Water Smart Plant Picker
Water conservation is an essential consideration when designing and managing Sonoma and Marin County landscapes. Our area enjoys a Mediterranean climate characterized by wet winters and long, dry summers with little rainfall. Plants that are suited or adapted to local conditions not only use less water but generally grow more successfully and robustly, with fewer insect and disease problems. They ultimately create a healthier, more beautiful and more sustainable landscape.
Below is a hand selected plant list for Sonoma and Marin counties that displays mostly native species that will thrive in our climate. You can search, filter and save specific plants. A login (Facebook or Email) is required to save a plant list. No account is needed to copy and share links to individual plants.
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California Native
Baccharis pilularis & cvs Dwarf Coyote Brush Ground Cover, Shrub
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California Native
Bouteloua gracilis Blue Grama Grass Grass Perennial
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Callistemon spp & cvs Bottlebrush Shrub
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Carex spp Sedge Grass Perennial
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California Native
Ceanothus spp & cvs Ceanothus, California lilac, 'Ray Hartman' Ground Cover, Shrub, Tree
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Ceratostigma spp Plumbago Ground Cover, Shrub Perennial
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California Native
Cercis occidentalis Western Redbud Tree
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Chaenomeles spp Flowering Quince Shrub
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California Native
Chamaemelum nobile Chamomile Ground Cover
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California Native
Chilopsis linearis desert willow Tree
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Chitalpa tashkentensis Chitalpa Tree
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Chondropetalum tectorum Cape Reed, Cape Rush Perennial
Flowers are inconspicuous but provide a source of pollen, nectar, and seeds for wildlife. Shrubby varieties can be cut back to maintain a more tidy and compact appearance. Perennial varieties can be divided in fall or early spring. Excellent choice as support for more showy plants in the garden.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full Sun
- Soil: Most Soils
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green - Dark
- Flower Color: White
- Blooming Season (s): Fall
- Size: Medium
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseLandscape TemplatesSCLLL
North American native, warm-season bunchgrass with narrow, grayish green leaves. Ornamental flowers like small brushes form at right angles to slender stems during the summer and persist for many months. Blue grama is adapted to heat, drought, cold, and foot traffic. It does not thrive in shade or wet soils. Blue grama can be used in small clumps among other plants, in a mass as part of a meadow, or even as a lawn substitute. B. g. ‘Blonde Ambition’ is a popular and robust cultivar.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full Sun
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green
- Flower Color: Yellow
- Blooming Season (s): Summer
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Size: Small
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseLandscape TemplatesMMWDWater Smart Plants Cards
Popular Australian evergreen shrub or small tree attractive to hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees typically for bright red flowers that resemble a bottle brush. Flowering begins in spring and continues into fall. Bottlebrush will tolerate many garden conditions and exposures and is tolerant of dry conditions once established. Shrub varieties can be pruned to an informal hedge or be left to show their natural shape.
Examples: Lemon bottlebrush (C. citrinus, 6-12’ x 8-12’) is the most commonly grown species in California. Weeping bottlebrush (C. viminalis, 20’ x 15’) has pendulous branches. C. viminalis ‘Little John’ (3-5’ x 4-6’) is a low-growing, mounding form with deep red flowers that is popular as a foundation or accent plant.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green
- Flower Color: Red
- Blooming Season (s): SpringSummerFallWinter
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseSRJC ID
Large group of grass-like, clumping plants with low or moderate water needs that are native to many parts of the world and offer a variety of shapes, sizes, and foliage characteristics. Some sedges are ideal for use in rain gardens and swales, for stabilizing slopes, as a mass groundcover, or as part of a meadow planting. Two low-water examples that prefer some shade are Catlin sedge (C. texensis, 4-6” x 6-8”), a small, mat-like sedge native to central and southwestern North America, and Berkeley sedge (C. tumulicola, 1-2’ x 1-2’), a larger species native to western North America that tends to self-sow. Other species require more water and may be less suited to dry inland conditions. Some species can be invasive and difficult to control.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Most Soils
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Yellow
- Blooming Season (s): SpringSummer
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Size: SmallMedium
- Wildlife: Pollinator Habitat
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseLandscape TemplatesMMWDSonoma Super StarWater Smart Plants CardsSonoma RCD
Ceanothus spp & cvs
Ceanothus, California lilac, 'Ray Hartman'
Ground Cover, Shrub, Tree
OrganizationCeanothus is a group of fast-growing, evergreen shrubs that vary from groundcovers to small trees, many of which are native to California. They provide a spectacular display of flowers in spring that will attract a multitude of pollinators. Flowers are followed by seeds that provide food for birds. The clusters of tiny flowers range from white to deep violet. Plants perform best with good drainage and minimal irrigation once established. Some do best in cooler coastal climates, but many thrive in hotter inland climates. Pay close attention to the mature size when selecting ceanothus to ensure that it has sufficient space for its natural form.
