Red Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum) is a stunning fast-growing native shrub for shady areas. It grows upright with a vase shape, 6 to 8 feet high and 6 to 10 feet wide. Its dangling tassel-like flowers are dark pink to red and emerge in winter through spring. With its broad bright green leaves, it is useful as a background plant under oaks or other trees. The fruit is a dark purple oval berry.

Red Flowering Currant will grow in rocky and acidic soil and prefers good drainage. Near the coast it is flexible as to water and exposure. Inland it prefers more water and shade.

Hummingbirds love the flowers and the plant hosts several butterfly species. Birds love the seeds.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers part shade in coastal sites, and part shade or shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers part shade in coastal sites, and part shade or shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden.

Grows best in sandy, coarse-grained or other fast draining soil. Prefers part shade in coastal sites, and part shade or shade in inland sites. Selection from the pacific Northwest.

Grows best in sandy, coarse-grained or other fast draining soil. Prefers part shade in coastal sites, and part shade or shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden.

Pink-flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum var. glutinosum), also known as Blood Currant, is a fast-growing shrub with beautiful pendant pink flowers that bloom from winter to spring. This variety, primarily found along the coast and in the Coast Ranges of California, grows upright with a vase-shaped form, reaching up to 10 feet in height and 6 feet in width. The fruit is a dark purple, oval berry, edible but with an insipid taste, making it more suitable for birds.

It thrives in part sun to shade and well-draining acidic soil but adapts to a variety of soils. While it needs some summer water in hot inland areas, it is more drought-tolerant near the coast. This shrub attracts hummingbirds and insects, while its berries are enjoyed by fruit-eating birds. It also hosts up to 80 species of butterflies and moths.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers part shade in coastal sites, and part shade or shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden. Introduced by Rancho santa Ana Botanic Garden.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers part shade in coastal sites, and part shade or shade in inland sites. Selected by Roger Raiche on Inverness Ridge in Marin Co.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers part shade in coastal sites, and part shade or shade in inland sites. Introduced by Native sons Nursery from seedling on their property.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers part shade in coastal sites, and part shade or shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers part shade in coastal sites, and part shade or shade in inland sites. Selection from Tranquillon Ridge in santa Barbara, under bishop pines. Introduced by Native sons Nursery.

Redflower Currant (Ribes sanguineum var. sanguineum) is a native shrub that grows in Central and Northern California, primarily in the North Coast, the Klamath Mountain Range and North Coast Range regions. It tends to grow at elevations from 1000-7200 feet.

Fuchsia flowered gooseberry (Ribes speciosum) is a deciduous shrub in the Gooseberry family (Grossulariaceae). It has small, dark green, glossy leaves and thorns along the branches. The beautiful fuchsia-red flowers hang down in abundance from the branches throughout the bush. The tube-shaped flowers with their protruding stamens and stigmas look a little like red-dressed ballerinas dancing in a line.

The flowers attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and moths. Birds and other small mammals enjoy eating the berries. The numerous thorns make it unpalatable for deer. Fuchsia flowered gooseberries naturally grow in Coastal Sage Scrub, Chaparral, and shady Woodlands. It prefers growing in the shade of oaks or larger shrubs, in seasonally moist locations. In the garden, plant it behind evergreen perennials or low shrubs, to hide the bare stems in summer. Site it away from walkways to avoid getting scratched by the thorns. The long-blooming, spectacular flowers make this shrub worth the months of bare stems and thorns. 

Tolerates almost any soil type. Selected for the garden.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Selected for the garden.

Ribes thacherianum, with the common name Santa Cruz gooseberry, or Santa Cruz Island gooseberry, is a rare North American species of currant found only on one island off the coast of California. Ribes thacherianum is endemic to Santa Cruz Island, one of the northern Channel Islands of California, and within Channel Islands National Park. It grows in the pine woodlands of the coastal ravines.

