Our Plants (List)

Southern maiden hair is found in shady moist settings throughout the state, but is most common in southern California. It is one of our native plants that we share with many other US states and even other continents. The roots must be continually moist without being soggy or water logged….

Southern maiden hair is found in shady moist settings throughout the state, but is most common in southern California. It is one of our native plants that we share with many other US states and even other continents. The roots must be continually moist without being soggy or water logged….

The maiden hair genus, Adiantum, has just four representatives in California. One is the California maiden hair, Adiantum jordanii, which is common in dry shade and goes dormant in the summer. Another is the five finger fern, Adiantum aleuticum, which thrives in moist shade and goes dormant with the cold…

This ceanothus relative grows in coastal scrub in San Diego County into Baja, Mexico. It forms a low mound, wider than tall, with an open structure of olive green branches and small lance shaped leaves. The branches are tipped with notable spines. The spring flowers are cream white with yellow…

Our native buckeye is one of the few California members of the soapberry family, sapindaceae. California’s maple trees fill out the family. Buckeye grows as a multi-trunk, rounded little tree with silver-white bark and large compound leaves. The branch structure tends to be tortuous and quite ornate as the tree…

Our native buckeye is one of the few California members of the soapberry family, sapindaceae. California’s maple trees fill out the family. Buckeye grows as a multi-trunk, rounded little tree with silver-white bark and large compound leaves. The branch structure tends to be tortuous and quite ornate as the tree…

This hyssop is scattered in a variety of plant communities throughout the western US and southern British Columbia. One usually associates the genus agastache with the Southwest, but a couple of species occur in California. Like many members of the mint family, the giant hyssop grows with upright stems with…

Desert agave is one of about 18 species of California natives in the Agave family, which includes the Joshua tree and – somewhat surprising – soaproot. It grows naturally in California’s southeastern deserts, conspicuously populating sunny areas with sandy soil. The silvery blue leaves grow in a rosette to about…

Shaw’s agave grows naturally in the southwest corner of coastal San Diego County. It occurs in only a few locations but becomes more common in Baja, Mexico. Another subspecies (goldmania) is found further south on the Baja peninsula. Shaw’s agave is widely planted in gardens in Southern California because of its…