Groundcovers: C. ‘Centennial’ (2’ x 8’), C. gloriosus var. gloriosus ‘Anchor Bay’ (2’ x 8’), C. griseus var. horizontalis ‘Diamond Heights’ (variegated, 1’ x 4’), C. griseus var. horizontalis ‘Yankee Point’ (3’ x 12’), C. maritimus (2’ x 6’).
Shrubs: C. ‘Blue Jeans’ (6’ x 6’), C. Concha (8’ x 8’), C. ‘Dark Star’ (6’ x 8’), C. ‘Joyce Coulter’ (4’ x 12’), C. ‘Julia Phelps’ (8’ x 10’), C. cuneatus (8’ x 8’), C. thyrsiflorus ‘Skylark’ (4’ x 6’).
Large shrubs: C. ‘Frosty Blue’ (10’ x 12’), C. thyrsiflorus (20’ x 20’), C. t. ‘Snow Flurry’ (white flower, 20’ x 20’).
Trees: C. ‘Ray Hartman’ (15′ x 15′)
- Water: Very LowLow
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: GreenGreen - Dark
- Flower Color: BlueWhite
- Blooming Season (s): SpringSummer
- Size: MediumLarge
- Wildlife: Pollinator Habitat
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseLandscape TemplatesMMWDSCLLLSonoma Super StarWater Smart Plants CardsSR Climate Forward TreeSonoma RCD
This small group of herbaceous, flowering perennials is valued for clusters of intense blue flowers in summer and fall. Two widely available low-water species are shrubby Burmese plumbago (C. griffithii, 2-4’ x 2-6’) and the popular groundcover, dwarf plumbago (C. plumbaginoides, 6-12”, spreading to 3-4’).
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: BronzeGreen
- Flower Color: Blue
- Blooming Season (s): SummerFall
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseLandscape Templates


Western redbud is an ornamental, multi-trunked and deciduous, large shrub or small tree with year-round interest that provides a California native and very low-water alternative to the moderate-water Cercis canadensis. Magenta to rosy pink blossoms that resemble pea flowers cover bare branches in late winter to early spring. Apple green, heart-shaped leaves emerge to accompany the flowers. Over the summer, the leaves become more leathery and bluish green, and seed pods mature and remain into the winter months.
- Water: Very Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Most Soils
- Foliage: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Flower Color: Violet
- Blooming Season (s): Spring
- Size: Small
- Wildlife: Pollinator Habitat
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseLandscape TemplatesMMWDSCLLLSonoma Super StarWater Smart Plants CardsSR Climate Forward TreeSonoma RCD
Early-flowering, deciduous shrubs that grow wider than they do tall. Stiff, spiny branches produce clusters of flowers that are often pale pink, red, or white. Fruit can be made into preserves. Check with local nurseries for cultivars with different forms and flowers, some of which are nearly thornless.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Sandy
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green
- Flower Color: OrangeRed
- Blooming Season (s): Spring
- Fruit Color: GreenYellow
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden Sense
Spreading perennial with soft-textured leaves that can be used as a groundcover, along pathways, or between flagstones. Flowers vary by variety from daisy-like to small, yellow buttons. C. n. ‘Flore Pleno’ has white double flowers and C. n. ‘Treneague’ is a non-flowering variety.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green
- Flower Color: GreenYellow
- Blooming Season (s): SpringSummer
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseCalscapeCalflora
Chilopsis linearis is a deciduous shrub or small tree. Noted for fragrant, showy flowers in the spring and summer seasons. They are often multitrunked and fast-growing getting up to 15-30 feet tall and 10-20 feet wide. Holds foliage with occasional summer irrigation.
- Water: Very LowLow
- Light: Full Sun
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Gray GreenGreen
- Flower Color: PinkPurpleWhite
- Blooming Season (s): SummerWinter
- Size: Small
- Wildlife: Bird Habitat
- Function: Foliage
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseSR Climate Forward Tree
Fast-growing, medium-sized, deciduous tree with clusters of showy trumpet-shaped flowers from late spring to fall. Chitalpa is a sterile hybrid between Catalpa bignonioides, common catalpa, and Chilopsis linearis, desert willow. It combines the larger flowers of the former and the drought-tolerance of the latter. Since the flowers are sterile, they do not form seed pods or fruit. There are two popular cultivars, ‘Pink Dawn’ with lavender-pink flowers and ‘Morning Cloud’ with white flowers.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full Sun
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: GreenWhite
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseMMWDSRJC IDSR Climate Forward Tree
Clumping perennial with stiff, upright, jointed stems that contrast well with other plants. Tan-colored bracts form at the stem joints in summer and fall, providing a striking display. Two species from South Africa grow well in California gardens, especially in rain gardens and swales since they will tolerate both standing water and dry conditions, once established. C. elephantinum (4-5’ x 4-10’) is the larger of the two, C. tectorum (3-4’ x 3-5’) is more suitable for smaller spaces.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Herbaceous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Flower Color: Yellow
- Blooming Season (s): SpringSummerFallWinter
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden Sense