There are so many that I like. I favor drought tolerant/heat tolerant plants that like conditions as they are in my garden, with little to no soil amendments or fertilizer, and onlly light watering. That means plenty of California natives thrive, along with my many species roses and European/Middle Eastern origin roses. A number of these plants, both roses and others, want to go summer dormant (and if watered and/or fertilized then they won't be able to rest and often will not flower the next year) as they would naturally in the areas where they are native. Of course this kind of care goes against the grain with lots of rose gardeners in mediterranean climate areas like mine, who are then surprised that roses in these classes won't bloom for them. Salvias are in general wonderful here. Salvia 'Celestial Blue' is a CA native and has the most gorgeous blue flowers. No pictures I've seen online truly capture the stunning color. Foliage is silvery and smells heavenly. Likes full sun, lean soil, and little to no summer water. Salvia dorrii 'Gayle Nielson'. CA native. Desert sage. Foliage is silvery grey green and delightfully scented. Heat tolerant and surprisingly shade tolerant too. Winter bloomer. Has pale lavender flowers. Since it is from the desert where sporadic rainfall may occur, this plant likes a few drinks in the summer. Salvia mohavensis. CA native. Newly-planted baby plants last month. I had to wait nearly a year to get them from a specialty grower. Mine haven't bloomed yet but the pictures online show small charming blue flowers. Salvia namaensis. Native to South Africa. Has delicate lacy, crimped leaves which are deceptive because this plant is as tough as nails. Extremely heat and drought tolerant. It has lovely small pale lavender blue flowers and blooms almost year round. I have never fertilized it and rarely water now that it is established. My soil is very sandy loam and quite lean. Salvia spathacea 'Avis Keedy' (yellow flowers) and 'Powerline Pink'. Both are very shade tolerant and actually need some shade and summer water (not a lot). Powerline Pink in particular has especially yummy smelling foliage (lemony sagey scent). Various Salvia greggii and Salvia jamensis or crosses of either or both. Including Salvia 'Hot Lips' (red and white or combination flowers), Salvia 'Elk White Ice' (pure white flowers, heavy bloomer in 90+ degree heat), Salvia 'Elk Lemon Light' (beautiful clear yellow flowers and bright green foliage, nice bushy shape, blooms well in high heat), Salvia 'Mesa Azure' (striking purplish blue flowers, heat and shade tolerant, stays bushy, branches stay flexible rather than going woody and brittle, long bloom period), Salvia 'Teresa' (prolific bloomer, very bushy, lush foliage a nice shade of green, heat and drought tolerant, pretty white flowers touched with pink), and Salvia 'Moonlight' (pale yellow flowers, shade tolerant, heat tolerant, stays small). Ceanothus. My favorites include C. spinosus (almost lime green stems and trunk, yep prickly spines, will tolerate some shade, dislikes summer water, grows quickly, pretty blue flowers, bushy), C. cyaneus (aka lakeside ceanothus, absolutely gorgeous 'cyan' blue flowers, wants to be a small tree, grows fast, likes some shade, will tolerate some summer water, very nice foliage, scented flowers), C. 'Lemon Ice' (variagated yellow and green foliage, blue flowers, will tolerate some shade and summer water, small to moderate sized shrub), C. 'El Dorado' (very similar to Lemon Ice, too new to comment on ultimate size), C. 'Diamond Heights' (groundcover!, needs some shade in high heat areas, variagated foliage, small blue flowers), C. 'Arroyo de la Cruz' (bushy and low growing, mine is in a huge pot in partial shade, and seems quite happy, small foliage, gets water once or twice a month in summer), C. arboreus (very fast growing, somewhat shade tolerant, will be a tree, does not like summer water). Mimulus, aka monkey flowers! I recently planted 2 and am closely watching their progress. So far they have bloomed heavily and appear to be settling in for the worst of the summer heat. I have M. aurantiacus (sticky monkey flower, peachy color flowers) and M. aurantiacus 'Buttercup' (orangey flowers, which I usually don't like, but I do this one). Eriogonum. Wild buckwheat. CA native. I have 3 different kinds, all very drought tolerant. E. fasciculatum 'Dana Point' (has the nicest foliage and prettiest flowers (snow white in color) of all the fasciculatums I've seen--has been smashed multiple times by my big dogs and keeps on growing!), E. parvifolium (seacliff buckwheat, mine has white flowers, but some, depending on grower and where they collected their mother plants, have pinkish flowers), and Eriogonum umbellatum var. polyanthum ‘Shasta Sulfur’ (very low growing, bright yellow flowers). Miscellaneous CA natives: Asclepias fascicularis (narrow leaf milkweed, very attractive foliage, food source for Monarch butterfly caterpillars) Erysimum menziesii (menzies wallflower, in a pot and very happy) Monardella antonina (coyote mint) Monardella odoratissima Monardella 'Russian River' Isocoma menziesii (golden bush) Penstemon 'Margarita BOP' Penstemon grinnellii Penstemon 'Electric Blue' Penstemon azureus Penstemon spectabilis Lotus scoparius (deerweed, nitrogen-fixer, yellow flowers) Olneya tesota (ironwood, a nurse plant as it is a nitrogen-fixer, eventually a small tree, but so slow growing that will take many years, now a tiny shrub, gets small pea-like violet flowers) Helianthemum scoparium (the only CA native rockrose/sunrose, bright yellow flowers) Lonicera subspicata (southern honeysuckle, likes to grow in chaparral, white and pale yellow flowers) Arctostaphylos purissima 'Vandenberg' (a groundcover manzanita with fuzzy white hairs on the stems and snowy white flowers--needs afternoon shade in hot inland areas) Not a shrub, but I have interplanted with them multiple of the CA native, sun-loving, and very drought tolerant grass Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition' (eyebrow grass, and the "eyebrows" are blonde). It's a very feathery and delicate looking grass, really lightens an area. Photo is of Salvia namaensis. Melissa This post was edited by Tessiess on Thu, Jul 17, 14 at 18:26

