Symphyotrichum (Aster) chilense ‘Point Saint George’
A low-growing native perennial, reaching up to 1.5 feet in height and spreading widely and vigorously. Covered with soft lavender daisies over a long period, summer through fall and often into winter. Careful thought should be given to its placement as this plant really spreads. Far too vigorous for many settings, perhaps best used in planters, garden boxes or other contained areas or in large, naturalistic plantings. For sunny areas with at least a little summer water. Will tolerate flooding and periodic inundation. An excellent nectar source for bees and butterflies and seeds for birds.
Symphyotrichum (Aster) chilense ‘Purple Haze’
A wonderful selection of our native Pacific aster, chosen by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden for its deep lavender blossoms. Blooms late summer through fall and often into winter with one-inch daisies opening from dark purple buds. This plant SPREADS VIGOROUSLY by underground rhizomes, so works best when constrained by a planter or garden box or in a meadow planting. Excellent for areas needing soil stablization. The dense foliage grows quickly to 2-3 feet tall each spring, and can be annually pruned to the ground in winter. Tolerates many soil types and full sun to part shade. Requires minimal water, but occasional deep soaks keep it blooming longer. This easy to grow habitat plant will delight bees and butterflies.
Symphyotrichum (Aster) cordifolium ‘Little Carlow’
Quickly becoming a favorite, this aster has rich lavender-blue daisies starting in late summer and continuing through fall. Known to be a Symphyotrichum cordifolium hybrid hailing from the East Coast of North America. More constrained than our native Pacific aster, it is prolific bloomer with an upright habit that reaches 2-4 feet tall and wide. Best with regular to moderate water in full sun to part shade. It is highly attractive to all sorts of pollinators, especially butterflies.
Symphyotrichum (Aster) ericoides ‘Monte Cassino’
Eye-catching, cheerful, and easy to grow, 'Monte Cassino' is a particularly stunning selection of a species of American aster with a wide native range east of the Rockies. In late summer and early fall, this vigorous aster dazzles with dense sprays of delicate, white, daisy-shaped blooms. The lacy foliage remains low, but the cloud-like flower-stalks can shoot up 3-4 feet tall and wide. Makes for gorgeous cut flowers. Thrives in full sun to part shade with moderate water. Irresistable to bees and butterflies.
Symphyotrichum (Aster) foliaceum
Native to the western United States where it grows in open woods, mountain meadows and along streams at mid to high elevations. The erect flower stems hold daisies of light blue to violet blue with yellow centers, surrounded by leafy bracts. An important pollinator plant, offering pollen and nectar late in the season to bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. Grows 1 - 2 ft. tall from a leafy base that slowly increases. Prefers full sun with regular to moderate moisture. Winter deciduous.
Symphyotrichum (Aster) oblongifolium ‘Raydon’s Favorite’
This late-blooming American aster offers dazzling bright blue-purple daisies in late summer through fall. Forms a dense mound 2-3 feet tall, with flowers nearly covering the foliage when in full bloom. A fine, reliable selection of aromatic aster, a species native to the eastern half of the United States. A good choice for borders and other areas needing a compact splash of color. Plant in full sun and provide with moderate summer water to keep it looking its best. Highly attractive to bees and butterflies. Deer resistant.
Tanacetum bipinnatum (camphoratum)
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.
Tellima grandiflora
Fringe cups is a sweet native perennial for the shade garden. Slender flower stalks rise above the soft mounds of foliage 18 inches to 2 ft. The small, urn-shaped flowers have tiny fringed petals which open green and then age to pink. Seeds about in a nice way. Tolerates dry shade. Deer resistant.
Teucrium chamaedrys
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)
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.
Thalictrum fendleri v. polycarpum
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 - 5 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
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.
Tiarella trifoliata v. unifoliata
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
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.
Torreya californica
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.
Trautvetteria caroliniensis
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. 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 3 ft. 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.
Trichostema lanatum
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
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
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
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 ‘Corrina’
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’
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’
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’
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 a foot or more 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.