Catalina currant (Ribes viburnifolium) is an evergreen shrub with handsome, aromatic, dark green leaves. Small clusters of rose pink flowers bloom in late winter to mid spring, followed by small red fruits later in the spring.  This moderate to fast-growing shrub has an open wide-spreading form, growing 3 to 4 feet tall and spreading to 6 feet wide.  It may be pruned to restrain its sprawling tendencies

It will grow in part shade to shade, is adaptable to various soil types and takes occasional to moderate water. It is a good choice for planting underneath an oak canopy, growing low to the ground and extending long reddish stems horizontally where the tips may root and establish new growth centers.  The plant yields small red fruits later in the spring that attract birds. Catalina currant hosts a large number of butterflies and moths. Hummingbirds and insects are attracted to the flowers. 

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers shade in coastal sites, and shade in inland sites. Selected from spooner's Mesa (san Diego County) along the Tijuana River estuary near Mexico by Dylan Hannon.

Ribes viscosissimum is a North American species of currant known by the common name sticky currant. It is native to western Canada and the western United States from British Columbia and Alberta south as far as California, Arizona, and Colorado. Ribes viscosissimum grows in mountain forests, streambanks, and plateau sagebrush. It is a spreading to erect shrub growing one to two meters (40-80 inches) in height, its stem coated in sticky glandular hairs but lacking spines and bristles. It is resinous and fragrant. The highly glandular leaves have thick, rough blades divided into 3 rounded, toothed lobes, the lobes about the same size rather than having the middle lobe larger than the others as in some related species. The blades may be 8 centimeters (3. 2 inches) long, borne on petioles up to 10 centimeters (4 inches) in length. The inflorescence is an erect or drooping raceme of several flowers clustered together. Each flower has a bell-shaped coat of five whitish, greenish, or pink-tinged sepals which spread at the tips into a corolla-like array, sometimes becoming reflexed. Inside are whitish petals surrounding the stamens and stigmas. The fruit is an edible blue-black berry a centimeter (0. 4 inch) long or longer.

Also known as the baldhip or dwarf rose, the wood rose is a woodland shrub that grows best in shady or sun-dappled areas. Delicate, fragrant blooms in shades of pink and lavender are flat and open-faced. The stems are covered in long, straight spines and vibrant green leaves.

The flowers attract butterflies and bees. After blooming, the hips are a food source for birds. The wood rose is a good plant selection for a waterwise dry shade garden. It is drought tolerant and has low water requirements.

Rosa minutifolia is a rare species known by the common names Baja rose and small-leafed rose. This is a very spiny, dense shrub native to the chaparral and maritime succulent scrub plant communities of Baja California and barely crossing the border into San Diego County where it's habitat has been almost completely destroyed. It is being propagated at the San Diego Botanic Garden as a conservation measure, and it is grown elsewhere as an ornamental. The branches of the shrub are gray to red-tinted and covered in long and short spines. The shiny toothed leaves are composed of small leaflets only about half a centimeter wide. The blooms are generally bright pink with many yellow-anthered stamens and masses of prickles on the undersides. It is slow growing and individual plants remain fairly compact, unlike other wild roses. Though very drought tolerant, it accepts some summer water and will often bloom in response. It has a very long flowering season; with supplemental water it is essentially year round. It's a good choice for drought tolerant gardens especially in the southern coastal counties.

The Nootka Rose, Rosa nutkana, is a rose which is native to the Pacific Northwest. It takes its name from the Nuu-chah-nulth people, who are commonly though incorrectly known also as the Nootka. In California it is most commonly found near the coast from Sonoma County to Del Norte County. Like other wild roses, it prefers moist areas and will become a large, impenetrable thicket. The spines can be rather dangerous so don't plant near walkways. One plant association in which this rose occurs is the Ponderosa shrub forest.

Woods' Rose (Rosa woodsii) is a native shrub that grows in Northern, Southern and Central California, primarily in mountainous areas including the Cascades, Sierra Nevada and Transverse Ranges. It is fast growing and long-lived, grows in an upright form to a height of 3 feet, with active growth during the spring and summer. Flowers are pink, striking and very fragrant, and bloom in the late spring. Leaves are medium green and deciduous. It tends to grow in moist places, at elevations from 3500-11500 feet. It has straight sharp thorns.

