Grow Like a Local

The American wisteria is a U.S. native flower which enjoys climbing, the higher the better. The average height for a free-standing wisteria is 25 to 30 feet but it prefers support. It grows best in California and in the 1930's many varieties of wisteria were planted throughout the city.

The California buttercup (Ranunculus californicus), is a perennial herb of the Ranunculaceae family. It actually brightens much of California (except the deserts) with 3/4 inch, remarkably glossy, deep yellow flowers, each with 9 to 17 petals. Their native habitat extends into Baja California, Oregon, and some Pacific coast islands.

California Rose, or California Wildrose, is a perennial, deciduous shrub that can form thickets, growing up to 8 to 10 feet in height and width. These attract mockingbirds & thrashers, vireos, wood warblers, orioles, chickadees & titmice, thrushes, wrens, woodpeckers, cardinals & grosbeaks, sparrows, nuthatches and waxwings.

Allium serra is a species of wild onion known by several common names, including jeweled onion, pom-pon onion, and serrated onion. It is endemic to northern California, favoring hard soils with rock and clay. It has a long stem on which it bears a tightly bunched flower cluster of flowers. The attractive bright pink flowers are thimble or bell-shaped.

The miniature Lupine, or Lupinus bicolor, got its name due to its diminutive size. It's a showy flowering plant native to western North America-- in California it is very widespread, often appearing in huge numbers. The annual wildflower often shares a habitat with the California poppy. It has a short, hairy stem and thin, palmately-arranged leaves.

Downingia pulchella is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family known by the common names flatface calicoflower and valley calicoflower. This annual, showy wildflower is endemic to California, where it is a resident of vernal pools and other wet places in the San Francisco Bay Area. This annual produces an erect, branching stem which has usually one tubular flower at the top of each branch.

Panicum capillare, known by the common name witchgrass, is a species of grass. It is native plant to most of North America from the East Coast through all of the West Coast and California. It can be found as an introduced species in Eurasia, and as a weed in gardens and landscaped areas. It grows in many types of habitat.

The Coast Live Oak is a beautiful evergreen oak that grows predominantly west of the central valleys, as far north as Mendocino County, and as far south as northern Baja California in Mexico. This tree typically has a much-branched trunk and reaches a mature height of 10-25 meters. Some specimens may attain an age exceeding 250 years, with trunk diameters up to three or four meters.

Golden Yarrow is a flowering plant in the daisy family. This is a highly variable plant which can be either an annual, perennial or small shrub. It is native to the San Francisco Bay Area and can be found in a number of plant communities and habitats including chaparral, coastal sage shrub, and southern oak woodland.

Red Willow is one of the most common riparian trees in California, usually growing in or very near creeks, at elevations from 0-5000 feet. It is an extremely fast growing tree - growing up to about 50 feet in height, and often more than 50 feet in width within 10 years if it gets plenty of water.