This woody shrub is native to Baja California. It has bright red duster-like flowers and pea-like leaves that attract bees and hummingbirds. It is a drought tolerant plant and loves full sun.

Coyote brush is a common native shrub that grows from the coastal regions, the central valley, and the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada. In fruit, these plants look as if they are covered in a cloud of fluff. These fluffs are actually a collection of seeds that are easily dispersed by the wind. There are many cultivars of the coyote bush in the gardens. How many can you find?

The coastal redwood is one of the most unique plants in California! It is an evergreen tree that can live to be around 2,200 years old or more. These trees can grow to be 379 feet and have a diameter of 26 feet. It best lives in coastal California and Oregon where the winters are cool and the summers are foggy. For their impressive size their cones are quite small.

This cultivar is smaller than one would expect for a flannelbush. It grows up to 3 feet and as wide as 6-8 feet. It's full of bight shiny green leaves that can cause some irritation when touched due to stellate hairs. It usually flowers from late winter to summer but can flower in the fall. The flowers of this cultivar lack the darker orange color on the edge of the flower.

This plant from the sunflower family is a shrub native to coastal southern California and northern Baja. It is part of the chaparral and coastal sage scrub communities, living on dry mesas, canyons, and slopes. The showy yellow flowers of this plant can be seen most of the year.

The boojum tree is often considered to be the strangest tree on Earth which is native to Baja California and part of the Sonoran desert. It has a single conical stem with numerous small twigs around the whole tree. While it can live for centuries, it grows very slowly and can take 10 to 20 years to reach one foot in height. The boojum tree usually loses its leaves in drought and develops more when it starts to rain. In late summer, it develops yellow tubular flowers towards the top of the tree which attract insects and birds.

These magnificent flowers grow on a woody perennial vine, and are typically white to light pink or purple. They occur on the Channel Islands as well as along the coast from Monterey County to Baja California. At the Garden, you can find them growing along the fence near the Cultivar Garden!

Part of the mustard family with its four sepals and four petals, this plant has a wide distribution in western North America! However, there are some varieties known to be endemics of California.

This vine is native to southern California. It has small white flowers and the fruit are round, green, and spiky!

A cypress tree with juniper "berries"!

This evergreen shrub is closely related to Lemonade Berry. It grows in dry canyons and slopes in the mountains of Southern California, Baja California, and Arizona. The fruit are edible, and the leaves have been used by the Cahuilla people to treat colds.

Common sunflowers are the tall plants with yellow flowers that greet you in the Wildflower Meadow when you first step into the garden. This species is native to much of North America where it has been cultivated by Indigenous Americans for thousands of years. The sunflowers you grow with giant flowers are this same species but selectively bred for bigger flowers and thus the bigger, tasty sunflower seeds you eat.

The sticky monkeyflowers are the only shrubby monkeyflowers in California and named for the often sticky leaves. These species have a wide variety of flower colors that are made even wider by cultivated hybrids. The garden has a nice sampling of both native species and cultivars derived from them. The most common color you'll see is orange but you can find flowers that are red or yellow. Try looking for them on the western portion of the loop trail in the CA plant communities garden.

Santa Catalina Island currant is a rare plant known from Santa Catalina Island, the southernmost parts of San Diego County, and Baja California. This currant is a common groundcover in shady areas of the garden. While the leaves of most currants are deciduous, this species has evergreen leaves making it suitable for gardeners who prefer not to have dormant, leafless plants in their garden part of the year.

The Joshua tree is an iconic member of the southern California flora. If you can't make it out to the desert, our garden is a perfect place to see these majestic plants! There are some particularly interesting examples in the California Habitats section of the garden.

Did you know that the California Floristic Province also includes part of Baja California in Mexico? Visit the Baja California section of the garden to see these beautiful pale blue palms and other species from the southernmost reaches of the California Floristic Province.

Beautiful any time of year due to their red bark and elegant form, manzanitas are most spectacular in the winter and early spring when in flower. There are ~35 species and even more cultivars of manzanita at California Botanic Garden. How many can you find?

One of the earliest blooming shrubs in the garden, the drooping inflorescence of pink flowers will later produce berries for the birds to eat. Also look for the very similar white-flowering current (Ribes indecorum), which has smaller white flowers without shades of pink.

The light purple colored pads of this cactus can add a beautiful contrast to the varying shades of greens of most cactus gardens. Come spring, the pops of fluorescent pink blossoms are a stand out sight. Although this prickly-pear cactus tends not to have spines, you still shouldn't touch it as it is covered in glochids. These small barbed bristles can be very irritating and difficult to remove once they have found their way into your skin!

Standing upright and branching, this cactus is found along rocky slopes of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Its yellow-green stems are covered with straw colored, overlapping spines. Flowering in spring, it will produce flowers that are bright yellow at the center and fade into a rich bronze color at the outer edges.