Woods' Rose needs moisture, but once established can be watered once a month in the summer. It tolerates clay but does best in moist loamy soil. Because of the spines and its tendency to sprawl, it can be pruned annually in winter.

Birds are attracted to the fruits, and Woods? Rose hosts a number of butterflies & moths, a likely total of 58.

Rubus glaucifolius is a North American species of wild raspberry known by the common name San Diego raspberry. It is native to Oregon and California, where it grows in mountain forests. Rubus glaucifolius is a tangling shrub with very slender, lightly prickly stem spreading and branching outward. The leaves are each made up of usually three lobed, toothed leaflets, sometimes five. Each leaflet is veined and wrinkly in texture, white on the underside because of a waxy coating along the surface, and up to 5 centimeters (2 inches) long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower or an array of a few flowers with five reflexed sepals and five white petals each about half a centimeter long. The fruit is a lightly hairy red raspberry.

Rubus idaeus (Raspberry; occasionally as European Raspberry, Framboise, or Red Raspberry to distinguish it from related species) is a species of Rubus, native to Europe and northern Asia. A closely related plant in North America, formerly often regarded as a variety Rubus idaeus var. strigosus, is now usually treated as a distinct species Rubus strigosus (American Raspberry). It is a perennial plant which bears biennial stems ("canes") from the perennial root system. In its first year, a new stem grows vigorously to its full height of 1.5-2.5 meter, unbranched, and bearing large pinnate leaves with five or seven leaflets; normally it does not produce any flowers. In its second year, the stem does not grow taller, but produces several side shoots, which bear smaller leaves with three or five leaflets. The flowers are produced in late spring on short racemes on the tips of these side shoots, each flower about 1 centimeter diameter with five white petals. The fruit is red, edible, sweet but tart-flavoured, produced in summer or early autumn; in botanical terminology, it is not a berry at all, but an aggregate fruit of numerous drupelets around a central core. In raspberry, as in other species of the subgenus Idaeobatus, the drupelets separate from the core when picked, leaving a hollow fruit, whereas in blackberry the drupelets stay attached to the core.

Rubus lasiococcus is a species of wild blackberry known by the common names roughfruit berry and dwarf bramble. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to northern California, where it grows in mountain forests. In the southern half of its range the plant is commonly found in a plant community in the understory of mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) and Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica var. shastensis). Rubus lasiococcus is a tangling, prostrate shrub with very slender stolons spreading along the ground and rooting where their nodes come in contact with moist substrate, forming a mat. Some stems grow erect to bear flowers. The leaves are each deeply divided into three lobes, or compound into three toothed leaflets, borne on a petiole a few centimeters long. The inflorescence is a solitary flower or a pair of flowers with five reflexed sepals and five white petals each just under a centimeter (0. 4 inch) long. The fruit is a densely hairy red aggregate less than a centimeter (<0. 4 inch) wide.

Rubus leucodermis (Blackcap Raspberry, Black Raspberry, or Whitebark Raspberry, and native: Blue Raspberry) is a species of Rubus native to western North America, from British Columbia, Canada south to California, New Mexico and Mexico. It is closely related to the eastern Black Raspberry Rubus occidentalis. It is a deciduous shrub growing to 0.5-2 meter tall, with thorny shoots. While the crown is perennial, the canes are biennial, growing vegetatively one year, flowering and fruiting the second and then dying. Like with other dark raspberries, the tips of the 1st year canes (primocanes) often grow downward to the soil in the fall, and take root and form tip layers which become new plants. The leaves are pinnate, with five leaflets on leaves strong-growing stems in their first year, and three leaflets on leaves on flowering branchlets with white, seldom light purple flowers. The fruit is 1-1.2 centimeter diameter, reddish-purple, dark blue to nearly black when ripe, and has high contents of anthocyanins and ellagic acid.

