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Tanacetum bipinnatum (camphoratum)  dune tansy
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Tanacetum bipinnatum (camphoratum)

(dune tansy)

Native to sand dunes from the Bay Area north, this shrubby evergreen groundcover spreads quickly to create drifts of soft fern-like foliage. Yellow, button-shaped flowers form small clusters atop stalks up to 2 ft. tall. Enjoys full sun to light shade. Tolerant of clay soils and excessive moisture but will thrive with only occasional water once established. Reducing irrigation can temper this tansy's somewhat aggressive nature.  Dune tansy has a strong scent of camphor and is valued for its medicinal uses. Beautiful when combined with ceanothus, Douglas iris and other plants from our coastal areas. Good for erosion control.
Tauschia kelloggii  umbrellawort
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Tauschia kelloggii

(umbrellawort)

Plant description coming soon.
Taxus brevifolia  Pacific yew
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Taxus brevifolia

(Pacific yew)

Plant description coming soon.
Tellima grandiflora  fringe cups
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Tellima grandiflora

(fringe cups)

Fringe cups is a sweet native perennial for the shade garden. Many small, urn-shaped flowers with tiny fringed petals open green and age to pink, line the slender flower stalks. These rise above the soft mounds of foliage 18 inches to 2 ft. Seeds about in a nice way. Tolerates dry shade. Deer resistant.
Teucrium chamaedrys  germander
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Teucrium chamaedrys

(germander)

Tough, neat looking evergreen shrublet-good for hot dry places. Excellent edging for herb gardens. Grows 1 ft. tall by 2 ft. wide. Dark green foliage topped with light magenta flowers in spikes. Shear after blooming. Deer seem to leave it alone. Bee favorite.
Teucrium cossonii (majoricum)  Majorcan teucrium
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Teucrium cossonii (majoricum)

(Majorcan teucrium)

A beautiful little shrublet that hugs the ground to 2 ft. or more wide. Narrow gray-green foiage is topped with dense clusters of rosy-lavender flowers, nearly the entire growing season. Requires decent drainage with moderate to occasional summer water once established. Great rock garden plant. Pollinator friendly and deer resistant.  
Teucrium fruticans 'Azureum' bush germander
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Teucrium fruticans 'Azureum'

(bush germander)

Upright silver foliaged evergreen shrub with wonderful azure blue flowers most of the summer.  Good for sunny dry areas where they combine nicely with other drought tolerant plants such as lavenders, rock roses, Phlomis, etc. Grows to about 3 - 4 ft. tall and wide. Teucriums are bee favorites. Deer resistant.

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Teucrium fruticans - Cal Flora Form

(bush germander)

The silvery-white leaves and lavender-blue flowers of the bush germander make it a popular and sturdy choice for dificult situations where heat and drought make gardening dificult. This compact selection of bush germander only gets to about 5 ft. tall and wide. The flowers bloom almost year round and are a pollinator favorite. Plant in full sun to light shade with decent drainage. Responds well to shearing. Fire resistant. Dependably deer resistant.
Thalictrum fendleri v. polycarpum  meadow rue
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Thalictrum fendleri v. polycarpum

(meadow rue)

This native meadowrue has charm and adds a delicate, graceful quality to a woodland setting. Finely cut bluish-green foliage unfurls from purplish shoots. The tiny unisexual flowers are produced atop 2 - 4 ft. tall stalks on separate plants. The male flowers are showier with dangling cream-colored stamens; the females are clusters of greenish pistils. Useful in the woodland garden where it will thrive with some summer water or manage on winter rainfall. One way or the other it goes dormant in late summer where it can be allowed to go dry. Group several plants for best effect.
Thuja plicata  Western red cedar
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Thuja plicata

(Western red cedar)

This stately conifer with deep green, scale-like needles and cinnamon-red bark, makes its home on the northern coast of California all the way up to Alaska. A large tree over time, eventually reaching up to 90 ft. tall in the garden and higher in its native habitat. The needle-covered branches hang gracefully in fern-like cascades. Looks best when the branches are allowed to touch the ground when young, allowing its elegant conical shape to be fully utilized. One of the most shade tolerant of our native conifers, but will be happy in full sun, except in hot, interior climates. Needs moderate to occasional irrigation. Tolerates moist soil. One way to identify this species from the other native cedars is by the white butterfly shape on the back of the needles, created by stomatal bloom.
Thymus  'Pink Chintz' pink chintz thyme
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Thymus 'Pink Chintz'

