Common name:Dwarf Vinca or Periwinkle
Botanical name:Vinca minor

This groundcover will grow less than 1' tall and has small, glossy, dark green leaves with blue, purple, lavender, or white flowers that bloom in the spring.

Common name:Snow-In-Summer
Botanical name:Cerastium tomentosum

Masses of snow white flowers highlight this plant during the early summer season. This attractive ground cover is a great filler among other plants and rocks. Foliage is silver gray or gray/green and is woolly. This plant tolerates coastal conditions and desert areas. Use in rock settings, in hanging baskets, containers, or as a lawn substitute. Cut back in fall to refresh plant.

Common name:Mendocino Reed Grass
Botanical name:Calamagrostis foliosa

This tufted perennial bunchgrass is native to the Northern California coastal scrub. It forms a beautiful, dense mound of grey-green leaves that reach 2' tall, with showy arching buff colred flower stalks to 3' tall in spring and summer. Reed Grass foliage turn into an attractive purple coloration in the fall and winter. This evergreen should be grown under sun, with little or no summer watering required. -Monterey Bay Nursery

Common name:Compact Lacy Nandina
Botanical name:Nandina domestica 'Compacta'

The dwarf heavenly bamboo is an evergreen shrub that grows 4'-5' high. It has green and bronze foliage that turns red in the winter. It is resistant to oak root fungus and hardy to 10 degrees F. The dwarf heavenly bamboo is native to CA and is drought tolerant. -Cornflower Farms

Common name:New Zealand Flax
Botanical name:Phormium tenax

New Zealand Flax is a large, bold plant with stiffly vertical, sword-like, green leaves that arise from its base. It should be grown under full sun for best color. Varieties will offer different growth habits and leaf color.

Common name:Bird of Paradise
Botanical name:Strelitzia reginae

This shrub will grow to 6' tall and has large, grey-green fronds with orange, blue, white, or multi-colored flowers that bloom throughout the year.

Common name:Homestead Purple Verbena
Botanical name:Verbena 'Homestead Purple'

This perennial will reach about 3' tall and has small green leaves with purple flowers that bloom during warm weather. It is frost tender but will come back when the ground warms up. Feed with an all-purpose fertilizer once a month during the growing season. This shrub works as a great groundcover. Pinch ends to promote dense growth.