Favorite Plants of
Pacific Plant People
Member Profile
Emily Griswold
Emily Griswold is Director of GATEways Horticulture and Teaching Gardens at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden (APG), University of California, Davis. She leads the GATEways Project (Gardens, Art and the Environment), an initiative to engage visitors with the academic work of UC Davis through the creation of innovative gardens and outdoor programs in partnership campus departments.
Leucophyllum langmaniae "Lynn’s Legacy"
Salvia muirii "Wildesalie"
Nolina nelsonii "Blue Nolina"
Erythrina x bidwillii "Shrub Coral Tree"
Quercus lobata "Valley oak"
Natives for Habitat
Plant Family
Fagaceae
Genus
Quercus
Species
Quercus lobata "Valley oak"
Quercus lobata, commonly called the valley oak or roble, grows into the largest of California oaks. It is endemic to California, growing in interior valleys and foothills from Siskiyou County to San Diego County. Mature specimens may attain an age of up to 600 years. This deciduous oak requires year-round access to groundwater.
Water Use
SelecTree Water Use Rating: Medium
Conditions When It Thrives
Basically from Bakersfield to Redding and generally in places near creeks or rivers, but also in some of the interior valley of the coastal ranges in California
Ecosystem Services
You attract all this diversity of life and get to observe it in your landscape.
Native To
California
Geographic Range
California, growing in interior valleys and foothills from Siskiyou County to San Diego County.
Availability
Height & Habit
It can get up to 100 feet tall so it’s a large tree but it takes a while. 70 min equal spread.
Special Features
I love the shape of the leaves. You know how they say ‘No two snowflakes are exactly the same’? When you geek out looking at oak leaves it’s the same way. I’m just very charmed by the leaves they are kind of a dark green color which make a great garden backdrop, and contrast with their dark, furrowed bark.
It has probably the largest acorns of any California oak. Also, it has these galls in the summer on the leaves they are called “jumping galls.” The larva hops to shelter. The galls fall off and look like seeds. Sometimes it sounds like the pitter patter of rain. It’s also an Arboretum ALL STAR - among the top 100 performing plants for the region.
Why They Love It
I feel like it’s the quintessential Central Valley tree [in California]. They are so valuable - they cast such great shade in the summer. This is a place with hot summers, so shade is essential to have a livable environment. As they mature, they get craggy limbs that are so picturesque and beautiful. I think of it as an iconic tree for our region. It’s a foundation for food webs in this region. It supports a huge diversity of insects that in turn support a huge diversity of birds. If there’s only one tree I could specify for a garden, it would be one of these oaks.
Seasonal Appearance/Dormancy
Fully deciduous
Advice
Don’t plant too close to a driveway or your foundation. When planting generally it’s better to start with smaller trees. The absolute best way to start is with an acorn. Bigger’s not necessarily better. Your best way to develop a strong root system is in the ground.
Leucophyllum langmaniae "Lynn’s Legacy"
Drought Resilient
Plant Family
Scrophulariaceae
Genus
Leucophyllum
Species
Leucophyllum langmaniae "Lynn’s Legacy"
Leucophyllum langmaniae is a shrub native of Mexico, semi-evergreen, with gray-green leaves of velvety texture. Its shape is branched and compact, forming a rounded mass of up to 1 m high and wide. The flowers are lavender. They appear in the fall, and are even more abundant if drought or heat waves were important.
Water Use
Drought tolerant
Conditions When It Thrives
It really does best in sun and can tolerate clay soil with good drainage. It is not flood tolerant in the winter, however.
Ecosystem Services
As a dense shrub it provides cover and the flowers are adored by bees.
Native To
Mexico
Geographic Range
USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11a, 11b
Availability
Sold at the Arboretum plant sales and more.
Height & Habit
This rounded shrub gets about 5’ x and 5 wide, densely branched with small foliage which is a gray-green.
Special Features
It is very drought tolerant.
