Hmmmmmm.......not many natives in bloom at the end of August. The one that pops instantly to mind is CA Fuchsia (Zauschneria AKA Epilobium). It comes in different growth habits, from spreading to upright, and will spread around a bit once established (1-2 yrs), either by seed or runners (member of the mint family). Unfortunately, I don't think it's readily available by seed and would probably not mature enough to look good by your date.

Your best bet for color would be something like Zinnia 'Profusion' series in 6 packs.

wanda

It's tough to build an insta-garden with natives, since they need to be planted in the fall to get established over the rainy season. There are some drought tolerant that can be treated as annuals, and are now in nurserys. It would be useful to know where you are located and what kind of soil you have.

Consider putting in butterfly plants (both for adults and larva) for that summer party. For color, a few fast growers are Buddleia, some Celosia, Centranthus, Centaurea, Coreopsis, brugmansia, duranta, Gaillardia, cone flower, lavendar, salvia, Leonotis, Passiflora, Penstemon, Rudbeckia, milkweed, Senecio confuses, Tagetes lemonii.

It will be tough to get anything to bloom in 2 months from seed, and the diversity in your local nurseries (as well as price, as natives can get $$) will be a limiting factor.

I maintain a description of all the plants I grow in my drought / native garden, and it can give you a reference to start - if you would like a copy just pop me an email. Remember tho, I'm coastal, zone 24, so you'll need to adjust accordingly. Good luck!

=^,,^= diana

Thanks diana! I'm in sunset zone 21, outside los angeles. It's not as forgiving as where you are, I think, but I have a lot of variety in my yard as far as shade and shelter from wind goes. My soil- I can't really tell what it is, I always read about how to tell between sand and clay and none of the descriptions fit what I have- it looks dark gray rather than brown, and it is very clumpy, and the surface cracks when it's dry, but the drainage seems to be fine and it falls apart easily when it's wet.. I've been amending with compost and manure when I can, lots of digging this spring!

I'm worried about putting plants in the ground when it's as hot as it's been, should I just stick to containers and worry about the grounds in the fall?
Also- my boyfriend brought home two gallon hydrangeas the other day- I think I have to put them in right away but the weather seems terrible for doing something like that- I don't think they'll survive in the pots though, I'd rather have them by the soaker hoses.

Here's a link to simply check your soil composition before you start amending it. Be careful with manure, as it's high in salt and our CO river water is already very very salty. There's good advice from the soil forum as well as the CA forum - do NOT follow the advice from the rest of the country, as most of it doesn't apply to our climate or alkalyne soil. Get lots and lots of mulch (check other posts for free places and bring trash cans, gloves, and buckets to fill the cans). Think long and hard about grouping by water usage and drainage - that was my biggest mistake and I ended up tearing everything out and starting over to do it right. It's not hard to do, but you have to do some research (that's why I keep a doc on my plants - group them by water/drainage/fertilizer).

If you use containers - you will have to water every single day. A good choice if your layout isn't complete, but very time consuming and unforgiving in the heat. One option is to put foundation shrubs in large pots, and surround the pots with annuals so it's not difficult to move to a final design this winter.

Can't help you on the hydrangeas - I only do drought tolerant.

=^,,^=

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil jar test

Welcome to gardening in California! You've done an amazing amount in the last 6 months - bravo! I highly recommend getting a copy of the Sunset Western Garden Book, if you don't have one already, and reading up about what grows well in Zone 21. Even though you're planning a house party in late August, I'm sure your guests won't expect a finished garden, especially since they know you're new to gardening.

One thing you could do is read up about the plants you want to use and start buying some of them in small sizes (4" or 1-gallon). Smaller plants are cheaper, mean less digging, and in just a season or two most plants are as large (and often larger) than those that were planted from 5-gallon pots. Plus, they often get established quicker and easier than larger plants. If this seems too drastic, you could buy one plant in a larger size and others of the same kind in smaller sizes.

Planting in summer is often hard, with the heat and lack of humidity. You could keep plants in pots, but as Diana notes above, it's difficult to keep them watered enough to get them through the summer.

Your best bet might be to do lots of planning and research over the summer, and consider drawing outlines of the planting areas right on the ground so you have a good idea of what the garden might look like. You can use empty trash containers to indiciate large shrubs/trees, smaller boxes or empty plastic pots for smaller plants. Move 'em around until you like the composition, and think about what you'll see when you look into your garden from inside the house, too.

Then, once you have a better idea of what you want, you could purchase some plants shortly before your party and keep them in their pots, grouped in a pleasing manner, and show your guests where the garden will be the next time they visit.

Consider joining a local garden club and getting to know what grows well in your area. There are some great books out about gardening with natives and also garden design.

One group of plants that you probably CAN put in the ground now is succulents, which take the heat quite well. A lovely new book, Designing with Succulents, came out a couple of months ago. The author is giving talks all over So. California, and maybe you can catch one of them.

Also, be sure to visit your local botanical gardens and get to know the folks at your local mom-and-pop independent nurseries for great ideas and advice on what grows well where you are.

GOOD LUCK! And please don't stress too much about your party - it's only one day and you're going to enjoy gardening for the rest of your life if you don't make it too burdensome on yourself.

Here is a link that might be useful: Author of Designing with Succulents book

Hang up some colorful paper lanterns, string some lights, put up some fabric banners...there's more than one way to get some festive color for a party. Bowls of fruit add color, and then you can eat the fruit. It doesn't all have to be about the plants, especially in a young garden. Enjoy!

Seeds you might be able to plant now for bloom in late august: scarlet runner beans. The flowers are profuse and showy, and you can eat the beans at any stage (as snap or green beans, cooked or raw, or shell and dry the beans to eat all year). If you plant from seed, you will need to water them probably twice a day and protect them from predation for the first month. You will need to grow them on sturdy trellises, if you don't already have arbors, pergolas, etc. You may also be able to plant other edibles, such as summer or winter squashes, other types of beans, and melons, but these will also require regular water and there's no guarantee that they will look good for your housewarming. If you like chard, you can get rainbow chard in 6-packs -- it's very decorative -- and plant it in a shadier spot. Maybe cherry tomatoes if it's not too hot. Madia elegans (native annual) blooms in summer, but you'd probably need to find plants. Sunflowers are showy, the nonnatives come in a range of colors and sizes, but for late Aug. bloom you'll probably need plants, not seeds. Calif. poppies may bloom that late if they get watered.

However.

Anything you plant now (except perhaps succulents) will require lots of water to survive. I would rather spend the money on plants and seeds in fall/winter (after designing the garden), and let the rain help them settle in.

Look at the websites for Las Pilitas, Tree of Life Nursery, Theodore Payne Fdn., and other native nurseries -- all in southern Calif., but a trek. Maybe they have something showy you can plant in big decorative pots?

I like planting edibles, I might look for those scarlet runner beans. I have been looking for information on which vegetables I can still plant from seed- I have a lot that never went into the ground earlier in the year.
Thanks for all the great advice! That succulent book is amazing, I have about 10 or 15 succulents in pots, just waiting for some construction to finish in the front of the house before I put them in the ground- this is good, to have some help figuring out how to make it look nice.
You guys rule!