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Photos of My Favorite California Native Plants

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In honor of California Native Plant Week I thought I’d share with you some photos of my favorite California native plants, all of which just so happen to be in my backyard.

Photos of California Native Plants in a home landscape. Toyon, Chitalpa, Arctostaphylos, Ceanothus, Zauschneria, Erigeron

Last week I posted some photos of the overall landscape in place in our yard since we switched to a drought tolerant garden using mostly native plants to our area 10 years ago. Today, I thought I’d share with you some of the individual plants. We live in what is known as the Coastal Sage Scrub region.

Here are some of the plants that can be found in that environment.

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New leaf growth on a Sunset Manzanita (Arctostaphylos). This variety is a small shrub, but they can vary from 1 foot to 10 feet.
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Manzanita (Arctostaphylos) in bloom. The manzanitas in my yard bloom in white, pale pink and a dark pinker.
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Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa) in bloom. This plant is a large bush with feathery almost grass like branches that blow in the wind.
Photos of California Native Plants in a home landscape. Toyon, Chitalpa, Arctostaphylos, Ceanothus, Zauschneria, Erigeron, Salvia, Fallugia Paradoxa
Those delicate white flowers on the Apache plume turn into plumes. The wind will blow the seeds to propagate more plants (like a dandelion).
Incorporate native plants into your landscape for a beautiful drought tolerant garden. #xeriscaping #nativeplantsClick To Tweet
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A bee enjoying the lilacs (Ceanothus). California lilac blossoms are tiny compared ot midwestern lilacs and the smell is not quite as pungent.
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A darker colored lilac bloom. In the summer the plant drops its blooms and many of its leaves and goes dormant in order to survive the dry heat of our summers.
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Wayne Roderick Daisy (Erigeron glaucus) also called Seaside Daisy. The plants are only about a foot tall and like it a bit cooler than my inland summer temps, so I keep them in the shade next to the neighbors lawn so they get supplemental water.
California native plants are as varied as the state's climate. #xeriscaping #californianativeplantsClick To Tweet
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Chitalpa (Chitalpa X Chitalpa tashkentensis) is a small tree (10-15 feet) with big pink blossoms.
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Zaushneria is not nicknamed hummingbird fuchsia for nothing! The hummingbirds love them.
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Toyon or Christmas berry (Heteromeles arbutifolia). I have two and they are HUGE bushes (8+ feet tall).
Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon or Christmas Berry
In the winter the white flowers on the Toyon turn into these bright red berries, much to the delight of the native bird population.
bee flying in salvia
Salvia (sage) are a favorite of the bees. And, yes, you can use the leaves for cooking too.

As I said in my post about converting to California native garden “You don’t have to limit yourself to rocks and cacti to have a drought tolerant garden.”

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    • And they should be different because our climates are so different. But here in California we got ourselves in trouble because we try to have a green lawn in summer when we don’t get any rain.

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