This is the May 'walk through a California garden'.

There are just too many native flowers, but I've tried to include enough so you can get a feel for a native garden. Maybe you can find the plant that flowers on your hillside in April or May, or maybe incite a native bacchanalia into your boring hillside garden.

These plants grow on the sunny, warm, south- facing in the (wild, native or garden) slopes or exposed flat areas.

We have Salvias (Sages) (Look also at the A Fragrant Garden)

Salvia brandegei, Island Black Sage, grows and flowers along a very hot, sunny path. The 10 year old plants are are enjoyed by Butterflies, chipmunks, and hummingbirds. It's native to the channel islands of California.

Salvia dorrii, Bud Sage; I can't even remember when we planted it, maybe 15 years ago, in the desert area of the garden. The plants are very slow, but they reward you every May with wonderful flowers.

Salvia leucophylla, Purple Sage, is big and fast. This one is 10 years old and very happy. It was watered once when first planted. Let's see, wildlife of all kinds on this plant, bumble bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, and tons of small birds.

Salvia 'Pozo Blue'; the three plants that survived in containers when the temperature dropped below 0 degrees in 1990 have become a patch 10 ft. wide. During drought years this sage still flowers and looks good in early summer and withers in our long 115 deg. drought days. (It takes about 30 days of real heat to shut the plant down for the summer). In the garden it's used by hummingbirds, butterflies, more butteries, and small birds.

Salvia 'Dara's Choice' is probably a hybrid of Salvia mellifera, S. sonomensis, and others. Planted three years ago, it has survived but is only 2 ft. wide. We've had to occasionally water it to keep this sage alive. Not a super happy plant in our garden. This sage prefers a coastal garden setting where it will explode to 4 or 6 feet across.

Penstemons in a native garden

Penstemon heterophyllus heterophyllus, Foothill Penstemon, is native in our area(along with much of California) and needs little or no care. This plant is @10-12 years old in our garden. Plant on a wall or boulder so it can be used by hummingbirds.

Penstemon parishii, a hybrid of Penstemon spectabilis and Penstemon centranthifolius, pops up here and there in the natural range that these penstemons overlap. Customers love them but the plants are like garden perennials and live only 1-3 seasons. The form can closely resemble Penstemon spectabilis or other years, a plant more like Penstemon centranthifolius, with velvet pink, tubular flowers, can appear in the garden. Hummingbirds KILL for this plant.

Penstemon spectabilis,
Showy Penstemon, is big and carefree and loved by hummingbirds. Plant at the back of a perennial garden.

Penstemon azureus, Azure Penstemon,native in the mountains of northern California, wants near- garden conditions here. The northern California forms are more stable here than the Sierra forms, but in their element the Sierra forms make flat mats of color. We just planted this form along the parking lot's steps into the garden this spring.

Penstemon centranthifolius, Scarlet Bugler, is native on the site. This one came up on its own in the garden 5-10 years ago, and is growing happily with no care. If you have a patch of Scarlet Bugler, you'll have a hummingbird.

Penstemon laetus; this Sierra form is tall. Many of the Sierra forms look dirty because the resin that is on the stems attracts dirt. We try to grow the forms with the least resin. This one was in a pot for years. (Big seller) I felt bad for it and planted it out a couple of years ago. It went, HUH?, I'm free, free, and then took off. It was watered 2-3 times.

Penstemon rattanii, our original plant, froze in the 1980's. (It's kind of funny that us 'Southern or Central California' people experience colder winters than many of the Northern California locations.) The new plants are doing fine, peeping out from under a giant oak log, with 2 waterings.

Keckiella antirrhinoides, Yellow Bush Penstemon, was planted originally in the sun. After 20 years it is in the shade of a coast live oak that has doubled in size. Although the plant is leaning away from the oak, it has grown well in the garden with no irrigation.

Keckiella cordifolia, Climbing Bush Penstemon, is native on the east, west and north slopes, and has benefited from the removal of weedy grasses and yellow star thistle (compliments of California Department of Forestry, they planted it for us, we got to remove same) in its vicinity. A favorite of hummingbirds.

Eriogonums (Buckwheats)

Eriogonum umbellatum var. chlorothamnus, Bush Sulfur Buckwheat, has proved to be easy if you water occasionally. This one was planted by a 1994 gardening class.

Eriogonum umbellatum var. polyanthum, Shasta Sulfur Buckwheat, has been ignored for years. It was planted under an Arctostaphylos glauca that drowned in the rains of the early 1990's. I'm not sure we ever watered it. It was in full sun by itself for a while, then Chilopsis linearis seeded in where the A. glauca drowned. Now the area has morning shade. I'd guess the plant was 15 years old when this picture was taken. (You think you have a strange garden, we have weird natives popping up in our garden!)

Some very neat native garden shrubs

Eriodictyon californicum, Yerba Santa, was planted in the garden in the early 1980's. It is still here, moving around, dying down here, popping up there. Butterflies like.

Lupinus arboreus, Bush Lupine, has been growing along the edge of the container stock for a year. The mother plant grew there for 10 years. The frosts of December, 1998, (8,9, and 8 degrees F. for three nights in a row) beat the plant up, so I removed it, and its progeny was back the next year. In the wild you usually find Bush Lupines in dry beach sand. This one is in heavy, non-draining clay and getting watered every day in the summer. Go figure. Wildlife like lupines. Quail and other wildlife prefer the seed, hummingbirds like the flowers.

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus repens, Creeping Mountain Lilac, is a wonderful ground cover between two greenhouses, and under a Liberty apple tree. These plants receive water for one hour every third day.