Rubus nivalis, commonly known as snow raspberry, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family. It is native to northwestern North America: British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, and far northern California. Rubus nivalis is a small, prickly shrub up to 15 cm (6 inches) tall, with stems creeping along the ground. Leaves are evergreen, sometimes simple (non-compound) but sometimes compound with 3 leaflets. Flowers are pink or magenta. Fruit is red with only 3-10 drupelets.

Booth's Willow (Salix boothii) is a uncommon native shrub that grows in central and northern California. It is fast growing and moderately long-lived. It grows in an upright form to a height of 24 feet, with active growth during the spring and summer. Flowers are green and bloom in the late spring. Leaves are medium green and deciduous. It tends to grow in wet meadows and shores, at elevations from 0-11300 feet.

Salix breweri is a species of willow known by the common name Brewer's willow. It is endemic to California, where it can be found in the serpentine soils of the Coast Ranges in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a riparian shrub growing one to four meters in height. The yellowish or reddish brown stems are lightly hairy in texture, the small twigs coated in velvety fibers. The leaves are generally lance-shaped, smooth-edged or gently toothed, and partially rolled under along the edges. The leaves are hairy, with the lower surfaces often quite woolly. Mature leaves may be 14 centimeters long or more. The inflorescence is a catkin which develops before the plant produces leaves. The catkins are up to 5 or 6 centimeters long, the female ones lengthening further as the fruits develop.

Salix exigua (Sandbar Willow) is a deciduous shrub reaching 13 to 23 feet in height. The leaves are narrow, green, to grayish with silky white hairs when young. The flowers emerge as yellow or white catkins in late spring, after the leaves appear. The fruit is a cluster of capsules, each containing numerous minute seeds embedded in shiny white silk.

Like most willows, Sandbar Willow it is moisture-loving. It will tolerate a variety of soils and poor drainage. It grows in full sun and spreads by shoots to form dense colonies so it will eventually spread to occupy any wet soil that it can reach. Use with other wetland trees, shrubs and grasses.

It is host to a wide variety of pollinators, including butterflies, moths, and some gall-forming wasps. Some birds, such as the Least Bell's Vireo and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, prefer to nest in large, dense willow thickets.

Sandbar Willow (Salix hindsiana) is a native tree or shrub that grows in northern, southern and central California. It tends to grow at elevations from 0-5500 feet.

Goodding's Black Willow (Salix gooddingii) is a common native tree that grows throughout the state in wetland areas. It has a moderate growth rate and is moderately long-lived. It grows in an upright form to a height of 15-40 feet, with active growth during the spring and summer. Flowers are green and bloom in the early spring. Leaves are medium green and deciduous. It tends to grow in streamsides, at elevations from sea level to 2,000 feet. It performs in a wide variety of locations, from the south coast to the central valley and perennial streams in desert areas. It tolerates some alkalinity and salinity as well as generally poor water quality. Due to its size and water requirements, this is not a common garden tree but is useful in restoration projects, bioswales, and other constructed wetlands. Like other willows it is an important wildlife plant.

Salix hookeriana is a species of willow known by the common names dune willow, coastal willow, and Hooker's willow. The plant is native to the west coast of North America from Alaska to northern California, where it grows in coastal habitat such as beaches, marshes, floodplains, and canyons. S. hookeriana is a shrub or tree growing up to 8 m (26 ft) tall, sometimes forming bushy colonial thickets. The leaves are up to 11 cm long, generally oval in shape, wavy along the edges, and hairy to woolly in texture with shiny upper surfaces. The inflorescence is a catkin of flowers up to 9 cm long, with the female catkins growing longer as the fruits develop. This willow may hybridize with similar species. The Latin specific epithet hookeriana refers to Sir Joseph D. Hooker. The plant is native to the west coast of North America from Alaska to northern California, where it grows in coastal habitat such as beaches, marshes, floodplains, and canyons.

Red willow (Salix laevigata) is a fast-growing native tree commonly found along creeks and wetlands throughout California, from sea level to 5,000 feet. It thrives in consistently moist areas and is often used for erosion control, restoration projects, and bioswales.

