Common name:Kangaroo Paws, Red
Botanical name:Anigozanthos hybrids

This tender perennial is a clump-forming evergreen that produces fuzzy, yellow green flowers that bloom in spring and last for over 2 months. Many sizes and varieties are available including yellow and pink flowers.

Common name:Spoon-Yucca
Botanical name:Dasylirion wheeleri

Spoon-Yucca requires little maintenance, as it tolerates drought, reflected heat and poor soils. It develops a short, thick trunk while reaching 6' tall and wide. Leaves are linear gray-green to 3' long and armed. During late spring and summer, erect stems of white creamy flowers are visible. It is a long lived shrub and slow-growing. It needs a well-drained site; it is cold and drought hardy.

Common name:Blue Fescue
Botanical name:Festuca glauca

This ground cover/grass will grow less than 1' tall and has small, blue green leaves.

Maintenance Tips

Festuca glauca is a perennial clump-forming grass. It has soft straw-like leaves that form a blue-green dome that can get up to about 10 inches wide and tall. They prefer full sun and well-drained soil, but can tolerate slight shade, drought conditions, and poor soil nutrition. These will send out flower stalks in the summer, which should be cut back to the base after a few months to give them a cleaner appearance. They will also benefit from having any dead leaves pulled from the plant at any time of year, but the fall is typically the best time to clean up the foliage. It is short-lived in the landscape, with a lifespan of about 2-4 years after which it dies out in the center. Some might dig up and divide the living edges into several new plants, but most of the time it is easier to replace with a new one.

Common name:Golden Toothed Aloe
Botanical name:Aloe X nobilis

This succulent perennial will only grow 1' tall and 1' wide. It has large, sharp, dark green leaves and clusters of red-orange flowers that bloom in summer.

Common name:Red Star Autumn Sage
Botanical name:Salvia greggii 'Red Star'

This shrub will grow 1'-4' tall and 1'-4' wide. It has glossy green leaves with red flowers that bloom from fall to spring.

Common name:Western Redbud
Botanical name:Cercis occidentalis

This deciduous shrub or small tree ranges from 6'-10' tall and wide. It is desirable for its magenta spring flowers, yellow to red fall color, and dangling winter seed pods. It is tolerant of many soil types, drought and oak root fungus. It attracts hummingbirds and butterflies. The Western Redbud can be found statewide in CA in the foothills below 4500' elevations in chaparral and woodland communities.

Maintenance Tips

Cercis occidentalis is a very popular California native deciduous tree. The natural form of this plant is that of a multi-branching shrub; however, it is often shaped to be a single trunk so it can be used in many garden spaces. The best way to keep the maintenance low with this tree is to plant it in a sunny location that has well-drained soil and give it the room it needs to reach its mature size. It is fairly pest and disease-resistant and performs very well as a specimen tree in native gardens. The pruning recommendations will depend on the shape of the specimen. If the tree has the multi-trunk, shrub form, the mature height can be 6-10' tall and wide and will naturally grow into a round, compact form. These forms benefit greatly from the thinning method, removing cross-branching or the longer branches to manage the plant's size. The cuts should be made towards the center of the plant, allowing sunlight into the interior. The single trunk form should be pruned the same way, but it will mature much larger and eventually should be pruned by a licensed arborist. Both forms will lose their leaves in the winter, so this is usually the easiest time to prune since the foliage is out of the way.

Common name:Mealy Cup Blue Sage
Botanical name:Salvia farinacea

This low growing perennial reach 1-1/2' x 1-1/2'. Bright green leaves are lighter underneath. Spiked blue-purple flowers bloom from late spring to fall. Attracts hummingbirds.