Native plants offer numerous benefits for your garden and the surrounding ecosystem. These plants have evolved in our climate and soil types. They are essential for local wildlife, and require less water, less maintenance, and less pesticides.

Each month, we will feature a native plant that will help make your garden more sustainable and attract pollinators.

June 2025

CLEVELAND SAGE 

Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii) is a perennial flowering native plant that thrives in Coronado’s coastal gardens. The sage’s long-lasting colorful blooms and evergreen fragrant leaves attract hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.

Cleveland Sage prefers dry soil with either full sun or light shade. This hardy, fast-growing plant requires only light pruning in late fall to deliver blue-purple flowers in spring and summer. While the plant is considered drought-tolerant, it appreciates monthly watering in summer as well as mulch around its base. Mature Cleveland sage can grow up to 5 feet high and wide. 

July 2025

CALIFORNIA BUCKWHEAT

California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) is a common native plant that grows easily in our coastal climate. These plants are currently bursting with blooms, which consist of clustered white to light pink flowers. California buckwheat blooms from May to October, when the flower bunches turn red to burgundy as they age and dry out.

 In the garden, the plants need sun and well-draining soil. They are extremely drought-tolerant and are an important food source for butterflies and bees. The plants, which can be pruned, typically grow to a height of 1 to 7 feet and a width of 3 feet.

 Information on California buckwheat and other native plants can be found on the California Native Plant Society's Calscape website.

August 2025

COAST MORNING GLORY

Coast morning glory (Calystegia macrostegia ssp. Cyclostegia) grows well in nearly all soil types. The evergreen vine has large white and light pink flowers that bloom from early spring through summer. The plant, which thrives in full sun in coastal climates, is a fast grower. Use it for fences or arbors, or as a groundcover. It also makes a good container plant. Weekly watering keeps it looking its best. Trim it back in winter to encourage a full, vibrant display the following spring.

September 2025

CALIFORNIA GOLDENROD

California goldenrod (Solidago velutina ssp. Californica) is a perennial herb that produces masses of yellow flowers in late summer and fall when many other plants are dormant. It grows fast, producing flower spikes up to 5 feet tall. Birds and pollinating insects love this plant. It is found in open, grassy places up to an elevation of 7,500 feet throughout California. This is a very tolerant, easy plant to grow. It likes to be wet in winter and spring and then dry in summer, but can take extra water.

October 2025

WOOLLY BLUECURLS

Woolly Bluecurls (Trichostema lanatum) is named for its curled, fuzzy flowers that bloom in brilliant shades of blue and lavender. These striking flowers bloom in dense clusters on branching stems from fall to spring. A favorite of hummingbirds, the flowers also attract bees, butterflies, and other insects.
This shrub is a member of the mint family. Its narrow, bright-green leaves have a pleasant, minty fragrance. It can quickly grow to an impressive size in the first year; however, as a fire-following plant, it does have a short lifespan (around 4 to 5 years). In the garden, this plant requires specific growing conditions to do well. A young woolly bluecurls needs regular watering after planting. But once it's established, overwatering – even occasional summer water – can damage or kill them. Plant in full or part sun in light, well-draining soil. It does well in rocky areas and does not like mulch. Although short-lived, the showy blooms make this plant a stunning addition to a low-water pollinator garden.

November 2025

SAN DIEGO WIRELETTUCE

Don't pull up that “weed”! This under-appreciated native flower is one of the few things blooming this time of year. Its small, delicate flowers provide a nectar source for many native pollinators, like hoverflies. San Diego wirelettuce (Stephanomeria Diegensis) is native to the coastal hills and ranges of Southern California and Baja California, where it grows in many types of open habitat, even in sidewalk cracks and roadsides.

December 2025

CHRISTMAS BERRY

Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), also known as Christmas Berry, is an evergreen shrub in the rose family (Rosaceae). It produces bunches of fragrant white flowers in the summer, and develops vibrant clusters of scarlet berries in the winter. The flowers attract butterflies and other pollinators. The berries are a source of food for many birds and also larger animals such as coyotes and deer.

Toyon are beautiful, easy-to-grow plants that can be found all along the California coast. If properly placed, they can grow very quickly – up to 10 feet in three years. They like sun or part shade, though they tend to do better in part shade in warmer climates. They can handle a wide variety of soils, including clay and sand, and they are an excellent hedge plant.

January 2026

Mission Manzanita

The mission manzanita (Xylococcus bicolor) is not a true manzanita, meaning it’s not part of the manzanita genus Arctostaphylo. But this slow-growing shrub has the same iconic, red peeling bark. This drought-tolerant plant grows mainly in southwestern and coastal California with only a few scattered populations outside San Diego County.   

From December through February, look for white to light pink globular flowers that hang in bundles and mature to dark glossy berries. Birds, including the California thrasher and scrub jay, eat the fruit, while hummingbirds drink nectar from flowers.

 It’s best to plant mission manzanita in early winter on dry, rocky, north-facing slopes with fast-draining soil. Put plenty of mulch and a few good-sized rocks near the roots to prevent summer moisture loss. Lightly water (once every 2 weeks) during the first summer after planting. After it is established, it should survive the dry months with no supplementary water. This plant prefers to have its leaves in full sun, but roots should be in the shade. In the proper environment, the mission manzanita can live for centuries.

Information on native plants can be found on the California Native Plant Society's Calscape website.