sprawling with more shade. It will grow in full sun on the immediate coast and likes more shade the farther inland it is planted. It is drought tolerant.
This Oregon grape makes a great ground cover. It reaches only about a foot tall. It is happiest in part shade, sandy soil, and some moisture.
It isn't much of a bush but it is bigger and bushier than the other Monardellas. It is also very popular with the butterflies. It likes a little moisture and part sun.
Holly leaf cherry reaches about 15 ft high. It will grow in part shade or full sun. It is very drought tolerant. The berries are edible. It is a good bird plant. This is a choke cherry native to the islands. It likes part shade of full sun. Young trees are not cold tolerant. It produces large black berries that are mostly seed with little meat on them.
Wild mock orange has lots of white flowers that smell like orange blossoms. It can survive in dry conditions but it prefers part shade and a little moisture. It grows any where from 3 ft to 6ft tall. Generally it is shorter in full sun.
Western Spiraea is a 4 to 5 ft tall deciduous shrub with long arching branches. It has attractive foliage that turns red and orange in the fall. It likes moist areas in part or full sun.
|
Spice Bush is a rounded shrub that reaches about 4 ft high and 4ft wide. It has large shiny leaves and is deciduous. The flowers are red and smell like red wine. It is deciduous in the winter. The attractive seed pods dry on the plant and hang around through the winter.
Western redbud is a small deciduous tree. It has a nice upright form. It is popular for its showy, burgundy flowers that emerge in spring before the leaves. The leaves are glossy and heart shaped.
Sierra monkey flower does well in the part shade of a Persimmon tree. (We have a thing for fruit trees, and as this is also our front yard, natives and non-native fruit trees live together). You can mix these in your garden as well, just be careful. Make sure similar plants are together. Don't mix riparian plants with central oak woodland, etc. And definitely don't water under mature oaks! You will kill them.
Adelaide Monkey flower in the demonstration garden is growing in an area with morning sun in the shade of Cercocarpus alnifolius. It has never been watered.
We've lost more Fremontias to under watering than to over watering in sandy soils that they prefer. (In clay soils plant them on a rock mound.) This plant is 12 years or more old, next to a green house that gets watered every other day. A Pinus sabiniana and Apple tree provide it with a lot of shade. This 'dwarf' form has branches that commonly arch up and then lay over. If in part shade and regular water they can get quit large, in mother nature or a nasty sunny, dry site this flannel bush can be very low, if they don't die.
We planted 4 barely rooted plants a year ago, then watered them 2 to 3 times and forgot about them. The ones in the shade died and the ones in part shad (not much just enough to take the heat off) are 6 ft. across and 3 ft. tall.
Idyllwild Rock Flower likes moist areas. It does well in part shade. It is very cold tolerant as it is native at high elevations.
Island alum root has large palmate leaves and tall creamy flower stalks. It likes part or full shade. It seems pretty drought tolerant if it has a lot of mulch.
This Alum Root is very floriferous. The flowers are cream colored and denser than H. maxima not as cold tolerant as the Siskiyou alum root but more tolerant than the Island alum root.
Douglas iris is a delicate native iris with deep purple flowers. It is very drought tolerant in the shade. It likes a little mulch. It does well in part or full shade.
This delicate little bush Penstemon has light purple flowers with dark purple stripes. It has shiny, gray foliage and arching gray stems. This bush Penstemon is happy in part shade.
This bush Penstemon is similar to climbing bush Penstemon but it is a bit neater. It makes a nice open shrub about 3 ft tall. The foliage is shiny and dark green.
California pitcher sage has fuzzy fragrant leaves and large very light purple flowers. It is happiest in part shade. It grows wild in the chaparral of central California. It tolerates heat and drought.
Orange honeysuckle is native in forested areas in shade. However we have it growing in the interior heat in part shade near a water source. So, it is fairly versatile. The flowers are large for a native honeysuckle. They are also a brilliant orange.
Wallace's Pitcher sage has fuzzy foliage and purple flowers. It is very floriferous even in shade. It doesn't like dense shade. It is drought tolerant.
Chaparral honeysuckle is very drought tolerant. It has pretty little yellow flowers, purplish stems, and clasping gray green leaves. It does well in part shade. This is a very showy shrub. It is prickly but just don't plant it near a walk way. It has gray holy-like leaves. In spring it is covered in yellow flowers that are popular with insects. Later red berries take their place and are quickly scarfed up by California thrashers, western blue birds and hermit thrush. Even if we haven't seen bluebirds all spring as soon as these berries ripen, they are there. It grows about 6ft tall and 6-8 ft wide. This Mahonia was native in many of the now populated areas of southern California, such as the LA basin and San Diego area.
Butterfly mint is a fragrant little perennial with purple flowers. The flowers are a big hit with butterflies. Butterfly mint likes part shade or full sun.
This delicate Choke cherry has large white flower clusters. It has soft foliage and an open erect form. In spring and summer it provides dense cover for birds. Here is a Wilson's warbler taking a rest. In summer, the red berries are popular with birds. It can reach 30 ft high but usually is smaller. Elderberry is a small tree with fragrant yellow flowers and bluish black berries. The berries are used to make wine and cobbler. It makes an excellent little shade tree. It will tolerate hot and dry conditions such as that of our arid chaparral. It will also grow in part shade. This is a very popular tree with birds.
|
