Using the native plant palette as your Inspiration

On a bike ride along the beautiful coast of Southern Marin, I was inspired to share some ideas about this stunning native landscape and how you may incorporate these plants into your own landscape. As of right now, this color palette of grey green/blue green is my favorite. It feels calming and cools down a hot space. It also feels very neutral and works with every house color and/or any pops of additional color you want to add.

artemisia californica with baccharis pilaris behind

Plants like Artemesia Californica and Baccharis have adapted to thrive in our Northern California climate with zero summertime water. Besides having deep root systems, their fine textured foliage helps eliminate water evaporation and, for Artemisia and other grey plants, they actually reflect the sun. That said, they will look better with just a little summertime irrigation. You will see these plants growing primarily on hillsides as they need good drainage and wont tolerate standing water or soggy situations.

lupinus albifrons (with artemisia ca. in the bottom right corner)

Lupinus albifrons Is a perennial type of lupine that also has that pretty grey/blue green foliage that looks so lovely with other green foliage. Lupine has an almost iridescent blue purple flower In spring (there are also yellow varieties).

Achillea millefolium (white yarrow), Mimulus aurantiacus (yellow/orange here in the wild but is available In other colors) both will do well with almost no water. Lonicera Involucrata (far right) is holding court in a slightly soggier patch. This is an underused but very pretty larger shrub for woodland style plantings that adds a loose and delicate slightly larger layer.

artemisia cut back on the side of the trail

This might be the most important photo. How you maintain a plant is as important as what you plant. Artemisia, like many, MANY other woody perennials WILL get woody and leggy (and kinda ugly) if you don’t trim it properly. You can see here that the trail maintenance crew basically cut it back all the way to the ground and it’s suckering out happily.

artemisia “powis castle"

In lieu of Artemisia Californica, In Marin landscapes I’d prefer to use It’s relative - Artemisia “powis castle” as It’s smaller, more refined and still performs well and looks great with the California native and Mediterranean plant palettes.

Want MORE color or contrast? From left to right - Lavandula stoechas “ghostly princess” has almost white foliage and purple flowers, Salvia’s make a great addition to this palette In terms of foliage color and summertime flower - they come In ground cover to medium shrub size, Jerusalem sage adds a fun pop of bright yellow with fuzzy grey leaves, and of course all kinds of Agave will work well and add a bit of architectural Interest.

Softening hardscapes and creating beautiful vignettes with potted plants

Just like hanging art on the walls of your home, adding the warmth, texture, and interest of potted plantings to your exterior hardscapes makes them feel complete.

Maybe you want to soften hardscape or visually break up large walls…

Or create a beautiful and welcoming entry…

Or perhaps you want an outdoor living space to have more warmth and style…

All of these are reasons to add plants with interesting colors and textures to your outdoor hardscaped spaces. Again, like art, some of these plants can be investment/statement pieces. My favorite statement plants to use on patios are: Yucca Rostrata (the plant with a trunk in the top photo). This plant can be very hard to find and can also get quite expensive but it really is a stunning specimen plant that needs almost zero care. Another great statement plant is Aloe ‘Hercules’ pictured directly above in the tallest planter. Two other AMAZING almost zero water plants to add to your potted plant collection (I buy them every time I see them because they can be really hard to find) are Kalanchoe Beharensis (thats also pictured directly above with the big furry leaves) and Kalanchoe “copper spoons” (top photo… the one that has…copper spoon like leaves ;) )

My Tips:

Use a neutral palette for your pots (whites, greys, blacks or terracotta (it’s making a huge comeback!). Let the plant do the talking.

If you’re doing groupings of pots choose 1 tall, 1 medium, and 1 saucer like and keep them all in the same color palette.

Think about choosing plants that will be focal points (tall, bushy) as well as plants that will spread or spill over the sides of containers. Also think about texture and mix it up - mix spikey with soft and furry, thin grassy blades with thick dense leaves.

Choose plants that require VERY little water like the ones I’ve listed above. No matter how good your intentions are about watering, you’re probably not going to do as good a job as you hoped. Or you’ll go on vacation :)

Don’t forget to make sure there is a drain hole in your outdoor pots (the opposite for indoor pots), and put some drainage gravel at the bottom of the pot to keep the drainage hole clear so your low water pot wont drown.