Hi Slowjane!! I am fellow SoCal cottage gardener. My penstemons tend to look very pretty the first year and then get rather dissembled looking and bloom less. I may be doing something wrong. In addition to Annie's Annuals, which is in NorCal, there is also Digging Dog. They have some great California natives. Rolling Green is pricey but they have got terrific plants; never found a pest on one. Matilija Nursery has the most wonderful plants; they are up in Moorpark. So here are my winner plants: Black eyed Susan does very well here. My thunbergia grows like a demon but refuses to bloom; my neighbors' looks heavenly. I can not explain this. Favorites in my cottage garden: California native lupines (no water.) Echiums of all varieties. All the milkweeds native to California and Mexico do great. Coreopsis do very well. I've never gotten anything but the plain old pink coneflowers to grow, but those ones do very nice. Cosmos do respectably with a little water. Four o'clocks need a bit of water but not a lot. If you don't mind watering a bit and you have dry shade, fuchsias do well here. Any and all salvias tend to be quite enthusiastic and the hummers like them. Tansy get spectacular here but comes and goes. Vinca is quite pretty and self-sows, but I think it's labeled as invasive and you are not meant to plant it. (Mine came with the house. I tear out some, leave some.) All my sedum are happy with very little water. With irises: if i buy them locally, they do fine. If I buy them elsewhere, they croak. The same is true of daylillies. I have my garden set up in 'water' and 'no water' zones so I can have the flowers I love so much but I can make the water conservation folks happy, too. I justify the roses by conserving water elsewhere. I have a succulent garden I have created by using leftover succulent bouquets. They've become all the rage, and I work at USC where they have these all over. So when events are done, I beg for one or two of the arrangements, take the plants home, stick them around, see what lives and dies and looks good. It's quite random and lovely and it's been cheap! Most succulents you can just stick in the ground. I think one should always grow rosemary by the garden gate. This post was edited by DrPekeMom on Mon, Jun 23, 14 at 0:18

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I have a lot to think about. I love the idea of a hammock chair, and the adirondack chairs sound nice also. I'm going to take pictures and maybe sketch out the area on graph paper so I can get a better idea of just how much area I have to work with and how many plants I will need. Hopefully I can use a lot of what I already have and can divide. One must be frugle with such a large place. My LA garden is over crowded anyway. I'll keep ya'll posted. Thanks again for all the help. Hope ya'll had a great summer. I'm looking forward to a little cooler weather. bj

It's best for flowering purposes to move fall bloomers in the spring and spring bloomers in the fall. I find that as long as I don't move plants in the heat of the summer, they all tend to transition very well to their new homes no matter what time I move them. Just don't let the soil dry out so they have a chance to establish themselves. As for low maintanence plants I would suggest the following: Daylilies. You will need to cut back dead foliage once it is killed by frost, but it's a quick and easy job. You can get daylilies in an assortment of colors and designs. 'Becky' shasta daisies are great bloomers. Of the many types of shastas I have, these are still my favorites. They have very healthy, neat foliage. They will need to be cut back in the fall as well. Again, just cut down the spent flowers to the green foliage at the base of the plant. Great for cutting as well. Usually easy to find in garden centers. 'Blue Spire' russian sage is quite beautiful and handles tons of sun very well. With russian sage you could cut it down to about 8 inches tall once buds start to form in the spring and leave it alone for the rest of the year. Bees love it, so if you want to attract pollinators this is a great choice. Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea)- There are a bunch of fancy new colors out there, but the most healthy, low maintenance coneflowers are the species version (echinacea purpurea), 'Magnus', and 'White Swan' coneflowers. My favorite is 'White Swan'. It has beautiful white petals and a greenish colored eye. I just adore the color contrast between the petals, foliage, and eye. This is a great option if you don't like the pinkish purple coneflowers. I have many of the newer varieties out there and none can compare to the older versions in terms of health and vigor. You can leave the seed heads stand through winter for goldfinches to eat. In early spring just cut them to the ground. New foliage and stalks will emerge when the weather warms up. A very easy to grow and low maintanence plant for full sun. Typically easy to find in garden centers. 'Autumn Joy' sedum is a beautiful and easy to find plant. It blooms in late summer to fall. Butterflies love it. You can leave it stand through winter and cut the branches to the ground in Spring as well. I can't really think of any easier plants than those. They do require a little clean up once a year, but it's worth it for what they provide in long bloom season and overall plant health. As for your hydrangeas, they appreciate a break from the hot sun. Either you could water them much more frequently to help prevent wilting (a pain), move them to a shadier spot or spot with just morning sun, or plant a larger plant near it to help block some of the sun during the hottest parts of the day. A butterfly bush could help shield your hydrangea while providing you with tons of summer blooms. These look and bloom their best when you cut them down to about 8 inches in the spring when new buds appear. Cut just above a new bud, and they'll shoot up in no time. Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds love them. I love the colors of 'Royal Red' (more of a purple with pink highlights) and 'Pink Delight'. 'Royal Red is about 8' tall and 6' wide. 'Pink Delight' is about 10' tall and 6-8' wide. Big but you definitely get tons of blooms for your buck. I hope this helps, and good luck with your new garden! Kim Here is a link that might be useful: Kim's PA Garden

Hi Harry, It looks like you are off to really good start already. Did you already see the FAQ for this forum? The link is not very obvious, but there are a lot of good tips there and a list of good host plants to try. To find plants a little more specific to your region and conditions try the excellent search at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Since you are just working in a 10'x10' area you might want to limit your search to exclude trees and large shrubs. You can enter your state, light, soil conditions, even preferred bloom times. If you click on each plant in the search results and scroll down it will show you if that plant is especially good for pollinators and if it is a host plant for any butterflies or moths. Be sure to look for plants with different bloom times from early spring to late fall to help out the pollinators with nectar. If you have special butterflies that you want to see go through their life cycle, see if you can plant some of the host plants they use even if they may look a little weedy. You can always surround it with prettier plants. Some of the little skipper butterflies actually use grasses as host plants (even crabgrass). More specific recommendations would depend on your growing conditions and preferences. Those milkweeds will both work well for monarchs in your area.