Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Friday - January 23, 2009

From: Pt. Richmond, CA
Region: California
Topic: Grasses or Grass-like, Herbs/Forbs, Shrubs
Title: Drought-resistant plants for Paradise, California
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

We are moving to a new home in Paradise, CA. What drought resistant plants do well in Paradise ? Thank you !!

ANSWER:

First of all, I suggest you go to our Recommended Species page and select "Northern California" from the map or the pull-down menu. This will give you a list of "commercially available native plant species suitable for planned landscapes in Northern California." You can then use the NARROW YOUR SEARCH option to select various characteristics or growing conditions; for instance, you can select 'Dry-' from the "Soil moisture" column to find drought-tolerant plants. Here are a few Mr. Smarty Plants choices from that list:

Achnatherum hymenoides (Indian ricegrass)

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (kinnikinnick)

Artemisia californica (coastal sagebrush)

Artemisia tridentata (big sagebrush)

Carpenteria californica (tree anemone)

Ceanothus leucodermis (chaparral whitethorn)

Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda (shrubby cinquefoil)

Dendromecon rigida (tree poppy)

Eschscholzia caespitosa (tufted poppy)

Encelia farinosa (brittlebush)

Fremontodendron californicum (California flannelbush)

Mahonia repens (creeping barberry)

Penstemon heterophyllus (bunchleaf penstemon)

Ipomopsis aggregata (scarlet gilia)

You can also find a list of recommended species from Las Pilitas Nursery in Santa Margarita, California. On their website you can search by zipcode and plant community to match your location.