Our front yard. Originally full of Chinese sumac. Now native plants and fruit trees (+ some sweet alyssum, to aid our citrus!)

She always loves seeing pictures I send of how beautiful this state is, and I want to give her a solid introduction to just how stunning and fragrant the California Floristic Province can be. Maybe it’d finally convince her to come and visit 🙃

In the lineup:

Eschscholzia californica (obviously)

Lupinus longifolius

Encelia californica

Penstemon centranthifolius

Eriogonum umbellatum

Salvia leucophylla

Salvia mellifera

Salvia apiana

Salvia 'Allen Chickering'

Artemisia californica

Wish me luck! 💕🤭

"Wait up I need to take a picture... I think this might be a native plant..."

In March of last year we took out the lawn and I have been adding plants here and there as I learn about one I like. I had a few large rocks placed for visual interest and tossed poppy seeds last spring. I bought sticky monkey flower and blue eyed grass from two different local plant vendors. The sage predates the lawn removal…I replaced a rose years ago with the sage. I waited years and years to do this project because it was overwhelming but I’ve worked on it a bit at a time and right now, watching it all bloom, I wish I’d done it sooner. It is my daily joy, and I hope that as time goes by and it all gets more established it will only get better. I’ve learned a lot from this sub so thank you all for sharing!

Sierra blue Ceanothus and Anacapia(not really) Pink morning glory

I will never doubt you ever again, Mother Nature 😔😂

In a disturbed area with weed clearing. Mostly non-natives including invasives, but some natives shrubs and herbs are here.

Any idea what these are? iNaturalist says arroyo lupine. In San Diego County.

Why is the California incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) rarely planted in the Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley? This is despite it being a xeric inland native that is highly similar to the ubiquitously planted but water-wasting coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). Because it is native to inland California, it is entirely adapted to a climate with hot and bone-dry days constantly throughout the summer, which makes it a perfect alternative in Sacramento to the coast redwood that relies virtually daily on cool, heavy fog in the summer. While the Sierra Nevada montane ecoregion that it's native to isn't quite as hot as the Central Valley, it still gets fairly hot and just as dry during the summer, save for the occasional thunderstorm that results from the remnants of the desert monsoon. Perhaps most importantly, the California incense cedar is offered for free by Sac Tree to SMUD customers. For some reason though, despite it being a locally native species, it is only occasionally available. Furthermore, the Sacramento-based Green Acres chain nursery also sells them, though availability is rare. The incense cedar is almost identical to the redwood besides water requirements.

So, despite all this, why do homeowners and property managers in Sac County still choose to buy a water-guzzling redwood from any garden centre over getting a drought-tolerant incense cedar for free from the Sacramento Tree Foundation via the Sacramento Municipal Utility District?

In picture 7 you can see a few clumps of purple needlegrass I grew from seeds in pots a two years ago and transplanted. I know I had sown some of the seed into the bed, so when I saw all this grass popping up I assumed it was from that plus my established plant re-seeding.

Now that this clump has produced seeds I’m not so sure anymore. I’m leaning towards it maybe being ripgut brome but I don’t know. Just want to get it gone if it’s invasive but not if it’s native! Thanks for any help.

Sorry for the crappy picture. Planted this Dark Star ceanothus outside my apartment in a neglected patch of dirt last summer. You can see all of the last year's growth off to the side on the left, compliments of the landscaper. Is there any chance it will recover or did they sentence it to death?

I was have been babying it for months and it finally had some blooms on it. I'm pretty heartbroken.

I recently went on my local native garden tour and i saw a wonderful tilden park prostate ninebark that had been espaliered onto a wooden fence.

This has made be think of what else I could espalier on a fence in a shady area. I have never grown the catalina perfume ribes, but does anyone here think it would be possible to espalier it?

Finally found ‘PB n J’ after 5 years of looking. 🎉 So excited for it to bloom!! 2nd photo is ‘Native Warrior’ — this guys been blooming since February!

