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California Fuchsia
Epilobium canum/Zauschneria californica- Plant Form: Semi-evergreen perennial
- Water Use: Low
- Mature Size: 2 ft. tall & wide
- Exposure: Full sun, part shade
- Bloom Time: Summer, Fall (June – Oct)
- Native to: California, Arizona, and Baja California (below 10,000 feet)
- Hardiness: Cold Hardy to 10°F
Looking for an easy-care pollinator plant that feeds hummingbirds while looking stunning in your garden from summer through fall? California Fuchsia meets both goals, while also being tolerant of drought, heat, and frost.
California Fuchsia is an easy-to-grow, herbaceous, perennial subshrub with tubular orange-red flowers that are an important nectar source for hummingbirds during migration (the plant is dependent on hummingbirds for pollination). Also known as Hummingbird Trumpet, this is not a true fuchsia, despite its common name. This late-season bloomer tolerates drought, heat, and wind once established, and has abundant blooms when many natives are dormant. Don’t prune during its first year or two. After that, pinch back young stems to produce a compact, well-branched plant, and cut back hard every winter after blooming is finished and before new growth appears to keep tidy, lush growth. Plant away from high traffic, as stems are brittle. Stunning when planted in masses among rocks or on slopes, in dry streambeds, or against rock walls, but equally beautiful in pots and baskets.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for October
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Turpentine Bush
Ericameria laricifolia- Plant Form: Evergreen shrub
- Water Use: Very low
- Mature Size: 2-3 ft. tall x 2-4 ft. wide
- Exposure: Full sun, part sun
- Bloom Time: Summer (August), Fall (Sept-Nov)
- Native to: Southeast California to Texas, northwest Mexico (between 3,000 – 7,000 feet)
- Hardiness: Cold Hardy to 0°F
Turpentine Bush provides both fall color and autumn pollen and nectar for butterflies and other pollinators. This drought-tolerant, native southwest shrub requires very little watering after established, and its aromatic foliage resists browsing by deer and rabbits.
Turpentine Bush is a dense evergreen shrub with bright green, needle-like leaves that smell like turpentine when crushed. Golden yellow flower clusters from late summer to fall turn this rather modest plant into a showstopper, attracting butterflies and other insect pollinators. Flower heads have many tiny, vase-like disc florets, but few to no ray florets (long petals around the outside of the flower). This aromatic plant requires minimal water once established, resists browsing by rabbits and deer, and takes reflected heat. It may become leggy in shade or if overwatered. Attractive as an accent or in mass plantings in borders, rock gardens, butterfly gardens, dry washes, medians, and wildlife gardens, and on slopes for erosion control. Turpentine Bush is native to the East Mojave & Sonoran Deserts. Its West Mojave cousin, Cooper’s Goldenbush (E. cooperi) looks very similar, but blooms in spring. Also try Linear-leaved Goldenbush (E. linearifolia) with long, showy, golden petals in spring.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for September
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Desert Almond
Prunus fasciculata- Plant Form: Deciduous shrub
- Water Use: Very low
- Mature Size: 6-10’ tall & wide
- Exposure: Full sun, part sun
- Bloom Time: Spring (March – May); fruit Summer (June – July)
- Native to: California, Arizona, Nevada, & Utah (at elevations below 7,300 feet)
- Hardiness: Cold Hardy to 20°F
This durable, drought-tolerant, native southwest shrub makes a reliable privacy screen that never needs watering after established, and produces miniature edible almonds relished by wildlife and humans.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for August
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Sugarbush
Rhus ovata- Plant Form: Evergreen Shrub
- Water Use: Low
- Mature Size: 8-15’ tall & wide
- Exposure: Full Sun, Part Shade
- Bloom Time: Spring (March – May); fruit Summer (June – August)
- Native to: California, Arizona, & Mexico (at elevations 3,000 – 5,000 feet)
- Hardiness: Cold Hardy to 0°F
A versatile evergreen shrub or tree whose “berries” have been used traditionally and today to make a wild lemonade.
