Water Smart Plant Picker

Evergreen shrub that has insignificant flowers followed by berries that age from green to red and then black. Flowers are attractive to pollinators, especially bees, and berries provide a food source for birds. Cultivars commonly sold in nurseries have differing growth habits and are often smaller than the species which grows 5-15’ tall and wide.

Examples: F. c. ‘Eve Case’ (6-8’ x 6-8’), R. c. ‘Leatherleaf’ (5-6’ x 5-6’), R. c. ‘Mound San Bruno’ (6-8’ x 6-8’) with a dense, mounding growth habit.

Note: California coffeeberry was formerly classified as Rhamnus californica and is now classified as Frangula californica.

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.

F. californicum, native to central and southern California, and F. mexicanum, native to southern California and Baja California, are fast growing to 8-20 feet tall and 10-15 feet wide. F. decumbens, native to the foothills east of Sacramento, is 3-4 feet tall and 6-8 feet wide. F. ‘California Glory’ reaches 18-20 feet tall. F. ‘Ken Taylor’ reaches 4-5 feet tall and 6-8 feet wide.

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.

This fast-growing shrub is native to the Channel and Guadalupe islands of California and Mexico. It can grow to 3-4 feet tall and 4-5 feet wide and will bloom nearly yearround in good conditions. It prefers full sun and will produce more flowers if it is placed there, but will also thrive in part shade. ‘Firecracker’ is a compact selection. ‘Bocarosa’ has bright green leaves and masses of red flowers. Will grow well in a container. Cut back in late winter to renew. May be offered as Galvezia.

This unique shrub is native to dry coastal areas from Southern Oregon through California. Its catkins of gray-green flowers bloom winter or early spring. It can grow 12 feet tall and 6-10 feet wide, but may also be cut back to grow against a wall. It takes partial shade to cool sun and does well in most well-drained soils.

Group of flowering, evergreen shrubs, groundcovers 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’).

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.

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.

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. Best near the coast and in cooler summer climates. May be short lived.

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.

Hesperaloe parviflora (red yucca), succulent, 3-4 feet tall and 4-6 feet wide, with a rosette of stiff, narrow, grasslike leaves with no spines. Rose-pink, tubular flowers on 5- to 6-foot, arching stems in summer. Native to deserts of western Texas and northeastern Mexico. Sun to light shade, well-drained soils.