Common Name

Scientific Name

Height/
Width

Preference

Comments

Trees

Toyon

Heteromeles arbutifolia

15'xl0'

sun/dry-moist

Evergreen, red berries in winter

Mexican Elderberry

Sambucus mexicana

30'x20'

sun/moist

Blue berries, decidious

Shrubs

California Sagebrush

Artemisia californica

5'x4'

sun/dry

Cut back regularly to keep compact

Coyote Brush

Baccharis pilularis

8'x6'

sun/dry

Evergreen

California Bush Sunflower

Encelia californica

4'x4'

sun/dry

Cut down to base if too leggy

Palmer's Goldenbush

Ericameria palmeri pachilepis

3x4'

sun/dry

Late summer bloomer

Sawtooth Goldenbush

Hazardia squarrosa

4'

sun/dry

Late summer bloomer

Coast Goldenbush

Isocoma menziesii

4'

sun/dry

Late summer bloomer

Bladder Pod

Isomeris arborea

5'

sun/dry

Fire retardant, blooms most of the year

Honeysuckle

Lonicera subspicata

-6'

sun/moist to shade/dry

Laurel Sumac

Malosma laurina

10'x10'

sun/dry

Lemonadeberry

Rhus integrifolia

-15'xl0'

sun/dry

Evergreen shrub

Sugar Bush

Rhus ovata

10'x10'

sun/dry

Evergreen shrub

California Gooseberry

Ribes californicum

4'

shade/moist

Winter bloomer

California Wild Rose

Rosa californica

4'x4'+

sun-part shade/moist

Pink flowers

Purple Sage

Salvia leucophylla

5'x5'

sun/dry

Aromatic foliage

Black Sage

Salvia mellifera

4'

sun/dry

Aromatic foliage

Snowberry

Symphoricarpus mollis

4'

shade/dry

Nice white berries

Perennials

Milkweed

Asclepias fascicularis

3'xl'

sun/dry

Food plant of Monarch Butterfly

Ocean Locoweed

Astragalus trichopodus lonchus

1'

sun/dry

Food plant of PV blue butterfly

Beach Primrose

Camissonia cheiranthifolia

3-4"

sun/dry

Sandy soil

Indian Paint Brush

Castilleja affinis

1.5'

sun/dry

Needs to grow among CSS shrubs

Parry's Larkspur

Delphinium parryi

1.5î

sun/dry

Lance-Leaved Liveforever

Dudleya lanceolata

6'

shade/dry

On rock outcrops

Bright-Green Dudleya

Dudleya virens

6"

sun/dry

For coastal bluffs

Fleabane

Erigeron foliosus

1'

shade/dry

Ashy-Leaved Buckwheat

Eriogonum cinereum

3'

sun/dry

Great butterfly nectar plant

California Buckwheat

Eriogonum fasciculatum

2'x4'

sun/dry

Great butterfly nectar plant

Seacliff Buckwheat

Eriogonum parvifolium

3'x3'

sun/dry

Plant of El Segundo Blue Butterfly

Golden Yarrow

Eriophyllum confertiflorum

2'

sun/dry

California Fuchsia

Epilobium canum

2'x4'

sun-part shade/ dry, sun/moist

Great hummingbird plant; late bloomer

Two-tone Everlasting

Gnaphalium bicolor

-3'

sun/dry

Scented foliage

California Everlasting

Gnaphalium californicum

2'

sun-part shade/dry

Scented foliage

Felt-leaf Everlasting

Gnaphalium canescens

2'

sun-shade/dry

Gum Plant

Grindelia robusta

4'

sun/dry

Long bloom, yellow fIowers

Matchweed

Gutierrezia californica

2'

sun/dry

Late bloomer

Wild Heliotrope

Heliotropium currasavicum

8"

sun/dry-moist

Horkelia

Horkelia cuneta

2'

sun/dry

Interesting leaves, small white flowers

California Aster

Lessingia filaginifolia

3'

sun/dry

Grey foliage, lavender flowers

Deer Weed

Lotus scoparius

3'x2'

sun/dry

Great butterfly nectar plant

Bush Lupine

Lupinus longifolius

5'

sun/dry

Early bloomer

Cliff Aster

Malacothrix saxatilis

3'

sun/dry

dormant in summer

Bush Monkey Flower

Mimulus longiflorus

3'x2'

sun-shade/dry

Hummingbird plant

Four-o'-Clock

Mirabilis californica

2'

sun/dry

Dormant in summer without supplemental water

Prickly Pear Cactus

Opuntia littoralis

5'

sun/dry

Coast Cholla

Opuntia prolifera

4'

sun/dry

Wild Rhubarb

Rumex hymenosepalus

3'

sun/dry

Sandy soil

Hedge Nettle

Stachys ajugoides rigida

2'

shade/dry

Climbing Plants

Wild Morning-Glory

Calystegia macrostegia

12'x2'

shade/dry

Virgin's Bower

Clematis ligusticifolia

20'

sun/moist to part-shade/dry

Feathery seeds, small white flowers

Climbing Penstemon

Keckiella cordifolia

-12'/4'

sun-part shade/dry-moist

Great hummingbird plant

Canyon Pea

Lathyrus vestitus var. vestitus

2'

part shade/dry

Annuals

Common Fiddleneck

Amsinckia intermedia

2'-3'

sun/dry

Small yellow flowers

Purple Snapdragon

Antirrhinum nuttallianum

1'-2'

sun-shade/dry

Southern Sun Cups

Camissonia bistorta

3"

sun/dry

Sandy soil

Purple Clarkia

Clarkia purpurea

2'

sun/dry

Chinese Houses

Collinsia heterophylla

1'

sun/moist to part shade/dry

Popcorn Flower

Cryptantha clevelandii

3-4"

sun/dry

California Poppy

Eschscholzia californica

1/2'

sun/dry

Yellow flowered form

Tarplant

Hemizonia fasciculata

2-3'

sun/dry

Miniature Lupine

Lupinus bicolor

-4"

sun/dry

Succulent/Arroyo Lupine

Lupinus succulentus

2'

sun/dry

One of the easiest lupines to grow

Owl's Clover

Castilleja exserta

1'

sun/dry

Caterpillar Phacelia

Phacelia cicutaria

2'

sun/dry

Fiesta Flower

Pholistoma auritum

-4'

sun/dry

Chia

Salvia columbariae

1.5'

sun/dry

Bulbous Plants

Golden Stars

Bloomeria crocea

2'

sun/dry

Umbel-like, yellow flower heads

Brodiaea

Brodiaea joloensis

6"

sun/dry

Very short species with blue flowers

Catalina Mariposa Lily

Calochortus catalinae

2'

sun/dry

White to pink, large flowers

Blue Dicks/Wild Hyacinth

Dichelostemma capitatum

2

sun/dry

Bluish flowerheads

Grasses

Giant Rye Grass

Leymus condensatus

4-5'

sun/moist to shade/dry

Tall, vigorously growing grass

Melic Grass

Melica imperfecta

2'

sun-part shade/dry

Needle Grass

Nassella cernua

2'

sun/dry

Can spread easily

Needle Grass

Nassella lepida

2'

part shade/dry

Purple Needle Grass

Nassella pulchra

2'

sun/dry

Ferns

Maidenhair Fern

Adiantum jordanii

1'

shade/dry-moist

Coffee Fern

Pellea andromedifolia

1'

shade/dry

Goldback Fern

Pentagramma triangularis

5'

shade/dry

California Polypody

Polypodium californicum

8"

shade/dry