Botanical Name
|
Common Name
|
Comments
|
FERNS |
Blechnum spicant |
Deer Fern |
**Native |
Cyrtomium fortunei |
Hardy Holly Fern |
**Bold, glossy foliage |
Dryopteris erythrosora |
Autumn Fern |
**Coppery new growth |
Polystichum munitum |
Western Sword Fern |
**Native |
Polystichum polyblepharum |
Tassle Fern |
** |
Polystichum setiferum |
Alaska Fern |
**Native |
GRASSES AND GRASS-LIKE PLANTS |
Carex glauca 'Blue Zinger' |
Blue Sedge |
Ever-blue colonizer |
Carex pensylvanica |
Pennsylvania Sedge |
No-mow woodland meadow |
Deschampsia caespitosa |
Tufted Hair Grass |
Native, showy inflorescence |
Festuca californica |
California Fescue |
CA Native, blue toned foliage, great under oaks |
Liriope spp. |
Lily Turf |
**Purple blooms in fall. L. spicata is a creeping/colonizing species that would be most aggressive |
Ophiopogon japonica |
Japanese Mondo Grass |
**Great en-masse, 'Dwarf' selection forms a carpet |
Reineckia carnea |
Chinese Reineckia |
**Unique pink blooms in fall |
PERENNIALS |
Acanthus mollis/spinosus |
Bears Breech |
Impressively tall flower spikes, bold foliage |
Ajuga reptans |
Bugleweed |
Purple/blue flowers, many colorful foliage selections |
Asarum spp. |
Wild Ginger |
**A few native species, plus others |
Aspidistra elatior |
Cast Iron Plant |
**Bold foliage, tough disposition |
Bergenia spp. |
Heartleaf Bergenia/Pigsqeak |
Bold, glossy foliage |
Brunnera macrophylla |
Siberian Bugloss/Heartleaf Brunnera |
**Early spring electric blue flowers |
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides |
Leadwort/Hardy Plumbago |
Blue flowers in fall + burgundy fall color |
Convallaria majalis |
Lily of the Valley |
**Toxic, there is a variegated form too! |
Cyclamen coum, hederifolium |
Hardy Cyclamen |
**Blooms late winter/spring, beautiful foliage |
Dicentra formosa |
Fringed Bleeding Heart |
**Native |
|
|
Epimedium spp. |
Bishop's Hat |
**Exquisite foliage flowers, so many species and cultivars |
Erigeron pulchellus |
Robin's Plantain/Fleabane |
'Lynhaven Carpet', mat forming Eastern Native, cute daisies |
Euphorbia amygdaloides |
Wood Spurge |
'Purpurea' and E. v. robbiae - chartreuse flowers |
Fragaria vesca |
Wild Strawberry (Alpine) |
**Alpine woodland native |
Galium odoratum |
Sweet Woodruff |
Classic cottagey groundcover |
Geranium spp. (like G. cantabrigiense and G. macrorrhizum) |
Hardy Geranium |
Scented species are usually deer resistant |
Helleborus spp. |
Lenten/ Christmas/Niger Rose |
**Late winter blooming, evergreen |
Hernaria glabra |
Rupturewort |
Great alternative to Irish/Scotch Moss |
Heuchera spp. and hybrids |
Coral Bells |
Too many colorful options to count, hummers love red flowers |
Hosta hybrids |
Hosta |
Stick w/green or blue leaf forms, get well established |
Hypericum calycinum |
St. John's Wort |
Yellow flowers, aggressive groundcover |
Iris chrysophylla, bracteata |
Yellowleaf and Siskiyou Iris |
Native, lovely spring ephemerals |
Lamium maculatum |
Dead nettle |
|
Lamiastrum g. 'Herman's Pride' |
Yellow Archangel/Dead Nettle |
Great frosted foliage |
Lysimachia nummularia |
Creeping Jenny |
|
Pachysandra terminalis |
Japanese Pachysandra |
**Evergreen ground cover |
Polygonatum odoratum |
Fragrant Solomon's Seal |
**Beautiful foliage |
Pulmonaria spp. and hybrids |
Lungwort |
Papery pink/blue flowers, spreading habit |
Rubus calcynoides |
Creeping Bramble/Raspberry |
Tough! |
Sedum s. 'Cape Blanco' |
Stonecrop |
Selection of native species, evergreen, great color |
Stachys coccinea |
Coral Hedgenettle |
Fragrant foliage, attracts hummers |
