California Gardening 307 Stories

Pretty fall flowers belie this plant's hardworking nature and relative tough attitude toward disease

Foliage Great Design Plant: Golden Breath of Heaven

Aromatic foliage as soft as an angel's wing makes this plant a blessing in any garden, but it's the vivid chartreuse color that's divine

California Native Plants Great Design Plant: Coast Live Oak

The stuff of legends and memories, this California tree is one to build a whole landscape around

Gardening Guides California Gardener's December Checklist

Let California's version of holly brighten the winter landscape — or consider another holiday performer from the whole host of choices

Red Foliage Great Design Plant: Chinese Pistache

Versatile and easygoing, this tree puts on a guaranteed fall spectacle in the landscape

Trees Great Design Plant: Arbutus 'Marina'

Twisted trunks and snazzy fruit bring wild, all-year beauty to the garden — just keep this small tree away from the lawn

Fall Gardening Great Design Plant: Rock Cotoneaster

Adaptable and highly tolerant, this branching plant makes a terrific ground cover and cutting source

Foliage Great Design Plant: Conebush

Sporting vivid shades of foliage, this drought-tolerant shrub fills a garden background or a vase with equal aplomb

Flowers Great Design Plant: Carol Mackie Daphne

By Jocelyn H Chilvers

With a sweet, strong fragrance and white flowers that fade to pink, this garden standout has feminine wiles to match its name

Foliage Great Design Plant: Foxtail Fern

Not actually a fern, this vivid member of the asparagus family has a distinctive appearance to awaken a garden year-round

Spring Gardening Great Design Plant: Russian Sage

Silvery stems in winter and a haze of purple blooms in spring and summer make this spiky plant a year-round performer in the garden