Common name:Sunset Manzanita
Botanical name:Arctostaphylos 'Sunset'
This manzanita is a mounding shrub 4'-5' high and 4'-6' wide. It has coppery red new growth, then later turning bright green. It has pinkish-white flowers in winter to early spring. - Cornflower Farms
Common name:Carmel Creeper
Botanical name:Ceanothus griseus horizontalis
Carmel Creeper is one of the most popular forms of spreading shrubs. Its glossy oval leaves of 2" are bright green. The tiny, light blue flowers are abundant and form 1" clusters. This shrub benefits from pruning. It does best in well-drained soil with little to no summer water.
Common name:Spanish Bayonet
Botanical name:Yucca aloifolia
This shrub becomes a large sprawling plant, reaching 10' tall and 10' wide. Growth is slow. Stiff dense leaves are medium green with sharp points; they reach 2.5' long and 2" wide. It tends to bloom when under drought stress situations. This variety is more tolerant of cold than Y. gloriosa. Cold weather can turn leaves purple. Leaf margins are smooth. Weevils can damage this plant.
Common name:Bush or Dome Euphorbia
Botanical name:Euphorbia characias
This perennial will reach about 4' tall and has blue green leaves with bright green flowers that bloom from late winter to early spring.
Common name:Terra Cotta Yarrow
Botanical name:Achillea millefolium 'Terra Cotta'
This millefolium is a hybrid with soft green foliage and flowers that start off a bright salmon color, fading to terra cotta and changing to buff. There are multi-colored blossoms on a single plant that bloom throughout summer. Yarrows propagate easily from rooted cuttings or division, which should be performed in the early spring or fall. Following bloom, one should dead head the plant and divide the clumps when it appears crowded.
Common name:California Poppy, Golden Poppy
Botanical name:Eschscholzia californica
This small annual (sometimes acts as a perennial) plant will grow to less than 1' tall and has light, small blue green leaves with gold and orange flowers that bloom in spring and summer.
Designer: John Wickham
Photographer: GardenSoft
Practice grass-cycling by leaving short grass clippings on lawns after mowing, so that nutrients and organic matter are returned to the soil.
Attract, or buy beneficial insects such as ladybugs and lacewings to control pest outbreaks in your garden.