Our Plants (List)

This attractive cypress circles the Sacramento Valley (valley-side) at mid elevations. It is found in scattered groves in areas of high winter rainfall and intense summer heat. It has a “tricky” relationship to wildfires; the cones will not open and release seed without fire temperatures, but the trees are easily…

Monterey cypress is endemic to a very small portion of coastal Monterey County. It is so vigorous in coastal settings that it has spread to every coastal County in the state and is considered invasive. This is the iconic tree of the 17 mile drive along the Monterey coast, where…

The Monterey cypress is resident on the eponymous peninsula in just two locations. It is undoubtedly the most famous of California’s cypresses owing to its dramatic and picturesque growth form in windswept coastal settings. This cypress is easy to grow in mild climates and quickly was adopted for landscapes around…

This relative of California’s chaparral yucca, Hesperoyucca whipplei, is a rare member of the species-rich succulent sage scrub of northwestern Baja California. This portion of the peninsula is considered part of the California Floristic Province which stretches from Ashland, Oregon through much of the coastal and central portions of the…

Our Lord’s Candle is emblematic of dry chaparral and coastal scrub in California’s southern mountains. It is found as far north as about Fresno. It grows in a rounded array of extremely sharp gray-green leaves. After several years, it will send up a marvelous inflorescence (flower stock) to 12 feet…

Toyon is the emblematic shrub in many plant communities around the state. It is especially common at mid-elevations in the coastal mountains of central and northern California. In more southerly settings it seems often displaced by sugar bush, Rhus ovata, and lemonade berry, Rhus integrifolia. Toyon grows in a round,…

‘Davis Gold’ is a selection of toyon from the campus of UC Davis. Its most notable distinction from the common toyon is the yellow/orange color of the berries. ‘Davis Gold’ also has a reputation for somewhat greater disease resistance. In my San Jose garden, this shrub rocketed up to fourteen…

The goldenaster is found primarily in coastal and interior coastal mountains from Mendocino County south into San Diego County. The boulanderi subspecies is prevalent in the SF Bay Area. The ‘San Bruno Mountain’ selection grows in a low mound of olive green leaves covered with fine hairs that allow it…