Water Smart Plant Picker

Group of flowering perennials mostly native to North America. Two species are commonly grown in California gardens. Beach aster (E. glaucus, 12” x 2′) is native to coastal California and Oregon and has purple flowers with yellow centers from spring into summer. Santa Barbara daisy (E. karvinskianus, 10-18” x 2-3’) has white and pink flowers with yellow centers. This plant can self-sow aggressively but is easily pulled.

Examples: E. g. ‘Wayne Roderick’ has deep purple flowers. E. g. ‘White Lights’ is a white- flowering form from Sonoma County.

Diverse group of flowering, evergreen shrubs and perennials found throughout the western United States. Most available in nurseries are native to California and generally prefer drier sites. Flowers colors include yellow, white, and pink and are held above foliage in umbels that dry over time and are popular in flower arrangements. Buckwheats provide pollen and nectar for bees and butterflies, larval food for butterflies, seeds for birds, and cover for many creatures.

Examples:

• Santa Cruz Island buckwheat (E. arborescens, 3-4’ x 4-5’) densely mounded with white flowers.
• Saffron buckwheat (E. crocatum, 1-2’ x 2-3’) with chartreuse-yellow flowers and pale leaves.
• California buckwheat (E. fasciculatum, 2-3’ x 3’) and its low-growing cultivars such as E. f. ‘Warriner Lytle.’
• Catherine’s lace (E. giganteum, 4-8’ x 6-10’) with delicate, white flowers and soft pale leaves.
• Red-flowered buckwheat (E. grande var. Rubescens, 1-2’ x 2-3’) low-mounding perennial with rose-pink flowers, coastal bluff buckwheat (E. latifolium, up to 12” x 1-2’.)
• Sulfur buckwheat (E. umbellatum, 6-18” x 1-3’) with intense yellow flowers and cultivars E. u. var. aureum ‘Kannah Creek’ and E. u. Var. ‘Shasta Sulphur’.

The Common Wooly Sunflower is native to northern California up to British Columbia and east to Wyoming. Many cultivars are available. Generally, they grow less than 1 foot to 2 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide. They have upright stems with wooly leaves and a singular sunflower atop each stem. It tolerates a wide variety of well-draining soils. Cut back in late winter to renew.

Short-lived perennials with differing growth habits with flower spikes of small flowers. Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ is a popular hybrid that grows 3’ x 3-4’ and blooms from winter and into spring. Many hybrids with different flower colors are available.

The California state flower, the California poppy, is a persistent native wildflower. It is best to plant seeds in fall when the rain begins. Once established, the poppy will reseed and spread across your yard. It is great for bees, birds, butterflies, and other pollinators as well as being deer resistant. Poppies prefer well-drained soils but can tolerate most soils including clay.

Tough shrubs planted for foliage and often used as a screen or hedge. Evergreen euonymus (Euonymus japonicus) has lower water requirements than most other available species and grows 4-10’ x 6’. Plant in full sun with good air circulation to help prevent mildew.

Examples: Variegated examples include: E. j. ‘Aureo-Marginata’ and E. j. ‘Aureo-Variegatus’, E. j. ‘Silver King’, and E. j. ‘Silver Queen’. E. j. ‘Microphyllus’ grows 2’ x 2’ and has small boxwood-like leaves.

Large and variable group of several thousand plants that vary in both form and water requirements. Caution: Some euphorbias reseed readily, and all have milky white sap that is irritating to skin and poisonous.

Low-water examples: Mediterranean spurge (E. characias, 3-4’ x 3-4’) and E. c. spp. Wulfenii offer large clusters of flower bracts; creeping spurge (E. myrsinites, 6-12” x 12-18”); Martin euphorbia (E. x martinii & cvs, 2-3’ x 2-3’) offers a more compact shrub form than Mediterranean spurge with brown-centered chartreuse flowers.

Once established, the pineapple guava tree or shrub needs little to no irrigation. The plant grows slowly over the course of a few years and can reach 15-25 feet in height if allowed, though it may be kept to a size of 8×8 feet if pruned regularly. Heavy pruning in the early spring and late summer will ensure a desired shape.

The tree produces small, edible green fruit which naturally fall from the tree in late October-December. Its white and pink flowers bloom in spring or early summer to provide nectar for bees and birds, which ignore the fruit. Likewise, deer seem to be uninterested in this plant.

Large group of mostly cool-season, perennial, bunching or spreading grasses. Bunch grass varieties can be used as a no-mow lawn replacement, help to stabilize slopes, and have ornamental value. Festuca californica (California fescue, 1-2’ wide x 2’) prefers part shade and works wonderfully massed under the dry shade of native oaks. Festuca glauca (blue fescue, 1’ x 1’) is a small, clumping grass with bluish gray-green leaves. Festuca idahoenis (Idaho fescue, 1-2’ wide x 1’) also has bluish gray-green leaves and is more drought-tolerant and longer lived than blue fescue. Festuca rubra (red fescue) grows from rhizomes and has long, fine-textured leaves that lay over to form a pleasing drift effect as a no-mow lawn.

Fraxinus dipetala is a deciduous tree or large shrub. Clusters of lightly fragrant, white flowers in the spring season. Requires pruning to shape when the tree is still young. They are fast-growing up to 15-25 feet tall and 12-20 feet wide.

Fast-growing evergreen shrub with fuzzy, flannel-like leaves. Large golden yellow to orange blossoms that bloom in the spring. Best suited in full sun with well-drained soils.

Low-growing, flowering perennials with daisy-like flowers in yellows and reds. Gaillardia x grandiflora is a hybrid that grows 1-3’ x 18-24” and may need less water than other hybrids. Many different varieties provide variations in flower color and size.