It’s called Barometer Bush because it tends to bloom right after rainstorms. Also an Arboretum ALL STAR – its top 100 list of best performers for the region and deemed a Texas Superstar® by Texas A & M).
Why They Love It
This variety, which goes by both "Lynn’s Legacy" and "Lynn’s Everblooming" has a longer bloom season for us than some others. It can bloom quite profusely with lavender purple flowers. When in full bloom the flowers can completely obscure the foliage. It also blooms in late summer early fall, a time when you start to wonder if it will ever rain, so it’s refreshing to having something flowering.
Seasonal Appearance/Dormancy
Ever-gray
Advice
It can take shearing but I prefer the natural loose form
Salvia muirii "Wildesalie"
Drought Resilient
Plant Family
Lamiaceae
Genus
Salvia
Species
Salvia muirii "Wildesalie"
Salvia muirii is an evergreen perennial shrub native to limited areas east of the Cape of Good Hope and Mossel Bay on the southern coast of South Africa. It grows in an area influenced by the climate of the Indian Ocean, on rolling hills between 200 and 1000 feet elevation.
Water Use
Drought resilient
Conditions When It Thrives
This is a great drought-tolerant plant for full sun. We have it in some pretty hot spots with reflected heat, and it has also done well in part shade for us. We do have clay soil here, which, as long as it’s not in a low spot it should be fine.
Ecosystem Services
All salvias are great pollinator plants. This one, with its blue flowers is going to be good for bees.
Native To
South Africa
Geographic Range
Availability
While it’s not that common, some wholesale growers in CA produce it. It’s something worth seeking out.
Height & Habit
I’ve grown them from two diff sources, one grew taller and one lower, so there may be some variability but growing to two feet or less is average.
Special Features
Neat, compact, low-maintenance, distinctive pollinator-friendly flowers. Leaves are fragrant when crushed.
Why They Love It
This is a tidy little drought-tolerant plant with really pretty flowers .The foliage alone has a fine texture in a nice gray-green. What I really love is the flowers they are a beautiful blueberry blue with a little white on the lower “lip”. The flowers are so charming. I’m just a sucker for salvias.
Seasonal Appearance/Dormancy
Ever-gray
Advice
You don’t’ need to prune it unless it’s growing into a path - it‘s very low care.
Nolina nelsonii "Blue Nolina"
Drought Resilient
Plant Family
Asparagaceae
Genus
Nolina
Species
Nolina nelsonii "Blue Nolina"
Blue Nolina is a large blue-green succulent tree-like shrub in the asparagus family. It is slow-growing and very drought and heat tolerant. Plant it in the full fun in well-drained soil. Once it flowers the main plant dies back and a new plant forms at the base of the rosette. Its coarse texture adds a lot of drama to a low-water-use landscape.
Water Use
Very drought tolerant
Conditions When It Thrives
It grows best in full sun, but can tolerate partial shade and needs reasonable drainage.
Ecosystem Services
Bees love it when it flowers.
Native To
Mexico
Geographic Range
Availability
Definitely in the trade.
Height & Habit
In time it can develop a trunk. We’ve been growing ours for 8 or 9 years and haven’t gotten a trunk. In the shorter term, the leaves are maybe 4’ long. So maybe 4-5 tall and 8 feet wide.
Special Features
It’s very drought tolerant.
Over time, Blue nolina will bloom with the flower stalk emerging sometimes 5-6 feet above the rest of plant. There are male and female plants and if you are lucky enough to get a female, it’s almost like these tiny balloons. When it blooms the whole thing illuminates like a candle when backlit. Each individual flower is quite tiny, but collectively there’s this giant plume of them and becomes this amazing giant torch when backlit. They take a few years to bloom and may not bloom every year.
Why They Love It
Painless Desert Design – the Look of a Yucca Without the Barbs. It has beautiful gray-blue foliage that radiates out in this sculptural spiky form. It’s a rosette of spiky leaves that look similar to a yucca. However, the edges are not like sawblade and the points are not like daggers, so it’s easier to garden around them than some of the other desert-y succulents. It’s a very striking sculptural plant year-round.