(pink chintz thyme)

This aromatic, low growing, mat forming perennial, has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Merit. Creeping and cascading habit, the small green woolly leaves form a flat carpet a couple inches high by 18 inches wide. Mid spring brings a froth of tiny lavender-pink flowers highly attractive to pollinators. Excellent small scale ground cover for sun to very light shade and moderate to occasional summer watering. Useful between steeping stones or areas with occasional foot traffic. Drought and deer resistant.   
Thymus leucotrichus  juniper thyme
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Thymus leucotrichus

(juniper thyme)

From the mountains of Greece comes this distinctive thyme with aromatic, gray, needle-like leaves. Forms a low mat under 6 inches tall and spreading 12 inches or so wide. Late spring brings a froth of rosy pink flowers, which are popular with the pollinators, especially honey bees. A sturdy, small scale, drought tolerant ground cover for well draining soils in full sun to light shade, accepting moderate to occasional irrigation. A natural for rock gardens, troughs or decorative containers, where it will spread and spill. Deer resistant.

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Thymus necefferi

(juniper thyme)

An interesting and different thyme with gray needle-like leaves giving it an almost juniper-like appearance.  Grows perfectly flat and spreading a foot to 18 inches wide. Mauve-pink flowers top the fragrant foliage in late spring and are attractive to bees. Plant in full sun to light shade with moderate to a little summer water.  Deer resistant.  
Thymus pseudolanuginosus  woolly thyme
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Thymus pseudolanuginosus

(woolly thyme)

A small scale ground cover forming a dense carpet of tiny, gray, woolly, aromatic leaves. Excellent to spill over a bank, in rock crevices or between stepping stones. This form of thyme rarely blooms or is very shy to bloom. Requires good drainage, full sun to light shade and moderate to occasional watering.  

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Thymus pseudolanuginosus 'Hall's Woolly'

(woolly thyme)

Admired in a friend’s garden where the low profusely blooming carpet would be a “buzz” with pollinators. Vigorous spreading groundcover of woolly gray leaves 2 - 3 inches tall by 3 ft. wide. Flowers heavily with a multitude of tiny lavender-pink flowers. Fabulous small scale groundcover spilling over a bank or raised bed. Sun to very light shade, moderate water. Deer resistant.
Thymus serpyllum 'Coccineus' red creeping thyme
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Thymus serpyllum 'Coccineus'

(red creeping thyme)

Low growing, mat forming perennial with small dark green aromatic leaves. Tiny reddish-pink flowers cover this ground cover in late spring and are bee favorites. Easy to grow in full sun with dryish conditions to moderate watering. Useful as a small scale ground cover, rock garden plant or between stepping stones. Deer resistant.
Thymus serpyllum 'Elfin' creeping thyme
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Thymus serpyllum 'Elfin'

(creeping thyme)

A very cute miniature thyme growing really low, tight and dense, hugging the ground with tiny aromatic grayish-green foliage. Soft pink flower clusters barely rise above the flat mat. Grow in full sun to a little shade in well-drained soils with moderate summer water. Great in containers too.
Tiarella trifoliata v. unifoliata  sugarscoop, foamflower
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Tiarella trifoliata v. unifoliata

(sugarscoop, foamflower)

The native sugar-scoop makes an attractive groundcover in a shady spot with some moisture. Blooms in early summer with spikes of little white stars; seed pods are shaped like little scoops. Removing spent flower stalks often prompts reblooming. Native to the dark and damp forest floor of northern California. A sweet addition to the woodland garden where there is summer moisture.
Tolmiea menziesii  piggyback plant
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Tolmiea menziesii

(piggyback plant)

