Native Wildflowers

I have heard that before Europeans came a lot of California was covered with bunch grasses with annual flowers growing between them. I decided to try and make the north side yard into that.

That yard is very thin and on the North side of a building. I doubt it gets more than an hour of direct sun a day. Still, the aloe I planted there is doing just fine and some weeds have popped up so it is not completely devoid of hope.

The best starting point seemed to be the Larner Seeds Shady California Wildflower Mixture. Unfortunately much of this collection is plants which naturally grow under redwood trees. That is not my side yard. Only a couple of the plants seem like they have a chance of growing. With a little luck there is at least one or two which can hold up in that shady an environment though.

At least California has impressive native flowers. Here are some from that mix:

Farwell-to-Spring

Mountain Garland

Red Ribbons Clarkia

Baby-Blue Eyes

Calico Flower

Chinese Houses

Bird's Eye Gilia

I ended up getting Torrey's Melic Grass for the bunch grass. Not sure if this was a good choice as Orange County is right at the end of its range, but it is supposed to do well in dry shade.