A native plant garden can be a habitat garden providing food and shelter for bird, bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. It can be a low-maintenance garden and a drought-tolerant garden. The question is will it be pretty and have year-round color?
Plants can provide color with their beautiful flowers and also their colorful foliage, fruit and seeds. Plants that are colorful in winter are manzanita ‘Howard McMinn,’ and flowering currant.
For spring color, plant ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman,’ or penstemon.
For summer, the bright orange of monkeyflower or the pink shades of buckwheat will enhance your garden.In fall, the red of California fuchsia and yellow goldenrod are attractive choices.
The California Native Plant Society lists many others at cnps.org/gardening/garden-qa-year-round-color-in-a-california-native-garden-9931.
— Katie Martin, UC Marin Master Gardener
