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.
-
Gaillardia spp Blanket Flower Perennial
-
Grevillea spp Grevillea Ground Cover, Shrub Perennial
-
California Native
Grindelia spp Gumplant Ground Cover Perennial
-
Helianthemum nummularium Sunrose Shrub
-
Helictotrichon sermpervirens Blue Oat Grass Grass Perennial
-
Helloborus spp Hellebore Perennial
-
California Native
Heteromeles arbutifolia Toyon Shrub
-
California Native
Iris douglasiana & cvs Douglas Iris, Pacific Coast Hybrids Perennial
-
California Native
Juncus patens California Grey Rush Perennial
-
Kniphofia spp Red Hot Poker, Torch Lily Perennial
-
Lagerstroemia indica Crape Myrtle Tree
-
Lantana spp & cvs Lantana Ground Cover, Shrub



Low-growing, flowering perennials and annuals with daisy-like flowers in yellows and reds. Gaillardia x grandiflora is a hybrid that grows 2-4’ x 18-24” and may need less water than other hybrids. Many different varieties provide variations in flower color and size.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full Sun
- Soil: Sandy
- Foliage: Herbaceous
- Leaf Color: Gray Green
- Flower Color: OrangeRedYellow
- Blooming Season (s): SummerFall
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden Sense
Group of flowering, evergreen shrubs and trees from Australia with many variations in growth habit and leaf shape. Red is the most common flower color, although some species flower in other colors.
Examples: G. ‘Canberra Gem’ (8-10’ x 10-12’) with needle-like leaves, G. ‘Noellii’ (3-4’ x 4-5’) also with needle-like leaves, woolly grevillea (G. lanigera, 3-6’ x 6-10’), the more prostrate C.I. ‘Coastal Gem’ (18” x 4-5’) and G. l. ‘Jade Mound’ (2’ x 4-5’), lavender grevillea (G. lavandulacea (2-5’ x 6-8’), and rosemary grevillea (G. rosmarinifolia, 6’ x 6’).
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Most Soils
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green
- Flower Color: CreamPinkRed
- Blooming Season (s): Spring
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Size: SmallMedium
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseMMWD
Group of herbaceous perennials in the sunflower family that are native to the Americas. Grindelia stricta is native to the west coast of America, including California, with yellow daisy-like flowers in the dry summer months. Spreading gum plant (G. s. var. platyphylla) is a low-growing groundcover form that can reach 6-10’ across. Suitable for meadow plantings.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green
- Flower Color: RedYellow
- Blooming Season (s): SpringSummerFall
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden Sense
Low-growing, evergreen, flowering shrub with soft green or gray-green leaves that spreads to about 3’. Flowers in spring to early summer. Many named cultivars provide flower colors that include red, orange, yellow, white, pink, and peach.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Most Soils
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: GrayGray GreenGreen
- Flower Color: OrangeRedYellowWhite
- Blooming Season (s): Spring
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseLandscape Templates
Mediterranean, cool-season bunchgrass that grows 2-3’ with blue-gray leaves and graceful wheat-colored stems of flower clusters in the spring. Pull out dead leaves rather than shearing.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Blue GreenSilver
- Blooming Season (s): SpringSummerFallWinter
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden Sense
Shade-loving perennials with attractive foliage that flower in winter and spring and may self-sow.
Examples: Corsican hellebore (H. argutifolius, 2-3’ x 2-3’), bear’s-foot hellebore (H. foetidus, 30” x 30”), H. lividus (18” x 3’), Lenten rose (H. orientalis, variable size), and hybrids.
- Water: Low
- Light: Partial ShadeShade
- Soil: Most Soils
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green - Dark
- Flower Color: GreenPinkWhite
- Blooming Season (s): SpringWinter
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Size: MediumLarge
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseMMWDSonoma Super Star
California native, evergreen shrub or small tree often seen growing in Sonoma and Marin county wildlands. Lacy, white flower clusters in spring attract pollinators; red berries in winter provide a splash of color and an important food source for birds. The name “Hollywood” was born from the abundance of toyon in the hills of southern California and its resemblance to European holly. The cultivar ‘Davis Gold’ has yellow berries and may be more disease-resistant than the species.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green - Dark
- Flower Color: White
- Blooming Season (s): SpringSummerFall
- Fruit Color: Red
- Size: MediumLarge
- Wildlife: Pollinator Habitat
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseLandscape TemplatesMMWDSCLLLSonoma Super StarWater Smart Plants CardsSonoma RCD
Iris are a large and diverse group of perennials that grow from either bulbs or rhizomes. The California native Douglas iris and cultivars known as Pacific Coast Hybrids are an excellent choice for summer-dry gardens and understory plantings. Fall rain brings new growth in the form of thin, upright leaves, followed in late winter to early spring by the first blossoms. Douglas iris commonly ranges in color from lavender to purple, but cultivars are available in a range of colors including white and yellow. Established plantings can be lifted and divided after the first significant fall rain and either replanted or put into containers to share with others.
- Water: Low
- Light: Partial ShadeShade
- Soil: Most Soils
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green - Dark
- Flower Color: LavenderPurpleVioletYellow
- Blooming Season (s): Spring
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseLandscape TemplatesMMWDSCLLLWater Smart Plants Cards
California gray rush is a go-to species for the summer-dry rain garden. It will thrive in moist conditions and its roots will help stabilize soil and filter stormwater runoff. It is also tolerant of extended periods of drought. Clumps of stiff, upright foliage provide an interesting contrast among other perennials. ‘Elk Blue’ is a widely available selection from Mendocino County. Its bluish gray foliage is shorter than the typical gray rush.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Herbaceous
- Leaf Color: Gray Green
- Blooming Season (s): SpringWinter
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseLandscape TemplatesMMWDSCLLLWater Smart Plants Cards
Mostly South African perennials with strap-like leaves and a clumping growth habit that are characterized by striking displays of brightly colored flower clusters on long, bare stems resembling red hot pokers. The majority of plants offered are cultivars of different sizes and various flower colors, including yellows and oranges. Sizes range from about 1-4’ tall.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: Green
- Flower Color: OrangeRedYellow
- Blooming Season (s): SpringSummerFall
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseMMWD
Crape myrtle has become a ubiquitous street tree due to its attractive bark, fall color, and flowers all helping to provide year-round interest, as well as being of manageable size and tending not to lift sidewalks with its roots. The most commonly available crape myrtles are Lagerstroemia indica and many hybrids and their shrub forms, which may be less prone to mildew than the species. Flowers occur in late summer in white, pinks, and reddish purple. Crape myrtles are naturally multi-trunked, and plants grown as standards with a single trunk have a tendency to grow suckers that should be removed.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full Sun
- Soil: Most Soils
- Foliage: Deciduous
- Leaf Color: Green
- Flower Color: BlueLavenderPinkPurple
- Blooming Season (s): SummerFallWinter
- Size: SmallMedium
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseLandscape TemplatesSonoma Super StarWater Smart Plants CardsSR Climate Forward Tree
Evergreen shrubs and perennials for hot, sunny locations available in both upright and groundcover forms that flower from spring to fall with colors including purple, yellow, red, and pink. Two species, Lantana camara (4-6’ x 6-8’) and L. montevidenis (12-18” x 5-10’), are widely available along with many hybrids and cultivars offering a variety of colors and sizes.
- Water: Low
- Light: Full SunPartial Shade
- Soil: Well Drained
- Foliage: Evergreen
- Leaf Color: GreenGreen - Dark
- Flower Color: GoldPinkPurpleYellow
- Size: SmallMedium
- Featured On A Local List? : Garden SenseLandscape TemplatesWater Smart Plants Cards