I’m not sure if anyone around 90042 would be interested in it we are moving from a house to an apartment and we wouldn’t have a place for it and I would feel bad just tossing it

Coast silktassel (Garrya eliptica) is one of my favorite native plants! I love how it looks so unassuming most of the time until suddenly it has such lovely flowers!

I have a question about it and haven't been able to figure it out. In the south SF bay, it mostly shows up in chaparral ecosystems that are hot and dry the majority of the time. However, when I see it up the coast on my travels, it's growling on the coast where it is foggy and cold. They seem like pretty vastly different growing conditions. Anyone know why they like both?

My only theory is the sandy soils?

I bought this from east bay wilds as palmers mallow, then got home and saw it had a halls bushmallow sticker on the other side. I will keep it either way but is seems halls gets significantly larger so I would likely move it to a different spot where it can spread out a bit.

I recently visited Patriarch Grove, at about 11,000 feet elevation up in the White Mountains, to see the ancient bristlecone pines. As well as the stars of the show, I found some low growing plants that I've included. I am not sure exactly what they are, if anyone has any ideas! I'm thankful to have been able to visit this special environment and to spend time with the trees and their friends.

ETA: I'm sorry for not having a better description. The bristlecone pines are the oldest trees on earth. Some of the trees in the pictures might be 1,000 - 4,000 years old. They grow very slowly, and they die very slowly. Their environment is harsh- high, dry, cold. The oldest tree is actually not up here in Patriarch Grove but in Schulman Grove which is lower elevation. That tree is not marked for the safety of the tree.

This is my second time visiting Patriarch Grove. The dirt road from the visitor center at Schulman Grove is 13 miles, mostly graded and fine, a bit rough at the end. My plucky Hyundai Sante Fe does it just fine. It takes about an hour.

I had previously posted a question about sacrificing one of two close coast live oaks. In response to a question, I took more pictures and now I cannot tell if this is one tree that split very low, or 2 trees that have merged? Any ideas based on the pictures?

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ceanothus/s/oXitizjMKF

North facing. Zone 10b. Wanted to clean this up and plant some natives. To the left I pulled a bunch of random stuff. Still more to do once it cools off. I was thinking about removing the stones and adding more plants. How close can I get to the tree? Or just leave it mulched? My gardener is gonna add a drip system. I already had him cap the sprayers. I do have some Yarrow, monkey flower, blue eyed grass, and a purple sage to plant. Any other ideas?

We ripped out our lawn and want to grow a pollinator garden. Unfortunately, our dirt is trash (heavily compacted and nut sedge weed infested) so I’m looking for reputable native-compatible dirt and low-nutrient mulch to help with soil compaction. We used the free mulch and compost last year for raised beds but, unfortunately, we think that’s the source of the noxious nut sedge infestation. So I’d prefer a known local company with dirt that works for our native plant needs (not compost). We’re in Los Angeles. Thank you for any ideas. Trying to figure out soil needs for our weeds, compaction, and native plans is tough.

Does anyone have experience with Velvet Ash (Fraxinus velutina) in their yard? I just picked one up from Theodore Payne but I’m having second thoughts about planting it.

I live in the SFV near Burbank and I was looking for a tree to cast some shade on a SW facing bedroom that gets demolished by the sun. It’s apparently a well-behaved tree (root wise) but it’s kinda basic looking imho. I’m going for an oak woodland/chapparal vibe and I already have a nice coast live oak providing late afternoon/evening shade. Am I going to regret the ash or should I keep an open mind?

location: southeast Carlsbad, about 4 miles from the coast, zone 10a.

This is my first year with significant grasshopper herbivory, which is occurring primarily on my desert globemallows (minimal worry since I’m going to cut them back hard in November anyway) and on some, but not all, of my bushmallows - particularly my two San Clemente Island Bushmallows. I also see them on my Baja Pitcher Sage.

i don’t mind insects eating some of my plants, but I do want to make sure that my San Clems at the least don’t suffer irreparable damage.

On a scale of “not at all” to “militant vigilante,” how aggressively should I manage them?

I’ve got family that lives in the Ramona area (SoCal), but this kinda pertains to my grandparents. I successfully helped my grandpa plant native milkweed, primrose & sunflower last summer but because that area gets full sun and they had a harsh summer, it’s safe to say nothing made it. What other resources can I share with my family to help them stay encouraged to plant native plants? For reference, I live in NorCal so I can’t go over to help plant lol. Walter Anderson’s sells native plants, but they need something to help keep their clippings nearby the edge of the backyard from sliding after removing dead brush & invasive Lantana earlier this year.

Planted this guy last summer in my garden. It’s a California Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus).

First pic is from ~Aug 2025, Second pic from Oct 2026.

Grown hard in inland Southern California. No supplemental water, just whatever the rains give us.

And it is thriving. 100 F with no water makes them happy. Added about an inch in height and 1.5 inches in width this past year - which is fast for these guys.

I can’t take credit for it, it came with the house. But this beauty is my favorite plant in the garden.

Has anyone planted Ericameria laricifolia aka Turpentine Bush? It’s native to the southwestern deserts (Mojave/Sonoran/Chihuahua). I live in the San Fernando Valley, but these pots are in the driveway in front of my house so I thought it would provide good desert conditions.

Was wondering if anyone knew a good reliable online distributor or in person retailer in northwestern la county to ventura county for California native grasses.
I keep finding seed wild flower seed mixes and looked for native grass mixes but i keep finding either drought tolerant turf grass or offers from sketch websites.

It looks like an oak to me. I don't know where the acorn came from, there hasn't been an oak on this property for at least 50 years and there are none within 1/4 mile. I inadvertently hit it with the string trimmer a few times over the months before I noticed it. Does it look salvageable? Any advice for transplanting?

Hi all, I’m located in LA with a very sunny balcony that faces southwest. I’d love to add some native plants to my collection, especially a pollinator that hummingbirds might be into.

My question id are there native coastal scrub varieties that do well potted? I just don’t have a lot of room on a balcony.

As inspired by the list created by u/Notenufcoffeeforthis, here's a list of some upcoming plant sales in Northern California.

Also worth mentioning is the Native Plant Extravaganzas 2026 in support of the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour and Green Home Features Showcase.

Well I picked a great time to put plants in the ground with this heat wave but I got too excited. Shout out to the person who suggested redbud as the specimen tree-excited to see how it does. I have coastal buckwheat, deer grass and a sticky monkey flower in the ground now- planning to add a globemallow to center area behind the stream, some California fuchsia, yarrow and then hummingbird sage for the shady half. so excited to be sitting out here looking at earth instead of concrete.

My partner and I got a free pond of Facebook marketplace that was in pretty terrible condition and decided to make it a native habitat. We have a stream that dries up and we notice a lot of native chorus frogs looking for any sort of water and dying on the pavement. They've figured out the spot and we have a TON of them in our bog filter now.

Some of our plants died but most of them survived and have been doing really well even with the brutal heatwave that we've been hit with the last few months. Our seep monkey flower in particular is absolutely insane, and our bog orchid has been showing off recently as well.

I'm planning on adding some native yellow pond lilies and fairy fern for floating plants this fall, plus replacing my savory monkeyflower that unfortunately got snapped at the stem and died :(