This western native of house plant fame, makes an attractive addition to the woodland garden. Lush looking, deep green leaves produce new plantlets at the junction of the leaf stalk and blade giving it its common name of piggyback plant. Tiny reddish-brown flowers are produced on 1 ft. stems are interesting though not terribly showy. Looks great as a small scale ground cover, in walls or containers. Needs filtered light and regular moisture.
Tolmiea menziesii 'Taff's Gold' golden piggy-back plant
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Tolmiea menziesii 'Taff's Gold'

(golden piggy-back plant)

An excellent foliage plant for shady spaces, this selection of the native piggy-back plant can light up a dark spot with its gold-speckled foliage. Tiny maroon flowers on slender stalks in spring are interesting though not super showy. The foliage doesn't reach more than a foot high with the flower stalks rising up to 2 ft. This plant has an unusual method of reproduction. New plants grow from the center of the scalloped leaves, hence the common names "piggy-back plant" and "youth on age". Needs shade with regular moisture. Tolerates root competition, making it a great plant for under redwoods. Wonderful in containers too.
Torreya californica  California nutmeg
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Torreya californica

(California nutmeg)

Rarely seen in cultivation, this unusual conifer is endemic to California. Found in the coast ranges and foothills of the Sierra Nevada, where it is scattered here and there, usually in cool habitats of canyons and steep ravines. Growing at a leisurely pace 15 to 40 ft. tall with dark- green, stiff, rather broad needles. Male and female flowers occur on separate trees, with cream colored pollen cones on the males and unusual plum-like fruits on the females, which become purplish with age. Does well in part shade with moderate to little watering.  Useful as a specimen tree or pruned into a hedge. An excellent container plant too.  
Toxicoscordion fremontii  Fremont's star lily
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Toxicoscordion fremontii

(Fremont's star lily)

Description coming soon!
Trautvetteria caroliniensis  false bugbane
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Trautvetteria caroliniensis

(false bugbane)

From moist woodlands in mountainous areas of northern California comes this lush and verdant buttercup relative. Large, serrated, palmate leaves up to 8 inches wide spread densely across the ground on slender stems up to 1 ft. high. In summer through early fall, icy white flowers made up of thin filaments form flat topped clusters up to 5 inches wide. These delicate flowers sit atop stems reaching up to 2ft. high. Plant in moist areas with part to full shade. The leaves will die down in winter only to re-emerge in spring. While very rare in California, false bugbane is more common in other parts of the country. Our form comes from the Siskiyou Mountains of northern California.

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Trichostema 'Midnight Magic'

(hybrid blue curls)

An interesting hybrid introduced by Suncrest Nursery. A cross between the California native woolly blue curls (T. lanatum) and a Mexican species (T. purpusii), a pink flowering shrub thought to be extinct in the wild. The resulting hybrid forms a compact, rounded shrub 3-5 ft. tall with dark green, lightly aromatic leaves. Showy spikes of purple flowers with long curved stamens, bloom over a long period, late spring through fall, a delight to bees and hummingbirds. Plant in full sun with good drainage and moderate to occasional summer water. Hardy to around 25-30 degrees. 
Trichostema lanatum  woolly blue curls
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Trichostema lanatum

(woolly blue curls)

Woolly blue curls is a much sought after evergreen shrub with pungent, dark green, narrow leaves and spectacular flower spikes. Grows up to 5 ft tall and often wider, and blooms over a long period.  Blue-purple to pink flowers, covered in purple hairs with protruding, long, curving stamens are a sight to behold. Native to coastal scrub and chaparral communities from Monterey county to northern Baja. Requires full sun, good drainage and is drought tolerant once established. Avoid regular irrigation, fertilizer and organic mulches. Pollinated by hummingbirds and visited by bumblebees and butterflies. Deer resistant.
Trientalis latifolia  star flower
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Trientalis latifolia

(star flower)

Shade loving native perennial, inhabiting open woods from San Luis Obispo County to British Columbia. Forming small colonies from underground tuberous rootstock. Slender stems rise 6 inches tall with a whorl of neat leaves at the top of the erect stems. Dainty pink star-shaped flowers are suspended above the leaves on thread-like pedicels. Flourishes in loose, woodsy, acidic soils in lightly shaded areas. Thrives with the spring rains, then goes dormant in the summer dry period. A charming addition to the shade garden.
Trillium  chloropetalum  giant Trillium
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Trillium chloropetalum