This mostly deciduous tree has flexible reddish twigs, shiny green leaves with pale undersides, and yellow catkins in spring. Female trees produce cottony seeds that are dispersed by wind. Its variable form includes multiple twisting trunks that often sprawl along creek beds before growing upright.

Red willow is an important habitat tree, providing food for butterflies like the Western tiger swallowtail, mourning cloak, Lorquin’s admiral, and hairstreaks. While not typically used in residential gardens, it is an excellent choice for wetland landscapes

Salix lasiandra is a native willow tree that grows in virtually every county of the state in wetland-riparian areas. It is a suckering willow that will extend its roots and spread into any area that has sufficient moisture. It was formerly classified as a subspecies of Salix lucida, and some sources may still refer to it by that name. There are two recognized Varieties: Var. lasiandra is widespread. Var. caudata (Shining Willow) is less common and restricted to the Sierras and northward. Like all willows, this species prefers alluvial soils with plenty of water. It is not often seen in residential gardens but is useful in restoration projects, bioswales, and other consistently wet areas.

Yellow Willow (Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra) is a native tree that grows in northern, southern and central California. It is fast growing and short-lived. It grows in an upright form to a height of 53 feet, with active growth during the spring and summer. Flowers are green and bloom in the spring. Leaves are medium green and deciduous. It tends to grow in wet places, at elevations from 0-8000 feet.

Lemmon's Willow (Salix lemmonii) is a native shrub that grows in northern, southern and central California. It is fast growing and long-lived. It grows in an upright form to a height of 14 feet, with active growth during the spring and summer. Flowers are yellow and bloom in the early spring. Leaves are medium green and deciduous. It tends to grow in streams, at elevations from 5000-10000 feet.

Yellow Willow (Salix lutea) is a native shrub that grows in northern, southern and central California. It is fast growing and moderately long-lived. It grows in an upright form to a height of 16 feet, with active growth during the spring and summer. Flowers are yellow and bloom in the spring. Leaves are light-green and deciduous. This plant tends to grow in stream edges and wet meadows, at elevations from 5000-9500 feet.

Salix melanopsis is a plant species known by the common name dusky willow. It is native to western North America from British Columbia and Alberta to California and Colorado, where it grows in many types of moist and wet habitat, such as riverbanks and subalpine mountain meadows, on rocky and silty substrates. Salix melanopsis is a shrub up to 4 meters tall, sometimes sprouting abundantly from its stem to form colonial thickets of clones. The pointed, oval, lance-shaped, or linear leaves may grow over 13 centimeters long and have smooth or spine-toothed edges. The inflorescence is a catkin of flowers up to 5 or 6 centimeters long. Salix melanopsis is a shrub up to 4 meters tall, sometimes sprouting abundantly from its stem to form colonial thickets of clones. The pointed, oval, lance-shaped, or linear leaves may grow over 13 centimeters long and have smooth or spine-toothed edges. The inflorescence is a catkin of flowers up to 5 or 6 centimeters long.

Sierra Willow (Salix orestera) is a native shrub that grows in Central and Northern California, primarily in the White and Inyo Mountains, the High Sierra Nevada and Sierra Nevada East regions. It is fast growing and moderately long-lived. It grows in an upright form to a height of 10 feet, with active growth during the spring and summer. Flowers are yellow and bloom in the mid spring. Leaves are medium green and deciduous. It tends to grow in meadows and wet places, at elevations from 7400-12000 feet.

