Southern California Native Garden Plants

The madrone has rich red bark and deep green leaves.

Southern California, with its dry, hot summers and cooler moist winters offers a wide choice of decorative native plants. Climates are variable since the land ranges from sea level to over 9,000 feet in elevation with ocean effects, inland desert conditions and natural lake areas. If you live in a dry summer climate, many Southern California native plants could be incorporated in your garden to offer beauty, drought tolerance and easy maintenance. Does this Spark an idea?

Coastal Area Native Plants

Look for plants that enjoy occasional humidity and mild temperatures, and that grow native to the coastal areas. These plants grow well with soils low in organic material, but with excellent drainage.

Grow trees like Lyonothamnus densiflorus (Catalina ironwood) for a handsome smaller-sized tree with delicate, feathery foliage.

Plant the Carpenteria californica (bush anemone) for big single white flowers on a deep green, medium sized shrub that can take garden soil or local soil.

Use the Heteromeles arbutifolia (Toyon) as a large shrub or small tree with glossy green foliage and sparking orange berries. There is even a variety with yellow berries.

Carpet the ground with the diminutive, light pink daisies of Erigeron glaucas (beach aster).

Plant the vining Aristolochia californica (California Dutchman’s pipe) for a fascinating, decorative twiner that flowers with big, bizarre, inflated flowers.
And add romance with the blue-blushed leaves and huge crepe-paper white flowers with wide yellow centers found in the Romneya coulteri (Matilija poppy).

Inland Area Native Plants

Use Southern California native plants from the more severe inland areas for extreme temperature ranges, hot summers and dry air.

Plant the Cercis occidentalis (Western redbud) for a handsome, medium-sized tree that will bloom a brilliant pink-purple on bare branches in the springtime making it blaze with color.

Choose the well behaved small-growing tree Arbutus menziesii (madrone) for a rich red-brown bark, deep green leaves and splashes of pink-tinged white panicles of drooping flowers.

Make a statement with the large shrub Fremontodendron (flannel bush) with its brilliant orange flowers that punctuate a soft, green foliage dusted with brown fuzz. Beware: some people can suffer a contact allergy to the foliage. This one is best protected from high winds due to having shallow roots.
Plant the spectacular blue-flowering Tricostema lanata (woolly blue curls) in areas where you have perfect drainage and no summer water. If it is happy, it will put on an amazingly colorful show in early spring.

Grow another Southern California native, Salvia clevelandii for a tough shrub with tiers of purple flowers. There are quite a few cultivars at different sizes and for different conditions.

Plant native Penstemons—P. eatonii and P. centranthifolia—for 2-foot tall spring-flowering plants that will pepper your garden in bright orange-reds.

And go for the hot pink flowering Opuntia basilaris (beavertail cactus) for a native cactus. Be careful: it may not show big spines but it IS razor sharp.

Mountain Native Plants

Choose Southern California mountain natives for dry gardening in conditions where winters often snow, summers are mild and there may be an occasional summer thunder storm.

Plant the tough growing Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa) for a medium-sized shrub that flowers in white but covers itself it big, pink, fluffy silk seed heads that are very ornamental.

Add yellow flowers and (edible) berries with bushes of Ribes auream (golden current).

Color the ground with the low growing, wine-red cup-shaped flowering plants of the Callirhoe involucrate (poppy mallow).
Or add patches of color to your garden with Southern California natives like Penstemon azureus in blue or P. palmeri or P. pseudospectabilis in pink. All these Penstemons bloom with stalks festooned in decorative, colorful bells.

Other Southern California Native Plant needs

There are many more Southern California native plants that can make a cultivated garden beautiful and low maintenance. Though most love full sun and are very drought tolerant, there are also plants that like shade and some that will require deep, moist soil if they have evolved near streams or lakes. Check into the wide range of wonderful Southern California native plants that might do well in the microclimate of your garden.

Resources

• Las Pilatas: California native plant specialists
• CalFlora: detailed information on growing California native plants
• Source for buying Southern California native plants