Sugar Bush is a very long-lived, evergreen, aromatic shrub with lush, deep green, leathery leaves that are slightly folded like a taco shell. Maroon twigs and leaf stems, as well as reddish bracts that enclose the flower buds, strike a nice contrast with the deep green foliage. Pinkish flower clusters in late winter or spring produce red berry-like fruits (drupes) in summer that are coated with long strands of sugar, giving the bush its name. Traditionally, and even today, people harvest and soak these “berries” in water to make a refreshing drink like lemonade. This multi-branched sumac can be pruned into an attractive, single- or multiple-trunk shade tree. A workhorse of many southwest gardens, Sugar Bush is ideal for screens, hedges, windbreaks, for erosion control on slopes, or as a specimen on its own. Although slow-growing, it is worth the wait.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for July
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Mojave Desert Sage
Salvia dorrii
- Plant Form: Evergreen Sub-shrub
- Water Use: Very Low
- Mature Size: 1-2 ft. tall x 2-3 ft. wide
- Exposure: Full Sun, Part Shade
- Bloom Time: Spring (May), Summer (June-July)
- Native to: California, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada,Oregon,Utah, Washington (between 2500 – 8500 feet)
- Hardiness: Cold Hardy to 10°F
Mojave Desert Sage’s flowers are a treat for hummingbirds and pollinators, while its aromatic leaves are a delight for gardeners. An added bonus is that the plant is deer- and rabbit-resistant.
Mojave Desert Sage is an aromatic, native “shrublet” with striking blue-violet flowers that emerge from purplish, ball-shaped flower heads along the stems. This compact, herbaceous perennial is impervious to rabbits and deer, while enticing all types of bees, pollinators, butterflies, and hummingbirds. A compact, moderately fast-growing sub-shrub, this gem of a plant has a wonderful minty aroma, released when the silver-gray, spoon-shaped leaves are rubbed. This evergreen plant usually spreads wider than high. Mojave Desert Sage is a heavy bloomer that loves the hottest, most challenging sites in your yard. Trim off seed heads and lightly prune to shape after flowering. While more water results in more flowers, be careful not to water in summer. This mint-family treasure can be used for borders, accents, bank stabilization, and in gardens designed for butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and birds.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for June
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White Sage
Salvia apiana
- Plant Form: Evergreen shrub
- Water Use: Very Low
- Mature Size: 2-3 feet tall x 3-6 feet wide
- Exposure: Full Sun
- Bloom Time: Spring (April – June)
- Native to: California to Baja (below 4,500 feet)
- Hardiness: Cold Hardy to 15°F
White Sage provides striking silver foliage all year that complements its companion garden plants that have deep green leaves. This shrub’s aromatic leaves provided purifying smoke when burned during ceremonies by California’s Native Americans. Tall spikes of flowers in spring provide bees with pollen used for protein to feed the colony, while the flowers’ nectar is converted into honey to feed larvae and for winter survival. The species name apiana actually translates to “bee,” highlighting the plant’s strong, co-evolved relationship with bees.
White sage is an aromatic, slow-growing, evergreen shrub prized for a variety of qualities. Gardeners treasure this drought-tolerant native for its beautiful white foliage, almost luminous in the early evening and on moonlight nights. Bees love this prolific bloomer, and make a flavorful honey from its white to lavender-tinged flowers. California Indians revere this shrub as sacred, burning its leaves as incense during purification and other sacred ceremonies. In spring, flower stalks grow quickly up to 6 feet tall. Trim back these stalks when they dry to a tan color in late summer to keep plants from becoming leggy, and to prevent wind damage; shake stalks to release seeds to start new plants. This shrub stays clean and tidy even without summer water, and is virtually pest free. Its hollow stems break easily, so place it where hoses or passers-by won’t hit it. White sage makes a striking focal point in a border, and is valuable massed on slopes to deter erosion.
