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

People here are receiving seeds and starting them already, and i've just made an order! Mostly, i've waited because i'd be too tempted to start things earlier if i got them earlier, and i wanted to start things like petunias and impatiens a little later than last year. Anyway, here is what i've ordered from Vesey's: Pepper Orange Sun Swiss Chard Orange Fantasia Cosmos Sonata Mix Osteospermum Passion Mix Petunias O Canada Mix Petunias Ramblin' Red Petunias Tidal Silver Wave Petunias Tidal Wave Hot Pink Campanula Dwarf Pink Snow Pansies Mix Pansy Rhapsody Mix Impatiens Tempo Mix Impatiens Seaside Mix Hemerocallis 'Startle' Lilium 'Centrefold' (3 more bulbs - i can't wait for the one i already have to multiply!) Astrantia collection (thank you, enablers!) Lilium 'Starfighter' Dahlia 'Freak of Nature' Dahlia Pinwheel Mix That's only Veseys! Eep! The old Visa was vibrating! :>

Plantmaven- Your garden pictures are so beautiful...but that little bird is just charming :) Gardenweed- Your peonies are lovely. We have some that came with the place that look very similar...and they have a nice fragrance. Thyme- Your garden is so pretty! I'm looking forward to seeing all your new veggies, next summer. Freezengirl- I do have Walker's Low catmint. It's in the kitchen garden. For some reason, the barn kitties leave it alone out there, but when I try to plant it closer to the house...disaster! LOL That's one reason I have so much lavender. Wren-garden, I have my blueberries mixed in with everything else, but I don't put acid on my soil, either. If you decide you need to add acid, then they'll look great with azaleas, rhodedendrons and hydrangeas (if you like the blue ones). I don't grow any of these (the first two are poisonous to horses) but I'm pretty sure they all like acid soil. Think about what else would grow under/with pine trees. As for deer...they can be a challenge, but ours are so darn cute, we try to make the garden work with them, rather than trying to get rid of them. I've read all deer are different, depending on where you live, how many they are (how hungry they are) and if there are so many...they just devastate everything. That being said, we've had good luck with butterfly bushes, lavender, catmint, bee balm, daisies, coneflowers, cosmos, marigolds, zinnias, peonies, daffodils, lilacs, plum trees, clematis, columbine, pansies, and mints. Hope that helps your sister, a bit :)

Sultry The main problem with Goddess is growth. It grows so rapidly during summer it will fill every square inch of the 5x10 pool. Then the pads start to stack up so requires a lot of pruning. Now if I had a large pool like Anna would be great except you wouldn't be able to close enough to appreciate the aroma.. Of course if I had Annas pool I'd be growing Victoria lilies . Even bigger problem Two years ago I finally found a"False agave" Cochliostema jacobiana finally flowered in Dec. Very impressive flowers though the cold spell did them in but plant seems okay . Even more impressive than the flowers was the aroma,reminded me of lilac except MUCH stronger. Would love to post a pic but computer won't accept new files and my expert (wife) hasn't been able to fix it . The flowers opened deep purple with lavender sepals on bright pink stems in clusters a foot wide. Have never been able to locate a blue hibiscus .Would think they would do well in florida?? Since the neighbors took out the hedge while putting in a fence I just might have a square foot out there ?? lol gary