Seasonal Appearance/Dormancy
It is ever-grey.
Advice
Erythrina x bidwillii "Shrub Coral Tree"
Biodiversity Boosters
Plant Family
Fabaceae
Genus
Erythrina
Species
Erythrina x bidwillii "Shrub Coral Tree"
A deciduous small tree or multi-stemmed shrub that can grow to as tall as 18 feet but is typically seen as an 8 foot shrub. It blooms continually on the new growth from spring through winter with peak flowering in summer months. The narrow 2" long dark red flowers are on long 2 foot long terminal racemes that arch out and above the foliage on 6 foot long stems. Water infrequently (Coastal) to regularly. Trim back after flowering and prune hard in winter to maintain shape. This plant inherits hardiness from its parentage (E. herbacea x E. crista-galli), being hardy to 20° F without damage and root hardy below this.
Water Use
Low Water Needs.
Conditions When It Thrives
It loves full sun. We water deeply every couple of weeks.
Ecosystem Services
Hummingbirds adore it.
Native To
It’s a hybrid between a South America tree and Eastern US herbaceous plant.
Geographic Range
Availability
This is harder to find right now. It’s not that easy to propagate, more of a collectors’ item, but I’m hoping more people will produce it.
Height & Habit
Arching stems can reach 6’ in a season.
Special Features
When the flower stalks dry, they achieve a kind of curly architecture. The naked stems have a really cool shape to them.
Why They Love It
It’s a coral tree relative, in the pea family. It has these flamboyantly beautiful red flowers that are great for hummingbirds, and this one has beautiful bright green foliage which is a great addition in a dry garden. It’s nice to have something contrasting that looks lush and green and tropical.
Seasonal Appearance/Dormancy
It dies back in winter, so we cut it back, basically coppicing it every year. It makes a rounded 6‘ tall, 8’ wide shrub by peak of summer. From late spring to fall it’s constantly pumping out these red flowers. The flowers look like pea flowers with a velvety texture in vivid red. They are highly, highly appealing. Its blooming in heat of the summer when a lot of other things look kind of tired. It’s a showstopper- when it’s in bloom people are always asking about it.
Advice
Cut to the ground in winter.
Quercus lobata "Valley oak"
Natives for Habitat
Plant Family
Fagaceae
Genus
Quercus
Species
Quercus lobata "Valley oak"
Quercus lobata, commonly called the valley oak or roble, grows into the largest of California oaks. It is endemic to California, growing in interior valleys and foothills from Siskiyou County to San Diego County. Mature specimens may attain an age of up to 600 years. This deciduous oak requires year-round access to groundwater.
Water Use
SelecTree Water Use Rating: Medium
Conditions When It Thrives
Basically from Bakersfield to Redding and generally in places near creeks or rivers, but also in some of the interior valley of the coastal ranges in California
Ecosystem Services
You attract all this diversity of life and get to observe it in your landscape.
Native To
California
Geographic Range
California, growing in interior valleys and foothills from Siskiyou County to San Diego County.
Availability
Height & Habit
It can get up to 100 feet tall so it’s a large tree but it takes a while. 70 min equal spread.
Special Features
I love the shape of the leaves. You know how they say ‘No two snowflakes are exactly the same’? When you geek out looking at oak leaves it’s the same way. I’m just very charmed by the leaves they are kind of a dark green color which make a great garden backdrop, and contrast with their dark, furrowed bark.
It has probably the largest acorns of any California oak. Also, it has these galls in the summer on the leaves they are called “jumping galls.” The larva hops to shelter. The galls fall off and look like seeds. Sometimes it sounds like the pitter patter of rain. It’s also an Arboretum ALL STAR - among the top 100 performing plants for the region.