Vinca minor |
Periwinkle |
**Aggressive |
SHRUBS |
Arbutus unedo 'Compacta' |
Compact Strawberry Tree |
**Blooms and fruit ripens in fall |
Arctostaphylos ssp. |
Manzanita |
Many coastal species/selections tolerate part shade |
Aucuba japonica |
Japanese Aucuba |
** |
Berberis darwinii |
Darwin's Evergreen Barberry |
Great for wildlife |
Buxus spp. |
Boxwood |
** |
Carpenteria californica |
Bush Anemone |
Endemic to CA Sierra foothills, fragrant white blooms |
Ceanothus gloriosus |
Pt. Reyes Blue Blossom/Wild Lilac |
Attracts pollinators/birds |
Cephalotaxus harringtonia |
Japanese Plum Yew |
** |
Choisya ternata |
Mexican Orange |
Fragrant flowers |
Cotoneaster dammeri |
Bearberry |
|
Daphne spp. |
Daphne |
Fragrant flowers |
Elaeagnus ebbingei 'Gilt Edge' |
Variegated Silverberry |
**Fragrant flowers in fall, good wildlife plant |
Elaeagnus pungens 'Clemson's Variegated' and 'Hosoba Fukurin' |
Variegated Silverberry |
Fragrant flowers in fall, good wildlife plant |
Euonymous fortunei |
Winter creeper |
Many different variegated selections |
Fatshedera lizei |
Tree Ivy |
**Unique hybrid, upright, trainable in tough spots |
Fatsia japonica |
Japanese Aralia |
**Late fall blooms attract pollinators, tropical foliage |
Garrya elliptica, fremontii |
Silk-Tassel |
Native, winter blooming |
Hebe spp. |
Hebe |
Be sure to select only hardy species (Z 7 ) |
Holodiscus discolor |
Ocean Spray |
Native, excellent for wildlife |
Hydrangea quersifolia |
Oakleaf Hydrangea |
Toughest Hydrangea, Eastern native. Many seasons of interest - long lasting late summer blooms, fall color, peeling bark |
Ilex crenata |
Japanese Holly |
**Attracts pollinators |
Ilex spp. |
Holly |
|
Juniperus conferta |
Shore Juniper |
Great color/texture, A-typical for the genus |
Kerria japonica |
Kerria |
**Golden yellow blooms, green stems |
Mahonia spp. (M. aquifolium, M. nervosa, M. repens) |
Oregon Grape |
**Native, great for wildlife |
Mahonia hybrids |
Mahonia (like 'Charity' & 'Soft Caress') |
|
Myrica californica |
Pacific Wax Myrtle |
Coastal native, nitrogen fixing, wildlife |
Nandina domestica |
Heavenly Bamboo |
** |
Osmanthus heterophyllus |
Hollyleaf Osmanthus (great cultivars) |
**Fragrant flowers fall/winter, many cultivars |
Osmerea burkwoodii |
Burkwood False Holly |
Fragrant flowers |
Rhamnus californica |
CA Coffeeberry |
Coastal native, great for wildlife |
Rhamnus tomentella |
Hoary Coffeeberry |
Native to higher elevations, larger w/bluer foliage |
Ribes aureum |
Golden Currant |
Native, nice fall color |
Ribes nevadense |
Sierra Flowering Currant |
Native |
Ribes roezlii |
Sierra Gooseberry |
Native, thorny, cutest mini-fuchsia like flowers |
Ribes sanguineum |
Red Flowering Currant |
Native, super showy, hummers love |
Sarcococca spp. |
Sweetbox |
**Fragrant flowers in winter. S. hookeriana v. humilis colonizes and will be more vigorous |
Sorbaria sorbifolia |
Ural False Spirea |
Colonizer, great foliage |
Spirea betulifolia |
Birch Leaf Spirea |
Clay tolerant, white flowers, colorful foliage spring/fall. 'Tor' and 'Glow Girl' are great cultivars |
Symphoricarpos alba |
Snow Berry |
**Native, colonizer, good for wildlife |
Taxus x media |
Yew |
**Evergreen, many cultivars/shapes/sizes |
Viburnum davidii |
Viburnum davidii |
|
TREES |
Arbutus unedo |
Strawberry Tree |
|
Acer circinatum/glabrum |
Vine/Rocky Mountain Maple |
Native |
VINES |
Lonicera ciliosa |
Orange/Trumpet Honeysuckle |
Native, great for wildlife |
Trachelospermum asiaticum |
Asiatic Jasmine |
Ground cover vine |