Water Smart Plant Picker

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.

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.

Soap plant has delicate white flowers which only open in the late afternoon through the night. In the morning, the flowers close again. It is a drought-resistant perennial that needs almost no care once established. It grows to 4-6 feet tall. After flowering, it is drought-deciduous. Native to most non-desert areas of California, soap plant enjoys bluffs, grasslands, and woodlands. It grows well in sun to light shade and most soils.

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.

Mediterranean evergreen flowering shrubs that perform well in California gardens with plenty of sun. Good choice for stabilizing slopes and banks. Flowers appear mid-spring into early summer. Many varieties are low, mounding groundcovers while others are more upright.

Examples: C. ladanifer (crimson spot rockrose, 3-5’ x 3-5’) has white flowers with dark crimson spots. C. x hybridus ‘Mickie’ (white rockrose, 1.5-2’ x 2’) has unique variegated foliage with cherry red stems and white flowers. C. x purpureus (orchid rockrose, 4’ x 4’) flowers are reddish purple with maroon blotches. C. salvifolius (sageleaf rockrose, 2’ x 6’) has white flowers and sage-like leaves. C. x skanbergii (2-4’ x 3-4’) bears pale pink flowers. C. ‘Sunset’ (2’ x 3-5’) flowers in magenta pink and has fuzzy gray-green leaves.

The deciduous pipestem clematis is native to dry foothills of California and Baja California and is one of the few flowering vines that requires little-to-no supplemental water. Pipestem clematis produces an abundance of 1-inch, creamy white flowers in spring that develop into attractive, fluffy seed heads. Allow to grow through shrubs or trees or train on a pergola, archway, or fence.

Jasmine is an easy to care for shrub that was an exquisite sweet fragrance. These can reach to as much as 40 feet and spread as much as 15 feet. The fragrant white to pale pink flowers blossom from early summer to autumn.

Large group of annual and perennial plants that produce a vivid display of yellow-to-orange flowers in full sun to part shade. Many cultivars are available from local nurseries. C. lanceolata (lanceleaf tickseed), C. rosea (pink tickseed), and C. verticillata (threadleaf coreopsis) have lower water needs than other species and are likely to be more successful in hot, dry areas.

South Australian evergreen, small-to-medium-sized shrubs with delicate, tubular flowers that vary from white to green and yellow to red. Typical flower time is fall through spring, providing a nectar source when many California native plants are just coming out of dormancy. All require good drainage.

Examples: C. alba (4-8’ x 4-8’) blooms with white, star-shaped flowers. C. ‘Dusky Bells’ (2-3’ x 6-8’) is a mounding shrub with deep red flowers. C. ‘Ivory Bells’ (3-4’ x 4-6’) has white flowers. C. pulchella (2-3’ x 4-8’) is a variable species with several popular cultivars. C. reflexa (1-8’ x 3-9’) ranges from prostrate to upright. C. ‘Wynn’s Wonder’ (2-3’ x 3-5’) has variegated foliage and rosy pink flowers.

Slow growing and long-lived deciduous shrub with rounded oval and coarsely toothed, green leaves. Can live in well drained sandy, sandy loam, and gravel and cannot tolerate clay soils. Producing small, hard-shelled nuts in late winter.

Popular large, accent shrub or small tree with attractive rounded leaves and unique flowers that resemble puffs of smoke. Available in both green and purple-leaved varieties and grown as a natural multi-trunk or as a standard.

Examples: C. c. ‘Golden Spirit’ (15’ x 15’) produces golden-yellow foliage. C. c. ‘Purpureus’ (15-25’ x 15-25’) has purple leaves that gradually become greener. C. c. ‘Royal Purple’ (12-15’ x 12-15’) has dark purple foliage and purple flowers.

South African succulent with fleshy foliage that varies from round and flat to cylindrical, and produces flower stalks above the foliage with bell-shaped flowers. Cotyledon orbiculata has rounded leaves and forms a large clump (2-3’) over time. C. o. var. oblonga has elongated cylindrical foliage.