Common name:Strawberry Madrone
Botanical name:Arbutus 'Marina'

The 'Marina' has gorgeous bark, with leaves that are smaller and not as glossy as Pacific Madrone. Its flowers are pink, borne in pendant clusters in the summer. The fruit is large, red and quite ornamental. The plant should be grown in sun to part shade, with little or no summer watering when established. The 'Marina' prefers good drainage.

Common name:Deer Grass
Botanical name:Muhlenbergia rigens

The Deer Grass is a warm season perennial that forms dense clumps from the base. The spike-like flower stalks grow 2'-3' tall and this grass has striking foundation form. The Deer Grass is native to California, is drought tolerant, and is a beneficial insect plant.

Common name:Santa Barbara Daisy, Mexican Daisy
Botanical name:Erigeron karvinskianus

This low mounding perennial, with fine leaves and white to pinkish, daisy-like flowers, is an excellent asset to rock gardens.

Common name:Red Flowering Currant
Botanical name:Ribes sanguineum

This upright, multibranched deciduous shrub has medium green, maple shaped leaves. The rose-red flowers appear in clusters in mid winter offering winter color for the garden, and food for hummingbirds. This shrub can tolerate some shade on the coast, and needs shade in warm inland areas. It makes a wonderful backdrop in a woodland garden, foundation shrub, or an informal hedge.

Common name:Desert Marigold
Botanical name:Baileya multiradiata

Desert Marigold is a fast growing annual or biennial, forming clumps of soft woolly gray leaves. It has bright, yellow daisy-like flowers that appear spring through fall. Flowers will rot with too much water, as this plant is heat and drought tolerant. Flowers top at 12". Deadheading will prolong bloom; this plant makes great cut flowers. This plant will reseed itself but needs good drainage. It needs full sun but is very cold hardy.

Common name:Swiss Mountain Pine
Botanical name:Pinus mugo

Pinus mugo is an evergreen tree or shrub that grows slowly. Needles are 2" long, dark green, stout, and crowded. Cones are 1"-2" long, oval, and tawny to dark brown. It is generally a bushy, twisted, somewhat open pine. Pines are highly combustible plants.

Common name:Spanish Lavender
Botanical name:Lavandula stoechas

This dense shrub grows 2'-3' tall with blue gray foliage and deep purple flowers that have large showy bracts near the top of the spikes. It is drought tolerant .

Common name:Nodding Pincushion
Botanical name:Leucospermum cordifolium

This shrub will grow 4-6' high and as wide and produces beautiful coral blooms. It will do best in moderately moist soil and full sun.

Managing Your Soil

Healthy soil is the cornerstone of a vibrant landscape. It provides oxygen and nutrients vital to plant growth and sustenance. It provides protection from the sun and stability for root systems.

Click in the green box for more information