Common name: Lily of the Nile
Botanical name: Agapanthus hybrids

This evergreen perennial will grow about 3' tall and has long green leaves with blue flowers (there is a white variety and dwarf varieties) that bloom in spring and summer, rising above the foliage. It will grow in all soils but prefers loam soil. It does best in full to part sun with regular watering and more during hot spells. It tolerates coastal areas.

Common name: Red Hot Poker
Botanical name: Kniphofia uvaria

This perennial will reach about 3' tall and has large green leaves with orange flowers that bloom in summer and fall.

Common name: Garden Nasturtium
Botanical name: Tropaeolum majus

This garden annual/groundcover will grow less than 1' tall, but will spread and climb up to 6'. Nasturtium has 2" light green leaves with red, orange, yellow, or white flowers that are in constant bloom throughout the warm season. This plant usually reseeds, with new plants emerging in early spring. This plant does better with regular watering. Some folks put the leaves and flowers in salads!

Common name: Pheasant Tall Grass
Botanical name: Anemanthele lessoniana

Loved by garden designers and so popular on the West Coast, this is THE GRASS to know and grow in USDA Zones 8-10. Fast growing to form a dense 3'x3' always-glowing focal point, you'll admire its gorgeous, slender and arching olive, amber and gold foliage. Carefree and long lived, its great just about anywhere you plant it - foreground, background, anywhere you desire a low maintenance textural subject. A wonderful sight massed on a hillside, it can be grown in large containers too. Not fussy about soil and if you cut it back to about 8-12" in Winter it'll stay picture perfect every year.

Common name: Catalina Cherry
Botanical name: Prunus ilicifolia ssp. lyonii

The Catalina cherry is an evergreen tree or shrub that grows 15'-40' high and wide. It develops showy white flowers in the spring and red fruit in the fall. It is resistant to oak root fungus. The Catalina cherry is native to California, is drought tolerant, is a beneficial insect plant, and attracts butterflies. -Cornflower Farms

Common name: Canary Island Pine
Botanical name: Pinus canariensis

This graceful, slender-growing pine has a pyramidal form to about 70'. Its needles are long and drooping in bundles of 3. The foliage is a blue-green color, maturing to a dark green shade. Needles can grow to 12" long. Flowers are insignificant. Cones appear in the spring.

Common name: Japanese Blood Grass
Botanical name: Imperata cylindrica 'Rubra'

This groundcover/grass can slowly reach up to 1' tall and 18" wide. During spring, thin lime green blades of grass rise, with red tips. With warmer weather, blades turn completely red. During fall and winter, grass turns gray brown. This attractive and dramatic looking grass tolerates full to part sun, preferring moist, well draining soil. This plant looks great in containers, with rocks, in alpine gardens, in borders. It is dramatic when back lit.

Common name: Laurel Sumac
Botanical name: Malosma laurina

Laurel Sumac Malosma laurina one of the predominant evergreen shrubs populating the hillsides of coastal Southern California. It grows quickly and strong, forming a rounded shape, but may die back from a cold frost. Leaves on this plant are up to 6 inches long, leathery, folded and curved back which starting out red then turning to a bright green. Frequently the red color remains in the mature leaf's edges. Stems also start out red, then turn reddish-brown then sometimes gray as the plant matures. Flowering occurs in early summer primarily, with the terminal clusters of small cream-colored flowers quickly giving way to red berries with white seeds. The flower clusters persist on the plant well after the flowers and berries are spent.

Common name: Toyon
Botanical name: Heteromeles arbutifolia

Toyon is a California native evergreen shrub that grows 8'-15'. high and spreading 8'. It has leathery, toothed, green leaves. Small, white, fragrant flowers appear in late spring or early summer, followed by clusters of red winter berries. It tolerates full sun or partial shade, heat, smog, wind and heavy or light soils. Established plants are drought tolerant. It may take several years for plant to be established; at that point, it's great for erosion control.