Native plants

Native Plants of California

California's Mediterranean climate of wet winters and bone-dry summers shaped a flora unlike anywhere else, and native plants here are masters of summer drought. Planting them means dramatically less irrigation, deep habitat value for native bees, butterflies, and birds, and gardens that come alive with the rains. The picks below are reliable, widely available natives suited to much of the state's lowland and foothill gardens. Give them lean, well-drained soil and little to no summer water once established, and they reward you with seasonal bloom and abundant wildlife.

Native picks for California

1. California Poppy

   Wildflower

   The state flower, its silky orange cups open across spring hillsides and reseed freely, offering pollen to native bees while thriving on poor, dry soil with no supplemental water.

2. Cleveland Sage

   Shrub

   An aromatic, drought-proof shrub whose lavender-blue flower whorls are alive with bumblebees, native bees, and hummingbirds, while the fragrant foliage shrugs off deer and summer heat.

3. Toyon

   Shrub

   A large evergreen shrub with summer flowers for pollinators and heavy clusters of red winter berries that feed robins, mockingbirds, and waxwings through the lean season.

4. California Fuchsia

   Perennial

   Late-season tubular scarlet flowers make it one of the most important fall nectar plants for hummingbirds, blooming in dry heat on tough, spreading low mounds.

5. Coffeeberry

   Shrub

   An adaptable evergreen shrub whose small flowers feed many native bees and whose dark berries are eaten by birds, providing structure and cover with very low water needs.

6. Common Yarrow

   Perennial

   Flat white flower heads bloom over feathery foliage as a landing pad for native bees, hoverflies, and butterflies, spreading into a tough, drought-tolerant groundcover.

7. Hummingbird Sage

   Perennial

   A shade-tolerant, spreading sage with fragrant leaves and magenta flower spikes that draw hummingbirds in spring, filling dry, dappled spots beneath oaks where little else thrives.