Spring has sprung, and it’s blossoming all over the great western expanse of our nation.  (Cue appropriate patriotic music.)  And now’s the time you return to your garden.  But with water shortages an everyday reality for most of the West, finding just the right plants for your gardens has never been more important.  How grim is it?  It’s so grim they’re calling it the “grimmest water shortage ever.”   Yep, that’s grim.  So if you’re planning additions to your garden, keeping it to local foliage used to drought is going to cut down on your water consumption.

But gardens are supposed to be happy places, not a constant reminder of water shortages, greenhouse gases, and other inconvenient truths.  So we’ve got a bright guide to the prettiest plants for your native garden.

Flowers

Creeping California Snowberry

The California Snowberry, or Symphoricarpos mollis, is a pink coastal flower that likes shade and clay.  It is called “a delightful, slow-growing groundcover in a shady garden in places like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego.”  Recommended for bird gardens, hummingbirds and Thrasher flock to it.  And better yet, its fruit is edible – though apparently it tastes like Ivory Soap.  But don’t tell the hummingbirds.

White Sagebrush

White Sagebrush, or Artemisia ludoviciana, is extremely drought tolerant and grows in light, dry soils.  It has a pretty yellow flower that “tolerates alkaline soil, sand, clay, seasonal flooding, high traffic (people walking on it) and deer.”  A flower can outlast a herd of marauding, hungry deer?  Sign me up!

California Poppy

How can you not have the state flower in your western garden?  This yellow or orange flower graces state signs welcoming you to California.  Eschscholzia californica maritime is a large part of what makes the California coast so beautiful.  It also recolonizes quickly after fires.  Just like California!

Black Eyed Susan

Rudbeckia hirta is a pretty blossom that comes out in summer and autumn.  It prefers full sun, just like your stereotypical Californian!  They can “range in color from rusty red to lemon yellow to the more traditional gold.”  And they look like daisies!

Fried-Egg Flower

This flower wins the prize for “most awesome name” and possibly prettiest petals.  Limnanthes douglasii likes full sun and moist, well-drained soil.  It’s an annual that self-seeds profusely and comes back year after year

Shrub

The Western Redbud, or Cercis occidentalis, has pretty magenta spring flowers that are yellow to red in the fall.  It is a low maintenance plant that can tolerate drought.  Hummingbirds and butterflies are fans. 

Tree

Western Sycamore

Also known as the California Sycamore aka Platanus racemosa, this tree can take heat, drought and smog.  So it thrives in Los Angeles!  It likes full sun, sandy soil, and can reach up to 50 feet high.  So if you want to add a sapling to your garden, be prepared to wait it out.

Succulent

Chalk Dudleya, or Dudleya pulverulenta, is a pretty native succulent that has red flower and grey leaves.  It is a favorite with hummingbirds and likes half sun and low water.  It has been described as “showy.”  Maybe it is the Paris Hilton of succulents? 

........and where to buy it all?  Check out our listings of the top garden centers in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Garden Centers in San Francisco

Flora Grubb Gardens

This nursery, which has one of the coolest names ever slapped on a nursery, specializes in exotics, tropicals, palms, garden furnishings, and organic soils. All edibles are organic, and they provide non-toxic garden design services.

Magic Gardens Landscaping

They offer organic plants, starts, and soils. 

Garden Centers in Los Angeles

Barrister’s Garden Center in South Pasadena.  At this garden, you can find organic soils, fertilizers, nontoxic pest treatments, and California native plants.

Sego Nursery in Valley Village

This is a family-owned and operated gardening center with organic starts and soils.  They also offer nontoxic pest management solutions.

>> Check out, "Death to the Lawn! Makeover Your Dead Green Space into a Money- and Planet-Saving Garden" for eco-friendly lawn-replacement ideas.

>> Check out, "Death to the American Lawn, Part 2: Transform it into a Wildlife Sanctuary for eco-friendly lawn-replacement ideas"