Mexican Whorled Milkweed* Ascelpias fascicularis

Spreading semi­deciduous perennial, commonly found in dry grassy meadows, with linear foliage. Flowers are greenish­white or purple, blooming from June to September. Interesting seed pods open and spill out hundreds of fine white hairs. An important food source plant for Monarch butterflies. Prefers sun to partial sun exposure.

Plant size is 3 feet high x 3 feet wide

St. Catherine's Lace+ Eriogonum giganteum

Native to San Clemente and Santa Catalina Islands, displays freely branching stems, with silver to grayish-white, broadly oval leaves, with magnificent white blooms throughout the summer. Blossoms are actually tiny, but grow in a cluster on long stems. Attractive to butterflies and in dry arrangements. Prefers sun exposure and well-drained, loose, gravelly soil. Useful to cover dry banks, among rocks.

Plant size is 6 feet high by 6 feet wide.

Heart-leaf Penstemon+ Keckiella cordifolia

Deciduous perennial vining shrub, with spiked clusters of orange­red tubular flowers on arching branches. Blooms from March to August. An important hummingbird plant, commonly found in canyons, hillsides, it prefers sun to partial sun exposure. Will remain evergreen with summer irrigation.

Plant size is 5 feet high by 8 feet wide.

Woolly Bluecurls*Trichostoma lanatum

Many branched, tidy plant with linear leaves, pungently aromatic when bruised. Blossoms are striking purple spikes, attractive to hummingbirds, showing from March to August, and longer if old flower stems are cut back. Flowers have a wooly appearance, with blue, purple, or whitish hairs. Requires excellent drainage and sunny hillside exposures. Does not like summer irrigation.

Plant size is 4 feet high by 4 feet wide.

Photo Credit:
* California Academy of Sciences, Charles Webber, 1998; Beatrice F. Howitt, 1999
+ St. Mary's College of California, Brother Alfred Brousseau, 1995, 1996

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