Salix arctica (Arctic Willow) is a tiny creeping willow (family Salicaceae). It is adapted to survive in harsh Arctic and subarctic environments, and has a circumpolar distribution round the Arctic Ocean. It grows in tundra and rocky moorland, and is the northernmost woody plant in the world, occurring far above the tree line up to the northern limit of land on the north coast of Greenland. It also occurs further south in North America on high altitude Alpine tundra south to the Sierra Nevada in California and the Rocky Mountains in New Mexico, and in Asia to Xinjiang in China. It is typically a low shrub growing to only 1-15 centimeter (0.39-5.9 inches) in height (rarely to 25 centimeter (9.8 inches) high), however in the Pacific Northwest it may reach 50 centimeter (20 inches) in height, and has round, shiny green leaves 1-4 centimeter (0.39-1.6 inches) long and broad, rarely up to 8 centimeters (3.1 inches) long and 6 centimeter (2.4 inches) broad; they are hairy, with long silky, silvery hairs. Like the rest of the willows, Arctic Willow is dioecious, with male and female catkins on separate plants. As a result the plant's appearance varies; the female catkins are red-coloured, while the male catkins are yellow-coloured.

Salix scouleriana, or Scouler's Willow, is a species of willow native to western North America. Other names occasionally used include fire willow, Nuttall willow, mountain willow, and black willow. It is a deciduous shrub or small tree, depending on the environment, usually with multiple stems that reach 2 to 7 meter in height in dry, cold, high elevation, and other difficult environments, and 10 to 20 meter in favorable sites. The stems are straight and support few branches generally resulting in narrow crowns. The root system is fibrous, deep, and widespread. The thick sapwood is nearly white, and heartwood is light brown tinged with red. Stem bark is thin, gray or dark brown with broad, flat ridges. Twigs are stout and whitish green. The leaves are oblance-shaped to elliptic, 5-12.5 centimeter long, mostly short-pointed at the tip and tapered toward the base with entire to sparsely wavy-toothed margins. They are dark-green and nearly hairless above, and white- or grayish-hairy below. It is dioecious, having male and female flowers on different trees. The flowers are tiny, grouped in pussy willow-like catkins. The anthers, two per flower, are yellow, sometimes tipped with red; pistols are red. The fruit is light reddish-brown, long-pointed capsules about 0.75 centimeter long. At maturity, they open to release a white fluff with tiny imbedded seeds.

Allen Chickering sage (Salvia 'Allen Chickering') is a profusely blooming mint with aromatic grey-green foliage and whorls of purple flowers. One shrub can perfume the whole garden on a warm, summer afternoon.  It is a popular hybrid of purple sage (Salvia leucophylla) and Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii.) As such, it is a plant of the chaparral and coastal sage scrub in Southern California.

Hummingbirds adore the nectar from the flowers.  The plant also attracts butterflies, bees, moths, and other pollinators. 

Allen Chickering Sage (Salvia 'Allen Chickering') tolerates almost any soil type and, once established, needs no summer water. It is smaller and more compact than many sages.

A Blossom Hill original.  Salvia Clevelandii x with some Salvia apiana. Nice structure, foliage and extended flowering time.  Very adaptable and drought tolerant. Smaller than Vicki Romo, slightly larger that S. clevelandii.  Product of natural cross pollination in the Nursery.  As with most larger Sages, needs fall pruning.

Distinguished by its large bluish-purple flowers, celestial blue sage (Salvia ‘Celestial Blue’) attracts many native pollinators to the garden. Celestial blue sage is a hybrid created by Bert Wilson, the founder of Las Pilitas Nursery. It is a cross of Salvia clevelandii, Salvia pachyphylla, and Salvia leucophylla (Cleveland, blue, and purple sage).

Hardy and easy to grow, this low-water shrub is tolerant of coarse, sandy soil and summer heat. It grows in large mounds that can reach 5 ft in width and height. Fragrant gray-green leaves accent the richly colored blooms. The flowers attract hummingbirds, moths, and butterflies, including the Swallowtail. The seeds provide food for songbirds. 

Celestial blue sage does well on dry sunny slopes and in other areas where growing conditions may be challenging for other plants. It can be used for erosion control and as a groundcover

Compact White Sage (Salvia apiana var. compacta) is a perennial shrub that is native to Southern California. Having all the attributes of White sage (Salvia apiana) but growing about half the size, with silver-gray foliage and tall flower stems of pollinator attracting white blossoms.

It is heat and drought tolerant, with powerfully fragrant foliage that is deer resistant.