A Ribes sanguineum var glutinosum would put on a great mid winter flower display and be of similar size or slightly taller, and need less water, but the bloom season is much shorter and a less attractive plant when not blooming. Probably one of the Brunfelsia pauciflora cultivars would also do well here, and a long bloom season, and something like Polygala x dalmasiana would also do well there with less water needs, and a very long bloom season. If you like a foliage accent, how about Choisya ternata 'Sundance'? With the palms and such you already have in the garden, something like a variegated Fatsia japonica or Black Taro/Colocasia escuelenta 'Fontainessii' could also look dramatic in this spot, and Colocasia doesn't need any more summer water than the Fuchsia does. If you want more of a pendant red/orange blooming shrub, our native Galvezia speciosa 'Boca Rosa' could work, or you could also try Hedychium greenei, which has both attractive foliage and beautiful unscented orange flowers in late summer/fall. A clump of Asparagus retrofractus could also be a nice contrast of light fluffy pale green foliage with arching form, and contrast well against the darker foliage on the brick wall.

Thanks for all your replies. I think I will plan on keeping them potted due to the freezes we get here and they are not hardy. I need to build a kind of shelter for stuff like this and for succulents and cactus that I have so I can let the sun in at an angle but keep most of the rain off of them. I can't keep them in my greenhouse because it ends up with too many fungal problems. I am thinking about getting some of that green plastic/polycarb (?) stuff and make a large roof that would let some of the light in and leave all the sides open or maybe 3 sides open. Veronica: I would be happy to share a cutting if I ever get them that far lol :) Silvia and eric: They can't take much frost so that is probably why they declined. I kept this one on the back patio and it got direct morning sun and shaded afternoon. It got plenty of heat from the gravel surrounding the patio back there and the stone wall of the house probably released some heat on the cooler nights as well. It is a really good bloomer and just flushes and flushes as long as it happy. Too bad no fragrance! katkin: It seems like there are a few plants called 'blue hibiscus'. I have even seen some of the Rose of Sharon's called that. The Rose of sharon is much more cold tolerant and easier to grow though. The Alyogyne have slightly coarse ferny type foilage.

Hi This time of year I'm always impressed with the various gingers. Some are starting to flower but the awe inspiring part is the growth rate lol Empty pots all winter and now are way over crowded lol Another is the gesneriads particularly the Chrysothemis and florist gloxinia They love the heat and humidity as long as it rains but the glox point straight up and the rain destroys the flowers looks like failure again fot the peruvian daffodils had great hopes for them this year as they actually went dormant same is true for the agapanthus ,amaryllis lots of leaves ,no flowers caldwell lily surprised me by going dormant but is now producing flowers with no leaves same is true for the blood lilies flowering one at a time rather than all at once . Amazon and peace lilies are flowering very well but not as lush as they should be . Most of the orchids are growing rather than flowering except for the phals but not nearly as much as they can . A hybrid tea rose I got as an experiment last winter is flowering well and so far not a sign of disease. Now if I can figure out how to prune it . Insists on making two foot long stems with a single flower producing a very ugly shrub lol I recently bought some new stuff a supposed frost tolerant giant anthurium, a black color changing ginger , Blue Hibiscus and a Brazilian tree fern. Not sure how the hibiscus will react to the rain as they are a desert plant so i put a lot of leca in the potting mix . Fingers crossed!!! gary