Summer Garden Color
Summer Garden Color
Tree of Life Nursery is here to squash those rumors that California native plants are brown in the summer. The following list of plants is sure to bring bright summer color to your natural garden.
Yellow/Orange
Abutilon palmeri – Desert mallow, beautiful orange flowers
Baileya multiradiata – Desert marigold, happy yellow disks
Cleome isomeris – Bladderpod, burst of yellow flowers
Dendromecon sp. – Bush poppy, many bright yellow flowers
Grindelia stricta var platyphylla – Gumplant, bright yellow
Oenothera hookeri, stubbei – Evening primrose, large yellow papery flowers
Solidago sp. – Goldenrod, bright yellow upright flower stalks
Sphaeralcea ambigua – Desert mallow, rich orange flowers
Red/Pink
Antigonon leptopus – San Miguel coral vine, abundant hot pink flowers
Calycanthus occidentalis – Western spicebush, beautiful, large, deep red flowers
Chilopsis linearis – Desert willow, attractive delicate large pink flowers clusters
Epilobium sp. – Fuchsia, bright red tubular flowers
Fallugia paradoxa – Apache plume, feathery pink tinted seed plumes
Justicia californica – Chuparosa, striking, tubular red flowers
Lobelia laxiflora – Mexican lobelia, red orange prolific tubular flowers
Malacothamnus fasciculatus – Chaparral mallow, light pink flowers
Mirabilis laevis – Four o’clock, many bright pink/purple flowers
Opuntia sp. – Prickly pear, red edible fruit, preceded by yellow to pink flowers
Prunus ilicifolia, lyonii – Holly-leaf / Catalina cherry, red cherries preceded by cream flowers
Rhus integrifolia – Lemonade berry, reddish berries
White/Gold
Asclepias sp. – Milkweed, white to pink flower clusters, monarch host plant
Cercocarpus sp. – Mountain mahogany, attractive seed head
Comarostaphylis diversifolia – Summer holly, white flowers followed by red berries
Eriogonum sp. – Buckwheat, many have white/cream flowers that turn rust colored
Holodiscus discolor – Oceanspray/cream bush, cream colored sprays of flowers
Hesperoyucca whipplei – Our Lord’s candle, tall white flower stalk
Heteromeles arbutifolia – Toyon, large white flower clusters followed by bright red berries
Leymus condensatus – Wildrye, upright tan/gold flower stalks and seed head
Lyonothamnus floribundus – Catalina ironwood, large cream colored flower clusters
Muhlenbergia rigens – Deergrass, long upright slender tan/gold flower/seed heads
Sambucus nigra ssp. caerulea – Elderberry, cream flower clusters followed by blue berries
Blue/Purple
Mahonia sp. – Barberry, purple/blue berries preceded by yellow sprays of flowers in spring
Monardella sp. – Coyote mint, lavender, butterfly attracting flower clusters
Frangula (Rhamnus) sp. – Coffeeberry, red aging to blue berries
Salvia clevelandii – Sage, a range of lavender to a rich purple blue flower whorls
Trichostema lanatum – Woolly blue curls, fuzzy lavender to purple flowers