Why They Love It
I feel like it’s the quintessential Central Valley tree [in California]. They are so valuable - they cast such great shade in the summer. This is a place with hot summers, so shade is essential to have a livable environment. As they mature, they get craggy limbs that are so picturesque and beautiful. I think of it as an iconic tree for our region. It’s a foundation for food webs in this region. It supports a huge diversity of insects that in turn support a huge diversity of birds. If there’s only one tree I could specify for a garden, it would be one of these oaks.
Seasonal Appearance/Dormancy
Fully deciduous
Advice
Don’t plant too close to a driveway or your foundation. When planting generally it’s better to start with smaller trees. The absolute best way to start is with an acorn. Bigger’s not necessarily better. Your best way to develop a strong root system is in the ground.
Leucophyllum langmaniae "Lynn’s Legacy"
Drought Resilient
Plant Family
Scrophulariaceae
Genus
Leucophyllum
Species
Leucophyllum langmaniae "Lynn’s Legacy"
Leucophyllum langmaniae is a shrub native of Mexico, semi-evergreen, with gray-green leaves of velvety texture. Its shape is branched and compact, forming a rounded mass of up to 1 m high and wide. The flowers are lavender. They appear in the fall, and are even more abundant if drought or heat waves were important.
Water Use
Drought tolerant
Conditions When It Thrives
It really does best in sun and can tolerate clay soil with good drainage. It is not flood tolerant in the winter, however.
Ecosystem Services
As a dense shrub it provides cover and the flowers are adored by bees.
Native To
Mexico
Geographic Range
USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11a, 11b
Availability
Sold at the Arboretum plant sales and more.
Height & Habit
This rounded shrub gets about 5’ x and 5 wide, densely branched with small foliage which is a gray-green.
Special Features
It is very drought tolerant.
It’s called Barometer Bush because it tends to bloom right after rainstorms. Also an Arboretum ALL STAR – its top 100 list of best performers for the region and deemed a Texas Superstar® by Texas A & M).
Why They Love It
This variety, which goes by both "Lynn’s Legacy" and "Lynn’s Everblooming" has a longer bloom season for us than some others. It can bloom quite profusely with lavender purple flowers. When in full bloom the flowers can completely obscure the foliage. It also blooms in late summer early fall, a time when you start to wonder if it will ever rain, so it’s refreshing to having something flowering.
Seasonal Appearance/Dormancy
Ever-gray
Advice
It can take shearing but I prefer the natural loose form
Salvia muirii "Wildesalie"
Drought Resilient
Plant Family
Lamiaceae
Genus
Salvia
Species
Salvia muirii "Wildesalie"
Salvia muirii is an evergreen perennial shrub native to limited areas east of the Cape of Good Hope and Mossel Bay on the southern coast of South Africa. It grows in an area influenced by the climate of the Indian Ocean, on rolling hills between 200 and 1000 feet elevation.
Water Use
Drought resilient
Conditions When It Thrives
This is a great drought-tolerant plant for full sun. We have it in some pretty hot spots with reflected heat, and it has also done well in part shade for us. We do have clay soil here, which, as long as it’s not in a low spot it should be fine.
Ecosystem Services
All salvias are great pollinator plants. This one, with its blue flowers is going to be good for bees.
Native To
South Africa
Geographic Range
Availability
While it’s not that common, some wholesale growers in CA produce it. It’s something worth seeking out.
Height & Habit
I’ve grown them from two diff sources, one grew taller and one lower, so there may be some variability but growing to two feet or less is average.
Special Features
Neat, compact, low-maintenance, distinctive pollinator-friendly flowers. Leaves are fragrant when crushed.
Why They Love It
This is a tidy little drought-tolerant plant with really pretty flowers .The foliage alone has a fine texture in a nice gray-green. What I really love is the flowers they are a beautiful blueberry blue with a little white on the lower “lip”. The flowers are so charming. I’m just a sucker for salvias.
Seasonal Appearance/Dormancy
Ever-gray
Advice
You don’t’ need to prune it unless it’s growing into a path - it‘s very low care.
