This native plant is of variable appearance, but generally has narrow bluish green foliage and blue to purple flowers. The variety ‘Margarita Bop’ was discovered at Las Pilitas Nursery in Santa Margarita. It sends up wands of fuchsia and violet blue flowers in spring and early summer and requires little to moderate water, as do other heterophyllus.
For the shade, try Heuchera maxima, a cream flowering coral bell that looks great under oak trees and needs very little water.
Fremontodendron is also known as flannel bush because the back of the leaves are fuzzy and soft. Showy yellow flowers appear in spring. This shrub takes full sun and is drought tolerant once established, requiring no irrigation at all. Its primary drawback is that it tends to be short lived, but it is fabulous while…
Trichostema lanatum (woolly blue curls) grows to three to five feet high and four to eight feet wide. The dark green leaves are pungent when bruised. The purple flowers are fuzzy and appear in spring. The plant will continue to bloom during summer and autumn if it is deadheaded. Trichostema takes full sun and needs…
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…
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.