Romneya coulteri

Ceanothus, ‘California wild lilac’, is known for its wonderful spring floral display.  Flower colors are either white or shades of purple-blue, while height can range from a foot or two to twenty feet.  ‘Ray Hartman’ and ‘Cliff Schmidt’ are among the tallest of the Ceanothus, attaining heights of twelve to twenty feet.   ‘Dark Star’ and ‘Concha’ are among the varieties…

    Carpenteria californica (bush anemone) does best with afternoon shade.  Clusters of white, anemone shaped flowers cover this evergreen shrub in early summer.  

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…

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.

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