Heteromeles arbutifolia

For the shade, try Heuchera maxima, a cream flowering coral bell that looks great under oak trees and needs very little water.

Prunus lyonii (Catalina Cherry) and Prunus ilicifolia (Holly leaf Cherry) are two evergreen shrubs that are extremely useful as screens or background plants. They both have red berries in late summer which the birds find very desirable.  

Mimulus aurantiacus, or monkey flower, grows to about four feet and blooms in a wide range of colors from white to dark red.  It likes sun or part shade, good drainage and little water.

Buckwheats provide color spring and summer. Eriogonum umbellatum (sulphur buckwheat) sports bright yellow flowers in spring. Eriogonum giganteum (St. Catherine’s Lace) is topped with creamy clusters of flower sprays reaching as high as five feet. The star of the genus, Eriogonum grande var. rubescens (rosy buckwheat) displays rosy buttons atop rounded gray-green leaves for most of…

Tops on the list of desirable shrubs is Arctostaphylos, commonly called manzanita. Again, there are many choices in this genus. Handsome and tree-like are ‘Dr. Hurd’, ‘Hood Mountain’ and ‘Austin Griffiths’. ‘Sentinel’ is one of the more upright varieties, eventually reaching five to six feet.   Medium sized Manzanitas are ‘Howard McMinn,’ ‘Sunset,’ ‘John Dourley’ and ‘Wayside,’…

There are many species of Ribes, both evergreen and deciduous.  A very nice evergreen species is Ribes viburnifolium with roundish, dark green leaves and dark red stems.  It needs no irrigation, making it ideal for planting under oaks.  It grows three to six feet tall and can spread to twelve feet. A lovely deciduous species is…