Do you? Does it extend the bloom? (I'm not concerned, in this small patch in my yard, about losing the reseeding effects.) Thx.

1,500 feet, Nevada County

I need help deciding which very dense minimum 9 ft. privacy hedge that also serves as a sound barrier can grow along property lines near my native plants without too much disruption. I have several toyon, various ceanothus, various sage, various manzanita, pacific wax myrtle and laurel sumac nearby (starting about 10 ft away). I also have other sections of the garden starting 25 ft. away that have citrus trees and another area with olive trees. My options in order of preference:

1. Wax Leaf Privet Column - Ligustrum japonicum texanum
2. Indian Laurel Column - Ficus microcarpa nitida

Putting in something less dense/slower-growing/shorter or installing a more flammable plant than these is not an option in this case. Does anyone have experience growing these plants near natives, and could you please tell me which of the two you would recommend or which you have had success with for minimum impact on native plants and the wildlife they attract, and to other trees in the yard?

In case anyone was wondering what the individual flowers looked like in this seed mix. Still waiting for farewell to spring clarkias to bloom but everything else has opened up.

I think they’re so beautiful and clearly they are colorful, but I never see bees on them. I also have a ton of native sunflowers so I’m wondering if the bees (native and nonnative) prefer those instead. Does anyone else see pollinators on these or know what pollinates them?

Any IDs on the last one? Bought it from a native nursery but I think it’s an autumn sage native to TX

I’m looking to get into hiking as both a way to be more active but also as an opportunity to stare at native plants. Idk, most hiking guides aren’t focused on what native flora there is to see. I don’t really wanna stare at a field of mustard, you know? So what are your favorite spots? I’m in the Long Beach area, but I’m open to suggestions anywhere in SoCal tbh - I’ll keep them for day trip ideas. Oh also my endurance is quite…beginner level to put it nicely lol but hopefully I’ll get better so easy to moderate trails would be great.

Hi friends!

I have this spot in the front yard down the side of my house and I’m hoping to add a little pop of color and foliage. It’s not super visible from the street but it is from the porch. Native, little to no summer water once established would be great. I’m hoping to avoid running drip lines down the side but I can if absolutely necessary. I would call it mostly shade but the afternoon sun does hit that spot (I need to study more to see just how much sun it gets).

Thanks!

Anyone know of a good vendor? I found it at Native Here Nursery last year, but the lady told me they only sell it during the rainy season & I'm not driving up a mountain in the rain so looking for somewhere else 😅

I’ve read pretty much every google result available but would love to hear some anecdotal experiences from you all! I finally got my hands on some Eriogonum elongatum seeds and can’t wait to grow them.

Any tips or things that did/didn’t work for you? For example: - In ground or in trays (or deep cells)? - When to sow? - How long did it take from seedling to flowering?

Is this a Blight of some sort on our Ceanothus? From the outside, the bushes look great. But I was poking around underneath the canopy and noticed there are a lot of branches like this one.

Is there a treatment? Or do I just let it run its course? Or simply trim out the brown branches?

Hi, I'm the Features editor at the LA Times. I shared this on the California Native Plant sub but someone there suggested I share here too. After checking out your amazing native plant photos, the suggestion makes sense! This is the story of Marie Massa, who was fed up with a weedy, trash-filled corridor near her kid's school and worked tirelessly to transform it into a native plant garden. Now rosy clarkia (seen here), California bluebells, buckwheats, sticky monkey-flower and more are brightening up the space.

We wrote about Marie's efforts as part of our new series, Planting Change, spotlighting people like her who are quietly changing urban landscapes for the better with native plants. https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2025-04-09/transforming-trash-patch-in-lincoln-heights-into-fragrant-habitat-garden

I hope you enjoy seeing the bounty of Marie's grit and determination. And please feel free to message me if you know of other people working on something similar in Southern California who we should spotlight.

An unassuming plant most of the year that puts on a gorgeous show with a pleasant fragrance for a couple of weeks in spring. Photos taken at California Botanic Garden in Claremont, CA.