Panciums for me are my best full sun and wet soil tolerants. I have done a entire bottom side of a hill with Panicum v. "Dallas Blues". The intensity of the purple blooms with the powder blue foliage comes in handy for that striking combo with perennials and shrubs. P.v. "Heavy Metal", and P.v. "Cloud Nine" prove to me and my trial gardens that they can stand wet feet, as well as the heat that comes around year at this time of the year. Miscnathus "Rotsilber" is really nice for the colors and sturdy root system. Molina caerula and its cousins are great for boggy and moor like conditions. Many varieties include "Heidebraut", "Moorhexe", and "Strahlenquelle" to name a few...

Hi, I'd look at grasses which are native to the type of conditions you have. There are several varieties which thrive in dune conditions, and are salt-tolerant as well as drought tolerant. Panicum is one to check out, especially Panicum amarum. 'Dewey Blue' is an especially nice looking cultivar. Another very successful beach grass is Elymus. E. arenarius, E. canadensis and E. hystrix should all work in your conditions. Can you describe the specific conditions at the gabions? are they susceptible to salt spray or overwash? If so, be very careful to use salt-tolerant plants, grasses or otherwise. Bluestem.ca is a Canadian website specializing in grasses for your part of the world, as well as willows. here's their list of salt-tolerant grasses: Calamagrostis - all Chasmanthium latifolium Elymus magellanicus Festucas - all Helictotrichon sempervirens Panicum amarum 'Dewey Blue' Panicum virgatum - all Pennisetum alopecuroides

Some larger growing grasses/sedges that are native to southern California would also work well as filler between the shrubs. You might consider using Eleymus condensatus 'Canyon Prince', which slowly spreads to form large clumps, has lovely pale blue foliage and can get 4 feet tall. Various Juncus species such as Juncus patens(bluish foliage) and Juncus effusus or Juncus 'Carman's Japan' are both in the 2 foot height range and a deep green color. Juncus are well adapted to both wet soils and drought, and are best planted to establish in winter. The Carex species such as C. pansa and C. praegacilis are both not ideal on slopes with clay soils, and would probably need more irrigation than you are wanting to give them. Carex tumulicola is easier to establish, but still is likely to look better if given more water and some shade. As a complement to the shrubs you already have on this slope, and as a faster filler to cover the slope, you might also consider using some fast growing Salvia species as filler/ground cover. Salvia clevelandii would work well, as would S. leucophylla 'Pt. Sal Spreader', which has great gray colored foliage and can spread quickly to form a shrub 8 foot across. You could also use the common Monkey Flower, Mimulus aurantiacus, which is a drought tolerant, low spreading herbaceous shrub native to the Santa Monica Mountains. Another great herbaceous perennial for southern California beach areas would have to include Erigeron glaucus and its hybrids and cultivars. You might find that adding automated drip irrigation for this slope increases the growth rate and ease of establishing anything you plant, as hand watering is unlikely to be getting water deep enough to really encourage deep rooting on a slope. Getting things planted now, in January is the best time to get anything out there established with the winter rains and cooler weather.

'Prairie Fire' is a named form of Carex testacea, orange or New Zealand sedge. This is a cool season grass that puts out most of its growth in spring and fall. It also needs the cooler temps of these seasons to produce the intense color it is known for. It doesn't really appreciate very dry conditions -- it would prefer to grow in consistently moist, but not wet, soils.