"California Native Plants for the Garden" is a comprehensive resource that features more than 500 of the best California native plants for gardening in the Mediterranean-climate areas of the world. Authored by three of the state's leading native-plant horticulturalists and illustrated with 450 color photos, this reference book also includes chapters on landscape design, installation, and maintenance. Detailed lists of recommended native plants for a variety of situations are also provided.

This is the first month-by-month guide to gardening with native plants in a state that follows a unique, nontraditional seasonal rhythm. Beginning in October, when much of California leaves the dry season behind and prepares for its own green "spring," Helen Popper provides detailed, calendar-based information for both beginning and experienced native gardeners. Each month’s chapter lists gardening tasks, including repeated tasks and those specific to each season. Popper offers planting and design ideas, and explains core gardening techniques such as pruning, mulching, and propagating. She tells how to use native plants in traditional garden styles, including Japanese, herb, and formal gardens, and recommends places for viewing natives. An essential year-round companion, this beautifully written and illustrated book nurtures the twin delights of seeing wild plants in the garden and garden plants in the wild.

First published thirty years ago, the long-awaited second edition of Growing California Native Plants is the ideal hands-on native plant guide for both experienced and novice gardeners. In addition to the voluminous knowledge contributed by Marjorie G. Schmidt, now deceased, Katherine L. Greenberg has taken note of the vibrant state of today’s horticultural scene, adding plants and ideas that were little known when the book first appeared. Lavishly illustrated with 200 new color photographs, drawings, maps, and charts, this concise and easy-to-use reference covers trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, bulbs, grasses, and vines, and includes a plant selection guide for quick reference. The authors, whose combined experience spans six decades, take California’s summer-dry climate and restricted water supplies into account and provide helpful notes on companion plants and gardening with wildlife. Practical and informative, Growing California Native Plants is a valuable reference for gardeners everywhere in California and an enjoyable book simply to explore.

Plants native to Southern California are uniquely beautiful and thrive on their own with minimal water, pruning or trimming, fertilizers, and soil amendments. This book proves that creating environmentally sensitive design does not mean putting in extraordinary effort or sacrificing beauty. Includes detailed descriptions and growing information for some of the region's most interesting, attractive plants and has easy-to-use tri-cut flip pages.

ABOUT THE BOOK Before going into the steps for planting a California native garden, I'll first answer a more basic question: Why plant a California native garden? Then, I'll tell you step-by-step exactly how to do it. If you’re interested in saving money, helping the environment, and adding beauty to your life, then please keep reading! MEET THE AUTHOR Tom teaches creative writing, composition, and journalism at the Academy of Art University. Besides tending to his own California native garden, he enjoys hiking and home brewing. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Once you’ve consulted with your local nursery on the best matches for your soil, drainage and sunlight, it’s time to plant your natives. Remember this rule: do not overplant. It’s very tempting for beginning gardeners to stuff a space full of native flowers, shrubs and bushes. But most of the work happens underground, and natives need room for their roots to spread and grow, as well as some space for air to circulate. Also: natives grow at different rates and to different sizes. For example, the gorgeous and fragrant flowers of the hummingbird sage will definitely have your garden humming with their namesake, but the plant grows fast and can overrun an area extremely quickly. Most beginning native gardeners will be planting from pots, not from seed, so be sure to break up the root ball. If the native has been sitting in a pot for awhile, you’ll need to loosen the soil around the roots, and the roots themselves, to encourage growth. Buy a copy to continue reading!

Essays discuss wildflower gardening, the ecology of native grasses, wildland seed collecting, principles of natural design, and plant/animal interactions for California gardens.

"An excellent how-to book on California native plant landscaping . . . with plans, photographs, and plant lists which are sure to fire the imagination of any gardener."--Arvind Kumar, California Native Plant Society