(giant Trillium)

The beautiful and distinctive giant Trillium is an elegant addition to the woodland garden.Native to coastal and interior open forests and woodlands of the San Francisco Bay Area and North Coast Ranges.Emerges in February with three broad leaves surrounding a leafless stem 10-18 inches tall. A single large flower arises directly from the whorl of leaves and can vary from white, pink, to maroon red. The leaves often have green or maroon mottling. After flowering it dies back to the ground. Prefers the dappled light of a woodland setting with humusy well drained soil and some summer moisture.
Triteleia hyacinthina  white brodiaea
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Triteleia hyacinthina

(white brodiaea)

One of the easier to grow native bulbs that adapts well to garden conditions. Native to vernally moist areas that become summer dry in the Coast Ranges, Central Valley and Sierra Nevada into southwestern Oregon. Slender flowering stems rise one to two feet above the narrow leaves, with umbels of white, star-shaped flowers with green centers. If happy, the corms will multiply, forming drifts among grasses and shrubs and in open woodland settings. Easy to grow in containers, where they can be stashed in the shade once they go dormant. Bee and butterfly favorite.
Triteleia laxa 'Aquarius' double-flowered Ithuriel's spear
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Triteleia laxa 'Aquarius'

(double-flowered Ithuriel's spear)

Description coming soon!
Triteleia laxa 'Corrina' Ithuriel's spear
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Triteleia laxa 'Corrina'

(Ithuriel's spear)

A beautifully dark flowered form of our Ithuriel’s spear, with flowers a darker blue-purple than the more common ‘Queen Fabiola’. The trumpet-shaped flowers form circular clusters at the top of slender stalks 12 to 18 inches high. This easy to grow bulb sends up slender, grass-like leaves in late winter followed by the striking flowers in late spring. Multiplies readily forming colorful drifts which mix well with grasses and smaller perennials. Tolerant of pretty much all soil types and can be allowed to dry out completely in summer when it goes dormant. Unlike most grassland bulbs, this species will also tolerate moderate irrigation. Plant in full sun to light shade. Attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Triteleia laxa 'Queen Fabiola' Ithuriel's spear
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Triteleia laxa 'Queen Fabiola'

(Ithuriel's spear)

Trumpets of bluish-purple blossoms make a dazzling display at the height of spring on this easily grown lily relative. The showy flowers rise up to 18 inches tall in dense whorls on slender stalks above grasslike leaves. The small bulbs increase rapidly to form small, colorful drifts. Give full sun to light shade. Tolerant of dry conditions but accepts occasional irrigation. Will go dormant by mid-summer but reemerges in early winter. Attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Plant in openings between low, evergreen plants or in meadows with yarrow, California fuchsia and grasses. 
Triteleia laxa 'Rudy' Ithuriel's spear
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Triteleia laxa 'Rudy'

(Ithuriel's spear)

An interesting flower color variation of this easy to grow native bulb. Grasslike blades 12 - 18 inches tall produce flower stems with large clusters of showy, funnel-shaped, pale blue-lavender blossoms with a vivid violet stripe down the center of each petal. An eye catching addition to a naturalistic planting, in sun to light shade. A willing grower which will multiply if happy. Enjoys dry conditions once done flowering, but will accept some moisture. Good container subject. Attracts bees, hummingbirds and butterflies.
Triteleia laxa 'Silver Queen' Ithuriel's spear
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Triteleia laxa 'Silver Queen'

(Ithuriel's spear)

A white form of Ithuriel’s spear?! We kid you not. You may be familiar with this species and its traditionally blue-purple, trumpet-shaped flowers perched in whorls atop stalks up to a foot tall. We now have a selection featuring soft white flowers. This native bulb sends up grass-like foliage in the winter followed by the charming flowers in spring and early summer. The bulbs multiply readily, forming small colonies over time. While it tolerates dry conditions in summer, it will also accept occasional irrigation, making it very useful in the garden. Enjoys full sun to light shade and will tolerate clay soil. 
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