If you're new to gardening and looking for easy California native or drought-tolerant plants that are going to look great, here's a collection of 36 options that are adaptable and beginner friendly.
From problem solvers for tough areas, to expensive accent plants that love the NorCal coastal humidity (or inland cold seasons), there's a lot to choose from. With tens of thousands of plants that grow in the Northern California and San Francisco Bay area regions, it can be overwhelming. So this starter list should help you out.
THE EVERYTHING PLANT
Lomandra ‘platinum beauty’ (variegated a.k.a. white stripes) or Lomandra ‘Breeze’ (green) - These are expensive, will be charged as 5 gallon - gets to 3’ high x 4’ across. Solves any problem Sun or Shade / Dry or Wet, gophers don’t even like it.
Versatile Drought-Tolerant’s (3-4’+ high)
Dwarf Olive / Olea ‘montra’ or ‘little ollie’ - pricey but makes a great mid height hedge
Australian Rosemary / Westringia ‘grey box’ or ‘morning light’
Mexican Bush Sage / Salvia leucantha - ‘White Mischief’ is a cool variety
Little River Wattle - Acacia cognata ‘cousin itt’ - does fine in sandy soil, needs some gravel in the planting hole or other drainage help in clay
Cone Bush / Leucadendron - 4-8’ high colorful, looks great all year, makes a nice hedge in the east bay
Grevillea ‘Moonglow’ - 8-15’ high hedge or small tree for hummingbirds. Drainage sensitive (put gravel in hole)
Mexican Lobelia / Lobelia laxiflora - great hummingbird plant, takes shade. grows fast to 4-5'+. Invasive in some areas.
Versatile Drought-Tolerant’s (2-3’ high)
Catmint - Nepeta fassenii - lookin great in landscaping these days
Hummingbird Mint - Agastache kudos
Autumn Sage - Salvia microphylla or Salvia greggii
Sun or Shade Succulents
Foxtail Agave (thornless, takes full shade or full sun) - Agave attenuata
Aeonium (most)
Aloe Vera
Note: for cold areas. Some great cold tolerant succulents include echeveria’s & sedums
Native Plants
Ornamental Grass - Big to 4’ (Sun or Shade)
Deer Grass / Muhlenbergia rigens
Ornamental Grass - Small to 4' (Sun or Part Sun)
Cape Mendo Reed Grass / Calamagrostis foliosa
Berkeley Sedge Grass / Carex tumulicola
Gramma Grass / Bouteloua gracilis
NorCal Native Flowers - Big (Sun)
Purple Sage / Salvia ‘Winnifred Gilman’ - Gets 4-5’, Beautiful Purple Flowers for Bees
Monkey Flower / Mimulus - any, look rough in winter, ‘changeling’ is great. Medium (Dry Shade)
Native Flower - Small (Sun - Drought-Tolerant)
Spreading Germander Sage / Salvia chaemaedryoides
Penstemon / Penstemon ‘margarita BOP’ or spectabilis
Coast Daisy / Erigeron ‘Wayne Roderick’ or Er. karvinskianus
Tickseed / Coreopsis
Coyote Mint / Monardella villosa
Fancy Ornamentals (Shade)
Hydrangea ‘Limelight’ or ‘Pinky' - Great for coastal air influenced areas. These go totally dormant in winter, so will look like nothing for a few months a year. Put a hedge in front of them.
Purple Fringe Flower / Loropetalum (takes shade or sun in coastal area. better in shade in hot inland)
Peruvian Lily / Alstroemeria - beautiful, easy flower, disappear in winter, back in summer
Fancy Ornamentals Sun or Part-Shade
Cone Flower / Echinacea
Maiden Grass / Miscanthus sinensis ‘morning light’- have to cut back to the ground in winter grows to 4-5’ in summer
Vine Maple / Abutilon
Dwarf Pomegranate - Punica granatum 'nana' - dwarf form makes a cool hedge and really nice fall color. Has thorns though.
Trees (Drought-Tolerant)
Redbud - Cercis occidentalis ‘Forest Pansy’ is super cool purple variety with nice fall color. We find Eastern Redbud is better for landscaping than native variety. Takes shade. Doesn’t like a lot of water. Deciduous
Crepe Myrtle (sun) - Laegerstroemia - easy, stately, colorful. Deciduous. Overdone? Perhaps, but so great on water savings and seasonal flare it's still worth a mention.
Strawberry Tree - Arbutus marina - evergreen, versatile, bell shaped flowers and edible - though bland - fruits. Also comes in ‘compacta’ dwarf form for hedging. 36” box multi-trunks are fabulous accent trees.
Maidenhair Tree - Ginkgo biloba, gorgeous fall color. Deciduous. Looks very dramatic with a grouping of 2 or 3
Persimmon - Diospyros 'Fuyu' - pretty deciduous shade tree to 30’, good fruit too.
This list has been put together primarily from plants that have environmental (water saving, edible components and/or pollinator supporting species) benefits. If you'd like help getting the curation nailed, check out our collections of pre-blended California gardens by clicking on the image below.