Nolina nelsonii "Blue Nolina"
Drought Resilient
Plant Family
Asparagaceae
Genus
Nolina
Species
Nolina nelsonii "Blue Nolina"
Blue Nolina is a large blue-green succulent tree-like shrub in the asparagus family. It is slow-growing and very drought and heat tolerant. Plant it in the full fun in well-drained soil. Once it flowers the main plant dies back and a new plant forms at the base of the rosette. Its coarse texture adds a lot of drama to a low-water-use landscape.
Water Use
Very drought tolerant
Conditions When It Thrives
It grows best in full sun, but can tolerate partial shade and needs reasonable drainage.
Ecosystem Services
Bees love it when it flowers.
Native To
Mexico
Geographic Range
Availability
Definitely in the trade.
Height & Habit
In time it can develop a trunk. We’ve been growing ours for 8 or 9 years and haven’t gotten a trunk. In the shorter term, the leaves are maybe 4’ long. So maybe 4-5 tall and 8 feet wide.
Special Features
It’s very drought tolerant.
Over time, Blue nolina will bloom with the flower stalk emerging sometimes 5-6 feet above the rest of plant. There are male and female plants and if you are lucky enough to get a female, it’s almost like these tiny balloons. When it blooms the whole thing illuminates like a candle when backlit. Each individual flower is quite tiny, but collectively there’s this giant plume of them and becomes this amazing giant torch when backlit. They take a few years to bloom and may not bloom every year.
Why They Love It
Painless Desert Design – the Look of a Yucca Without the Barbs. It has beautiful gray-blue foliage that radiates out in this sculptural spiky form. It’s a rosette of spiky leaves that look similar to a yucca. However, the edges are not like sawblade and the points are not like daggers, so it’s easier to garden around them than some of the other desert-y succulents. It’s a very striking sculptural plant year-round.
Seasonal Appearance/Dormancy
It is ever-grey.
Advice
Erythrina x bidwillii "Shrub Coral Tree"
Biodiversity Boosters
Plant Family
Fabaceae
Genus
Erythrina
Species
Erythrina x bidwillii "Shrub Coral Tree"
A deciduous small tree or multi-stemmed shrub that can grow to as tall as 18 feet but is typically seen as an 8 foot shrub. It blooms continually on the new growth from spring through winter with peak flowering in summer months. The narrow 2" long dark red flowers are on long 2 foot long terminal racemes that arch out and above the foliage on 6 foot long stems. Water infrequently (Coastal) to regularly. Trim back after flowering and prune hard in winter to maintain shape. This plant inherits hardiness from its parentage (E. herbacea x E. crista-galli), being hardy to 20° F without damage and root hardy below this.
Water Use
Low Water Needs.
Conditions When It Thrives
It loves full sun. We water deeply every couple of weeks.
Ecosystem Services
Hummingbirds adore it.
Native To
It’s a hybrid between a South America tree and Eastern US herbaceous plant.
Geographic Range
Availability
This is harder to find right now. It’s not that easy to propagate, more of a collectors’ item, but I’m hoping more people will produce it.
Height & Habit
Arching stems can reach 6’ in a season.
Special Features
When the flower stalks dry, they achieve a kind of curly architecture. The naked stems have a really cool shape to them.
Why They Love It
It’s a coral tree relative, in the pea family. It has these flamboyantly beautiful red flowers that are great for hummingbirds, and this one has beautiful bright green foliage which is a great addition in a dry garden. It’s nice to have something contrasting that looks lush and green and tropical.
Seasonal Appearance/Dormancy
It dies back in winter, so we cut it back, basically coppicing it every year. It makes a rounded 6‘ tall, 8’ wide shrub by peak of summer. From late spring to fall it’s constantly pumping out these red flowers. The flowers look like pea flowers with a velvety texture in vivid red. They are highly, highly appealing. Its blooming in heat of the summer when a lot of other things look kind of tired. It’s a showstopper- when it’s in bloom people are always asking about it.
Advice
Cut to the ground in winter.