This spiny cactus gets its name from its round, flat pads, similar to pancakes in shape. Plants tend to be at least as broad as tall, from three to eight feet. Its beautiful yellow blossoms will bloom in May, followed by magenta colored, fleshy fruit. When ripe, the fruit can be picked and used in syrups, candy, jellies and, yes, ice cream! Be cautious when planting near borders as the spines and glochids are sharp and can be difficult to remove!

Its name is well deserved - smell the leaves and see why!

These sweet, small flowers are not really grasses at all! They are in the Iris family. In the wild, these flowers are usually blue - but sometimes can be white! Other species in the same genus have lovely yellow flowers.

For any gardener looking to attract hummingbirds, this is the perfect plant! Its dark pink, tubular flowers are known to be hummingbird pollinated. Aromatic, leathery leaves will ward off deer. This sage needs a bit more shade and water than the others but it is well worth the additional attention!

De la Mina verbena, also known as purple Cedros Island verbena, is a beautiful shrub with green wrinkled leaves and fragrant, rich purple blossoms that grow in clusters on long stems. It only grows naturally on Cedros Island, off the coast of Baja California. However, it can grow in well-drained soils in South-western and Southern U.S. This lovely plant blooms almost year round, grows fast, and is drought tolerant.

Bearing beautiful flowers and delicious fruit, blue elderberry is a shrub or tall tree with green leaves with little spikes, small cream or yellow flowers in clusters, and purple edible berries that are available in the Fall. Blue elderberry grows in moist places in a large region: from Oregon to Baja California, and eastward to West Texas. Butterflies and bees love elder flowers, and many different types of birds and other small animals love its fruit. Elderberries could also be eaten and made into drinks and dyes.

Also known as beloperone, the vibrant chuperosa is a shrub with green, succulent-like leaves and lots of long, tubular flowers that come in different shades of red or sometimes yellow. Hardy and beautiful, chuparosa grows in hot, dry, and sandy or rocky places in Southern California, Arizona, and North-western Mexico. This plant also attracts a lot of hummingbirds and other birds. In fact, its name “chuparosa” meant “hummingbird” in Spanish!

Deliciously fragrant, woolly blue curls is a shrub with bright green and narrow leaves and rich blue and purple, curly, and woolly flowers that grow on stalks. Though they tend to grow towards the coast in western parts of California, they grow in dry, sunny areas in California and Baja California. This plant is very attractive to hummingbirds. Bees and butterflies, like the Variable Checkerspot butterfly, love it too! Its leaves are also said to make a very delicious tea.

Bladderpod is a shrub with many branches, blue-green, circular leaves, and beautiful bright yellow flowers that grow in clusters. It tends to bloom year round and can be found from the coast to the deserts in Southern and Baja California. Named after its puffed up, edible seed pods, this hardy plant attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees. It also gives off an interesting fragrance that is a source of debate: some think the smell is pleasant while others think the complete opposite. Visit the bladderpod today and discover what you think of it!

The Channel Island tree poppy is a rare, tall shrub with beautiful, bright, and fragrant yellow flowers and smooth, silvery leaves. They grow fast in dry areas and they only grow naturally on the Channel Islands. Did you know that this drought-tolerant plants’ seeds germinate better after a fire?

Common and beautiful, the black sage is a shrub with dark green leaves and mildly fragrant purple, blue, or white flowers that are in raised clusters. It quickly grows in sunny and dry areas, especially near the coast, from Central California to Baja California. It also provides food for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, quail, and for us too! Black sage is famous for its honey. Sages are also famous for their medical properties; black sage has antimicrobial oils, is used to help with respiratory problems, is anti-inflammatory, and is used by Native Americans to treat arthritis.

This feathery ball of pink and white is actually a cluster of flowers. More interesting, whereas many flowers use bright colored petals or sepals to draw in pollinators, the fairy-duster has very small petals and uses the long, brightly colored stamens to attract pollinators.

The California brittlebush is hardy and tall with bright yellow flowers that form in clusters on thin stems. They can grow in a variety of places, including rocky or marshy areas, throughout California and Baja California. This perky plant grows fast, loves the sun, and is perfect for bees and butterflies like the Painted Lady.

A member of the mint family, coyote mint is a wildflower the size of a small shrub and has bright pink or purple flowers in round clusters and fragrant, crinkled leaves. They only naturally grow in California, in coastal, woodland, or rocky areas where they can get plenty of sun and enough shade and water. Coyote mint flowers and their fragrance attracts a lot of bees and a range of butterflies, including Mourning Cloak butterflies. Coyote mint can also be made into a strong mint tea and has been used by Native Americans to relieve sore throats, stomach aches, and respiratory issues.

Desert marigold and their tall, radiant yellow flowers are perfect pops of color in gardens. They thrive in dry, sunny, and rocky areas in the southwestern parts of the U.S. and in northern Mexico. Desert marigolds are not true marigolds (Tagetes spp.) but both are members of the aster family (Asteraceae).