Salvia brandegeei is a herbaceous perennial evergreen shrub in the Lamiaceae (Mint) family that grows to 3-4 feet in its native habitat. For many years, it was thought to be native only to Santa Rosa Island, one of the Channel Islands of California. In the 1960s and 1970s six colonies were found in Baja California. It is named after Kate Brandegee, a pioneering field botanist in California and Baja. In cultivation, the plant will reach 4-5 feet tall and up to 7 feet wide. It has dark green scalloped leaves, about 3-4 inches long and 0.5 inch wide. The pale blue or lavender flowers are about 0.5 inch long, in tightly spaced whorls. The violet-gray calyx, combined with the wide open flower lips, make it a very showy flower. It is best used very near the coast (within about 10 miles) in the central or southern part of the state.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden. Introduced by santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

Thistle Sage (Salvia carduacea) is a native annual herb in the Lamiaceae (Mint) family that grows in southern and central California, primarily in hot, dry inland areas. It comes closest to the coast in northern Santa Barbara County. It tends to grow in sandy or gravelly places, at elevations from 0-4500 feet. It has a distinctive thistle appearance but is not related to true thistles. It is more closely related to Chia (S. columbariae). It is almost always grown from seed and is sometimes included in desert seed mixes.

Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii) is a small, evergreen shrub in the Mint family (Lamiaceae). The small gray-green leaves are very fragrant, as are the whorls of purple flowers. One shrub can perfume the whole garden on a warm, summer afternoon. Hummingbirds adore the nectar from the tubular flowers. It also attracts butterflies, bees, moths, and other pollinators. This is an important food source during the heat of summer.

It is native to chaparral and coastal sage scrub in Southern California, where it survives on annual rainfall alone. Plant Cleveland sage on well-drained flats, bluffs or gentle slopes for best results. Limit summer water to no more than once per month; although, no irrigation in summer after a year or two is best. This sage is arguably one of the most fragrant. Several cultivars and hybrids that are often available in nurseries are 'Winnifred Gilman', 'Allen Chickering', 'Aromas', 'Pozo Blue', and 'Whirly Blue', and 'Celestial Blue'.

Horticultural selection from salvia clevelandii. Powerfully fragrant and incredibly long blooming, Alpine Cleveland sage is also the cold-hardiest variety of its species, tolerating temperatures well below freezing. Due to its long bloom time, the Alpine variety is a particularly good addition to wildlife gardens. Use it as a screen or border shrub. The flower spikes are attractive in cut-flower arrangements. This variety was discovered growing wild on a rocky, south-facing slope of san Diego's Cuyamaca Mountains near the small town of Alpine. Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selection from san Diego County (Alpine).

Grows best in sandy, coarse-grained or other fast draining soil. Introduced by saratoga Horticultural Foundation.

Grows best in sandy, coarse-grained or other fast draining soil. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Originally collected by sean Hogan, parker sanderson, and Bart O'Brien from a coastal terrace south of Erendira in Baja California, Mexico.

Grows best in sandy, coarse-grained or other fast draining soil. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden. Introduced by Rancho santa Ana Botanic Garden.

Grows best in sandy, coarse-grained or other fast draining soil. Selected for the garden.

Grows best in sandy, coarse-grained or other fast draining soil. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden.

Grows best in sandy, coarse-grained or other fast draining soil. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden.

Whirly Blue sage is a hybrid of salvia clevelandii and s. leucophylla and sports aromatic grey-green foliage and rich violet flowers that appear on 1 to 2 foot blooming stems. It is a dense growing shrub, 4-5 feet tall, with an even greater spread.
The larger flower whorls and the deeper color of the flowers distinguish 'Whirly Blue" from both salvia 'Allen Chickering' and salvia 'Aromas'. Whirly Blue sage is great for dry, sunny spots and appreciates well-draining soil. Hummingbirds, bees and butterflies enjoy its flowers and we enjoy its leaves in tea. Grows best in sandy, coarse-grained or other fast draining soil. Selected for the garden.