Common name:Silver Carpet L., Calif. Aster
Botanical name:Lessingia flilaginifolia 'Silver Carpet'

Silver Carpet Lessingia is one of the best native groundcovers for use in large areas. It grows very quickly once established in the ground and requires little to no care. It will tolerate almost regular water to very little. The fuzzy silver foliage remains attractive through most of the year. Small pink to lavender flowers appear on the foliage intermittently throughout the year for added interest. This plant is very vigorous and should not be planted in small areas. It will grow to 6'-8' tall.

Common name:Julia Phelps California Lilac
Botanical name:Ceanothus 'Julia Phelps'

Fast-growing and densely branched with small dark green leaves, this is a great bloomer showing a marvelous display of delicate, dark indigo blue flowers found in round clusters of 1". It is extremely drought tolerant, and must not be overwatered. It does best in well-drained soil with little to no summer water. It attracts hummingbirds, butterflies and beneficial insects. - Cornflower Farms

Common name:Cedros Island Verbena cv.
Botanical name:Verbena lilacina 'De La Mina'

Verbena lilacina 'De La Mina' is a selection introduced by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden. It is a fast-growing shrub that reaches 3' tall and 3' wide. Flowers are purple and fragrant and bloom all year long in coastal areas. These star-shaped flowers are held high above the mound shaped foliage. It does well in sun and part sun and is considered drought tolerant. It is a beautiful shrub that attracts butterflies.

Common name:Island Bush Poppy
Botanical name:Dendromecon harfordii

An evergreen shrub that grows quickly to 5'-8' tall and 6'-10' wide; the harfordii bears deep yellow poppy flowers to 3" wide with orange stamens. Its heaviest bloom period is in the spring, with some flowers almost all year. The plant requires sun, good drainage, and little or no summer watering. -Monterey Bay Nursery

Common name:Sticky Monkey Flower
Botanical name:Mimulus aurantiacus

Sticky Monkey Flower is a drought tolerant evergreen shrub 4' tall with numerous, orangish yellow flowers in spring and summer. It is a California native that attracts hummingbirds. This shrub can be found on the dry hills and canyon slopes in the Sierra Nevada foothills and the central Coast Ranges. -Cornflower Farms

Common name:El Dorado Gold Fremontia
Botanical name:Fremontodendron 'El Dorado Gold'

This low-mounding shrub has small, green leaves with yellow orange flowers that bloom in spring.

Compost for Healthy Soil and Plants

The natural world works in cycles. Everything is changing form and moving from place to place in an endless energy exchange system. The leaves and twigs that fall to the ground, not to mention other life forms that might die, decompose and combine with water, air and minerals of the soil to create a medium for future plants.

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