Drought Tolerant Plants for a Oxnard or Ventura area native garden.

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Drought tolerant plants for a Ventura or Oxnard Garden.

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 Ventura or Oxnard garden garden here are a few of the hundreds you can choose from..

This Yarrow was out in one of the driveways in full sun. - grid24_12

Achillea millefolium californica Yarrow

Arctostaphylos glandulosa adamsii Laguna Manzanita flowers. - grid24_12

Manzanitas of Southern California

Asclepias fascicularis, Narrow-leaf milkweed with Swallowtail butterfly - grid24_12

Milkweeds can jazz up a native garden.

An old unwatered groundcover of Baccharis pilularis pilularis, Pigeon Point - grid24_12

Pigeon Point Dwarf Coyote bush can make the appearance of a lawn with no irrigation system.

Ceanothus Concha has many colors, shades, and tones. Some years the plants are more reddish purple, some years bright blue, some years larger flowers, some years more smaller flowers. Always beautiful. - grid24_12

Ceanothus, California lilac is a show stopper.

This Monkey flower is about 25 years old and was found along Topanga Canyon Rd in west Los Angeles. - grid24_12

Monkey flowers for California gardens
Hummingbirds will love your flowers, and so will you.

Cliff Buckwheat in coastal sage scrub south of Los Osos. Often you can find a trail a few miles from your home full of native plants. - grid24_12

Pictures and descriptions of California buckwheats

Christmas berry or Toyon with berries is what Hollywood was named after. Toyon will grow in most of Los Angeles with no water after first year. - grid24_12

Heteromeles arbutifolia Toyon or as it's sometimes called, Christmas Berry, or Hollywood.

Eriophyllum confertiflorum, GoldenYarrow

Grindelia stricta venulosa, this Gum Plant makes a small ground cover on coastal bluffs. - grid24_12

Grindelia stricta venulosa Coastal Groundcover Gum Plant
is a great plant to mix with Baccharis Pigeon Point and Penstemon Margarita BOP t ...

Climbing Penstemon, Heart leaved Keckiella, or Heartleaf Keckiella, Keckiella cordifolia is hanging over our driveway and is native from about Santa Margarita south to San Diego. This Native Penstemon was all over the north and east slopes of Los Angeles and parts of Southern California. A great addition to a native garden. - grid24_12

Keckiella cordifolia, Climbing Penstemon

Lepechinia fragrans, Island Pitcher Sage grows on the island and from Ventura, through Los Angeles into the San Gabriel Mountains. - grid24_12

Lepechinia fragrans, Wallace's Pitcher Plant
An evergreen perennial shrub like Lepechinia calycina but flower is pink and leaves a little fuzzier.

The Pale Swallowtail butterfly loves Monardella villosa, Coyote Mint. - grid24_12

Monardella villosa Coyote Mint is a two-foot-high perennial with gray-green leaves and light purple clusters of flowers in summer. This Monardella is native to the California coast ranges. This coyote mint likes part ...

Muhlenbergia rigens, Deer Grass, is shown here with flowering stalks on the edge of a garden path. This native grass has all sorts of uses. - grid24_12

Muhlenbergia rigens Deer Grass is a 3 foot perennial with 2 foot plumes rising above the plant. It looks like a small pampas grass but without the bad leaf cuts and the aggressive seeding.

Our Penstemon 'Margarita BOP' with a swallowtail butterfly - grid24_12

Penstemons for California gardens
California Penstemons that grow in DRY areas. These Penstemons will grow in California without much water.

Ribes specosum, Fuchsia flowered Gooseberry, in flower with Anna Hummingbird up in left corner - grid24_12

Ribes speciosum Fuchsia-Flowering Gooseberry
Fuchsia flowering or fuchsia flowering gooseberry is a four foot nearly evergreen shrub with red fuchsia-like flowers in Jan.-May.

Rhamnus californica Tranquil Margarita Tranquil Coffeeberry - grid24_12

Rhamnus californica Tranquil Margarita Coffeeberry was selected from a stand in the Lompoc area and is gorgeous.

A young Anna Hummingbird on Salvia Alpine, Cleveland Sage. Cleveland Sage is drought resistant and can look good with 7-8 inches of rainfall. Your native garden needs very little water in a drought to look and smell good. Tolerant of much abuse. - grid24_12

Sages, Salvias, photos, videos and descriptions of the plants native to California.

Yerba Buena, Satureja douglasii is a beautiful flat green ground cover that smells good and some use as tea. - grid24_12

Satureja douglasii Yerba Buena is a creeping flat perennial that can spread to 3' but is easily held to 1'.

Sisyrinchium bellum, Blue-Eyed Grass flowers are lavender blue. - grid24_12

Sisyrinchium bellum Blue-Eyed Grass is a 1 foot tall perennial with 1 inch blue flowers in Jan.-June. It has small, iris-like leaves. It is widely distributed in California on open, grassy slopes.

Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue Curls

Venegasia carpesioides, Canyon Sunflower can be found on the north slopes and peaks of the Santa Monica Mountains and throughout greater Los Angeles. - grid24_12

Venegasia carpesioides, Canyon Sunflower grows on north slopes among rocks.

California fuchsia works well in California gardens from San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and into Fresno. - grid24_12

California Fuchsia, Zauschneria or Epilobium
is loved by hummingbirds, butterflies and people.