Drought tolerant plants for the Los Angeles Basin.
In the 1500's
California went through an 80 year drought. During the winter there
were blizzards in Central California, the Salinas river froze solid
where it flowed into the Monterey Bay. During the summer there was no
humidity, no rain, and temperatures in the hundreds for many
months. During one year in the 1840's there was no measurable rain in
Santa Barbara. (The highest measured rainfall in an hour also was in
Southern California, 11 inches in an hour) The same native
plants that lived through that are still on
the hillsides of California. California native plants that do not
normally live in the creeks and ponds are very drought
tolerant.
The best way to find your plant is to check
www.mynativeplants.com and do not water at all. But if you want a
simple list of drought tolerant plants that can work for your garden
here are some.
|
Plant Description |
|
Genus |
Species |
Variety |
Cultivar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Achillea |
millefolium |
californica |
||
|
|
Adenostoma |
sparsifolium |
|||
|
|
Agoseris |
grandiflora |
|||
|
|
Allium |
crispum |
|||
|
|
Anaphalis |
margaritacea |
|||
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
glauca |
|||
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
glauca |
Dwaine's Dwarf |
||
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
pungens |
|||
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
manzanita_x_densiflora |
Austin Griffiths Manzanita |
||
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
pringlei |
drupacea |
Idyllwild Manzanita |
|
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
densiflora |
Sentinel Manzanita |
||
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
manzanita |
Dr. Hurd Manzanita Tree |
||
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
densiflora |
Harmony Manzanita |
||
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
Sonoma Manzanita Bush |
|||
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
glandulosa |
howellii |
||
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
Baby Bear Manzanita Bush |
|||
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
stanfordiana |
stanfordiana |
Zin Manzanita |
|
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
Mama Bear Manzanita |
|||
|
|
Arctostaphylos |
pilosula |
pilosula |
Atascadero Manzanita |
|
|
|
Artemisia |
californica |
|||
|
|
Artemisia |
californica |
Canyon Gray |
Canyon Grey |
|
|
|
Asclepias |
eriocarpa |
|||
|
|
Asclepias |
speciosa |
|||
|
|
Asclepias |
fascicularis |
|||
|
|
Baccharis |
pilularis |
consanguinea |
||
|
|
Baeria |
chrysostoma |
|||
|
|
Bloomeria |
crocea |
aurea |
||
|
|
Bothriochloa |
barbinodis |
|||
|
|
Brodiaea |
pulchella |
|||
|
|
Calochortus |
species |
|||
|
|
Calochortus |
weedii |
|||
|
|
Ceanothus |
crassifolius |
|||
|
|
Ceanothus |
cuneatus |
|||
|
|
Ceanothus |
purpureus |
|||
|
|
Ceanothus |
megacarpusX |
Tranquil Margarita |
||
|
|
Ceanothus |
Remote Blue Ceanothus |
|||
|
|
Ceanothus |
Concha |
|||
|
|
Ceanothus |
Tassajara Blue Ceanothus |
|||
|
|
Cercocarpus |
alnifolius |
|||
|
|
Cercocarpus |
betuloides |
|||
|
|
Chlorogalum |
pomeridianum |
|||
|
|
Corethrogyne |
filaginifolia |
Silver carpet |
||
|
|
Cupressus |
nevadensis |
|||
|
|
Cupressus |
macnabiana |
|||
|
|
Cupressus |
forbesii |
|||
|
|
Cupressus |
goveniana |
ssp. goveniana |
||
|
|
Dendromecon |
rigida |
|||
|
|
Deschampsia |
elongata |
|||
|
|
Diplacus |
fasciculatus |
|||
|
|
Dodecatheon |
clevelandii |
|||
|
|
Dodecatheon |
clevelandii |
insulare |
||
|
|
Dudleya |
edulis |
|||
|
|
Dudleya |
cymosa |
|||
|
|
Emmenanthe |
penduliflora |
|||
|
|
Ephedra |
californica |
|||
|
|
Ephedra |
virides |
|||
|
|
Eriodictyon |
tomentosum |
|||
|
|
Eriodictyon |
crassifolium |
|||
|
|
Eriogonum |
fasciculatum |
foliolosum |
||
|
|
Eriogonum |
arborescens |
|||
|
|
Eriogonum |
cinereum |
|||
|
|
Eriogonum |
heermanii |
|||
|
|
Eschscholzia |
caespitosa |
|||
|
|
Eschscholzia |
californica |
maritima |
||
|
|
Eschscholzia |
californica |
peninsularis |
||
|
|
Eschscholzia |
californica |
crocea |
||
|
|
Fallugia |
paradoxa |
|||
|
|
Gilia |
tricolor |
|||
|
|
Gnaphalium |
californicum |
|||
|
|
Haplopappus |
squarrosus |
|||
|
|
Iva |
hayesiana |
|||
|
|
Keckiella |
cordifolia |
|||
|
|
Lasthenia |
glabrata |
|||
|
|
Lonicera |
interrupta |
|||
|
|
Lotus |
purshianus |
|||
|
|
Lotus |
scoparius |
|||
|
|
Lupinus |
truncatus |
|||
|
|
Lupinus |
albifrons |
|||
|
|
Lupinus |
ludovicianus |
|||
|
|
Lupinus |
succulentus |
|||
|
|
Lupinus |
nanus |
|||
|
|
Lupinus |
latifolius |
|||
|
|
Malacothamnus |
marrubioides |
|||
|
|
Malacothamnus |
niveus |
|||
|
|
Malacothamnus |
gracilis |
|||
|
|
Malacothamnus |
clementinus |
|||
|
|
Monardella |
villosa |
|||
|
|
Nemophila |
menziesii |
|||
|
|
Oenothera |
californica |
|||
|
|
Orthocarpus |
densiflorus |
|||
|
|
Oryzopsis |
hymenoides |
|||
|
|
Paeonia |
californica |
|||
|
|
Penstemon |
palmeri |
|||
|
|
Penstemon |
spectabilis |
|||
|
|
Penstemon |
heterophyllus |
heterophyllus |
||
|
|
Penstemon |
parishii |
|||
|
|
Penstemon |
speciosus |
|||
|
|
Pickeringia |
montana |
|||
|
|
Pinus |
sabiniana |
|||
|
|
Pinus |
edulis |
|||
|
|
Pinus |
quadrifolia |
|||
|
|
Pinus |
monophylla |
|||
|
|
Platystemon |
californicus |
|||
|
|
Prunus |
ilicifolia |
|||
|
|
Quercus |
acutidens x |
|||
|
|
Rhus |
trilobata |
|||
|
|
Rhus |
ovata |
|||
|
|
Ribes |
indecorum |
|||
|
|
Ribes |
speciosum |
|||
|
|
Ribes |
californicum |
|||
|
|
Salvia |
brandegei |
|||
|
|
Salvia |
leucophylla |
|||
|
|
Salvia |
mellifera |
|||
|
|
Salvia |
spathacea |
Powerline Pink |
||
|
|
Senecio |
douglasii |
|||
|
|
Solanum |
umbelliferum |
incanum |
||
|
|
Sphaeralcea |
ambigua |
|||
|
|
Stipa |
speciosa |
|||
|
|
Stipa |
coronata |
|||
|
|
Stipa |
lepida |
|||
|
|
Stipa |
pulchra |
|||
|
|
Trichostema |
lanatum |
|||
|
|
Trichostema |
parishii |
|||
|
|
Viola |
pedunculata |
|||
|
|
Yucca |
whipplei |
percusa |
||
|
|
Zigadenus |
fremontii |
