You know what it’s like when it gets too hot. Your face turns red, your hair goes limp, and you just shut down, saving energy and waiting for something cool and wet to bring you back to life.
That’s how many plants native to Southern California respond to summer heat. They have evolved to grow and thrive in the cooler wet months, blooming their hearts out in the spring and then retreating and withering in the heat, bidding their time for the high heat to subside and the (recently mythical) winter rains to start.
But some garden-worthy natives bloom in the summer or look great whatever the season, so when you’re planning your new low-water garden, here are a few fast-growing natives to consider, as recommended by Tim Becker, Theodore’s horticultural director Payne Foundation, and Evan Meyer, the foundation’s executive director.
trees
1. Palo Verde Desert Museum (Cercidium ‘Desert Museum’) is a thornless hybrid of the palo verde tree covered with bright yellow flowers in spring (and early summer with irrigation). Still, it looks beautiful even without flowers with its smooth, pale green trunk and leaves.
2. Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) is a small tree deciduous in winter, meaning it loses all its leaves in winter. Still, it has showy, deep-throated flowers, beloved by hummingbirds once it grows in late spring and summer browses. One particularly striking variety is the burgundy desert willow (Chilopsis linearis ‘Burgundy’) with deep red-fuchsia flowers.
shrubs
In summer, buckwheat and salvias reign supreme, with little water (once established) while providing pollinators enough to keep them busy buzzing happily in your yard. Some great shrubs that can handle the summer will include:
3. California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), with its salmon-pink-tinged clouds of flowers, springs through summer. It is a favorite with pollinators and a must for any SoCal habitat garden.
4. Santa Cruz Island buckwheat (Eriogonum arborescens) is studded with darker pink racemes of flowers that dry to a pretty rust color in fall.
5. Red-flowered buckwheat (Eriogonum grande var. rubescens) has a mounding growth of dark green leaves that bloom from spring to fall with raspberry-colored flowers on long thin stems.
6. Conejo buckwheat (Eriogonum scrotum) has silvery-green foliage and “burn your eyes” yellow flowers that bloom in spring and summer.
7. Cleveland Sage (Salvia leylandii) is hard to beat for fragrance and drama, with puffs of bright purple flowers that turn into sculptural seed pods in late summer and fall.
8. White sage (Salvia apiana) blooms in spring to early summer with tall arching white flowers, then shines in the garden the rest of the year with its silvery leaves, a lovely contrast to deeper green shrubs.
9. Pigeon Point coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis ssp. pilularis ‘Pigeon Point’) is a neat cultivar of the more unruly but highly pollinator-friendly coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) found in the wilderness of Oregon, California, and Baja California. Pigeon Point has bright green foliage, a beautiful upright habit, and creamy flowers that bloom from summer to winter. It looks particularly beautiful, interspersed with silvery plants such as white sage.
10. Manzanita John Dourley (Arctostaphylos ‘John Dourley’) is a low-growing shrub growing to 2 feet tall the manzanita’s distinctive mahogany branches, blue-green leaves and bronze-colored new growth that makes the plant attractive over a wall or sofa cladding, even if it does not flower in winter (December-March).
11. Coulter’s Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri) is best known for its huge, extraordinary flowers with white crepe petals and a bright yolk-colored center, making them look like giant fried eggs. (Hence the nickname, “fried eggplant.”) These shrubs can grow at least 6 feet tall and twice as wide, with serrated, gray-green stems and leaves. They can spread aggressively, so consider them for gradients or backgrounds that need some drama. Becker says the plants are easier to control if you don’t cut them; otherwise, the regrowth will seem to double the size of the plant and become unmanageable, but one or two in your garden always draws compliments.
hedge makers
12. Meyer says Baja spurge (Euphorbia anti) is an excellent substitute for bamboo hedges. It blooms profusely from January to August, and when it spreads, it has long, dense foliage that birds love for shelter, and humans value privacy. It also works in containers with clouds of tiny pink-magenta flowers.
13. Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), also known as California holly, is a great habitat plant and looks fantastic year round with deep green leaves resembling holly. In summer, it is covered with white racemes of flowers – very attractive to pollinators – that turn into clusters of bright red berries that attract many species of birds in the fall and winter. This large shrub can grow tall — at least 10 to 20 feet — so watch where you plant it.
14. The Channel Islands poppy (Dendromecon Harford) is a bright green shrub covered with yellow cucumber-scented flowers from spring to fall. Meyer said it grows very quickly and can reach at least 12 feet, but it is easy to form. Keep it pruned in winter to control height. This works great as a stand-alone shrub but also looks lovely as a hedge; Becker says, “especially in a part shade area inland, pruned often enough to make it bushy.”
Flowers
15. California fuchsia (Epilobium canum) is probably the most popular native flower for hummingbirds, according to the California Native Plant Society’s Calscape database. It blooms profusely in summer and falls with thin, bright red trumpet-shaped flowers, making for a fuzzy, silver-green ground cover that looks good in spring with other plants. These plants will be re-seeded, but around December 1, they will be cut down completely to create vibrant new growth for the coming year.
16. Desert Marigold, also known as wild marigold (Baileya multiradiata), is a sunny yellow flower good for rock gardens and accents that blooms on tall thin stems in spring and summer. This annual or short-lived perennial species will self-seed in your garden once established. Remember that too much water will kill this plant.
17. Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is a large, many-flowered sunflower native to Southern California. It blooms all summer but may need support to keep from tipping over. Meyer said this plant may might a little unkempt, but the large yellow flowers enliven a late summer garden, and te birds will love you for the seeds. Try alternating it with shorter plants and a little pruning to keep it looking neat. Striking can also help.
18. Gumweed (Grindelia stricta var. platyphylla) is a compact spreading version of the sunflower, growing to less than two feet high, with bright green foliage and cheerful yellow flowers that bloom all summer.
Grasses
We’re not talking lawn here, but native grasses whose tall, airy seed heads catch the light and add interesting texture and accents to the garden.
19. Alkali Sacaton (Sporobolus airlines) is a stalky green grass that can grow up to 3 feet tall, with delicate purplish seed heads resembling a fountain spray.
20. Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis) grows in tall clumps of greenery, with cheery light purple seed heads resembling streamers, sometimes curly in circles or semicircles. A popular cultivar is “Blond Ambition,” pictured above.
