elbeardo - I can't help you on the dormant look, cause I haven't had it long enough. But it will go brown eventually, which doesn't bother me. Just give her the "brown lawns are really GREEN" spiel, or let HER take care of it. If you plant in early September with 12" spacing or closer, you should get full coverage. We went with the 18" spacing because of budget. A few places where we used up the extra plugs had 9" spacing and they were touching within a couple of months. We probably has the first batch out the door after a Nebraska winter ... they weren't exactly out of dormancy yet. Getting late-summer plugs might give you faster results.

I am presented with similar problems, but am in Bakersfield, CA, not LA. In BKF, things are even more scrubby and sandy. I know however, that simply saying LA, does not mean mediterranean climate. LA is a big place and has several regions or zones with their own micro climates, depending upon whether you are close to the coast, inland or at a higher altitude up the side of some range of hills or low bergs ( mountains ). Heck, after they changed location of a weather monitoring station in LA, they found they had to change it back because the new location, completely threw off the mean temps and rain fall averages. If you are near the coast and have that Santa Barbara-like zone 8/9 weather, I envy you. But what I am going to suggest may get me some hisses and cat call rejections from the bleachers, but let me give you the reasoning ... Every well populated area uses hired landscapers. They in turn, know what will survive in the area and what won't. Further down that economic pipe are the suppliers, nurseries and the local gardening section of stores like Home Depot, Orchard Supply, Lowes, Wal-Mart, Target and humble K-Mart. If it sells, they stock it. There is no demand for plants that die. Go to Home Depot or Walmart and you'll find that they even separate out the house plants and keep them indoors while the outdoor thrivers are ... fancy that, out in the outdoor area. Does that help to give you some clues about choosing outdoor plants? It's when you order stuff over the internet that you can get in trouble. In those cases you get unique plants, but you take your chances whether they will thrive in your region. Going down to the HD or WM gets you some assurance based on experience and demand for plants that thrive in your area that you'll get exactly that. However, you pay a price. Your neighbor's plants will often look exactly like yours. ;-) Might I suggest something that you probably can order over the internet and have it survive there in LA? Pacific Iris and the further north, Douglas Iris, the wild flower varieties of Iris native to the West Coast. These critters can flower in several color variations and are just the height you are looking for. Douglas Iris however, are always lavender colored. It's the Pacific Hybrids that vary in color.

There are lots of plants. There are tons of cycads. Hibisicus would make great tropical flowers and philodendrons would be great for foliage. Bamboo is another great plant, some are very cold tolerant. There really are tons of plants to grow in your climate. Lots of types of palms would thrive. Also tree ferns would be nice in shade. Plumerias are great for sun. Cannas are quick to add color. Bromelaids look nice mounted on trees or planted in light soil in the ground, maybe even a pot. Cacti can look pretty tropical in some instances. Chinese ground orchids are one of several that can grow in the ground, but there are many you can mount on trees. As for trees, citrus are great. Ficus are also nice. magnolias are perfect for some situations and some are cold tolerant. And what cal yard doesnt have a birds of paradise! Hopefully this can get you started! A tropical landscape should have lots of tropical looking plants of different heights and colors all planted near each other. A water feature such as a pond or pool would be nice too!

Oh yeah. If it isn't blooming they won't buy it. Could be a 6-pack so root bound and heavy with flowers that it keeps falling over, but it will sell. It's also when they will find the plant for sale. Come in September looking for forsythia? Good luck, they were available in April. All 6 of them. Over 30 years ago when I first started the nurseries tried a campaign to encourage people to plant in the fall. "Fall Is For Planting!" posters were put up everywhere. It's the best time to plant in CA except for tropicals. The weather is starting to cool down but it's still warm. You usually only have to water until the rain starts. The plants have a long cool wet winter (well, most winters, lol) for the roots to grow well and get established before the heat of summer. Well, it was a total failure. Most people, being from somewhere else, just couldn't wrap their head around the idea of fall planting. Plus most of the plants were NOT in bloom. Even with pretty pictures of the flowers on the tags, just couldn't imagine the flowers. They'd rather buy them in May when they're blooming so pretty, stick them in the ground, forget to water them in June, cause it was just raining wasn't it? Then wonder why they were dead in 95*+ July. Heh heh, I'm not cynical after all these years, am I?