Dendromecon harfordii, Island Bush Poppy, is not super hardy here. This one is a double flowered type that dies to the ground every few years. It does not receive any irrigation.

Dendromecon rigida, Bush Poppy, is native on the site, and was planted in the garden over ten years ago in a sunny spot with Ceanothus and Buckwheat plants adjacent to it and a large coast live oak on its north side. It has grown very well with no supplemental water.

Arctostaphylos pajaroensis, 'Paradise' Manzanita, is a large, plum- red bush this time of the year. The 'Sunset' manzanita is a smaller bush with some of the same coloration. Both are 15 years old and require no care or water. Hummingbirds nest in and live on manzanitas. A tree knocked the porch roof onto some of the 'Sunsets', we now know that they slowly die after a few years if they're under shingles for a couple of months. So be careful and treat the shingles in the garden.

Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls, are native on the site. We enjoy 5-10 acres of them. There were more present before CDF seeded weeds from the sky after a fire in 1985,(ALL research shows seeding causes more fires and erosion, duh!) but we've actively protected them from weeds. In the garden we have several spots where they are growing well without benefit of care, some with boulder much and some with oak leaf mulch. Another hummingbird plant for your native garden.

And oodles of sunny garden type native perennial plants in bloom

Oenothera californica, Evening Primrose, another plant that doesn't have a clue where it is. I've seen it all over the interior of California in dry areas and it's growing like a weed in constant moisture, 10 ft. away from the container stock in heavy clay here in the nursery.

Eriogonum umbellatum var. umbellatum, Sulfur Buckwheat, has been growing in the front garden for 20 years. The bed it is growing in receives 1-2 supplemental besprinklings during the dry season (May- November) if we remember and have time. The snowberry next to it keeps trying to bury it, but so far so good.

Asclepias speciosa, Showy Milkweed, is growing on the edge of the area where we sit and make cuttings. It receives no water and the one plant that we started with many years ago has grown to a patch 8 ft. by 5 ft. The flowers smell like a tropical drink, and the butterflies are all over it during this time of year.

Antirrhinum multiflorum, Multiflowered Snapdragon, is native on the site in decomposed granite and full sun, comes up in the garden occasionally, and is short-lived, but very showy and a hummingbird favorite. We do not water it. As a pioneer species after brush fires, it would probably do very well in gardens around the world.

Grindelia camporum, Gumplant, is a weedy- looking perennial that is favored by small wasps, flies and little bees. Our plant has grown to 2 ft. across and survives with no water and no mulch.

Eriophyllum confertiflorum, Golden Yarrow, is native on the site and planted throughout the garden. The plants are ignored unless they get ratty, then we trim their heads off and they grow new ones. They have declined in garden areas that become shady and/or contain oak leaf mulch.

Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei, and Penstemon incertus seem to be happy together in the hottest spot in the nursery. This planting is about 15 years old, (the plants have lived longer than the fence)with no care, no water and rock mulch.

Eschscholzia peninsularis, California Poppy . It's really funny; plant a pound of seed and get one or two plants (the quail show up and eat all the seeds) and plant 3 plants and get hundreds of new plants the next year. They have reseeded in open mineral soils and areas mulched with coast live oak leaf mulch. The poppies don't care, they like the garden.

Diplacus longiflorus 'Conejo', Monkeyflower, is a vigorous brute. 'Conejo' is three years old, in morning shade, and in a section of the garden that is never watered. The plant is 3 ft high and 3 ft. across, and covered with flowers. Hummingbirds come by about every hour. This monkeyflower grows around the Thousand Oaks area.

Opuntia basilaris var. basilaris, Prickly-Pear, was planted in the garden 12 years ago in full sun. Now it's in part shade but still doing well, declining in wet, cold years and perking up in dry, warm years.

The Flannel Bushes are usually in flower in May. This one is one of the smaller ones called 'Ken Taylor'

Viguiera deltoidea var. parishii has been occupying the pole position in the desert garden area for 15 or more years. No care, no water, just flowers in the garden. Butterflies(Checkerspots) work the flower, and small birds love the seed.

Gnaphalium californicum, California Everlasting, is native on the site and has moved into the garden in mineral soil and in light oak leaf mulch. We have not taken any care with these plants, and they are thriving. They are favorites of the American Painted Lady butterfly!

Cirsium occidentale var. venustum, Venus Thistle, is native on the site and we planted it within the garden five years ago, and only watered the tiny plants a couple of times. Now it emerges here and there as it finds a sunny, bare spot. Hummingbirds, Monarchs, Swallowtails, California Dogfaces, visit the flowers, and the lesser goldfinches eat the seeds. This thistle, though not a very attractive plant, really brings the garden alive in the summer.

Trichostema parishii, is a diminutive Woolly Blue Curl native to inner San Diego County in locations much like ours. In the garden it has grown from a little 3 inch plant to 3 ft in 8 months. We watered it twice, the second time because we chickened out. (The plants had shrunk to 2 inches.) We hope it possesses the genetic constitution to survive our cold, wet winters, and our garden abuse.

Carpenteria californica with California Poppy and Penstemon in the background.

Phacelia imbricata is a weird plant. This delicate perennial was planted under our Digger Pines in light shade to attract bumblebees, and the plants have done very well, even seeding into new garden areas that were planted originally with gray pines.

Penstemon 'Margarita BOP' and California Poppies.

Verbena lasiostachys, Verbena, is a common plant in our garden. It's native everywhere on the site in full sun, part-shade, no water or regular water.