A: Spring will be the most colorful time of the year with blue and white California lilacs, orange poppies, purple and red penstemons, and wildflowers of all colors. 

• Summer with its soft tans, grays and sage-green will be accented with red-flowering California fuchsias and pink desert willows.
  
  
• Autumn has the red foliage of California grapes and the blue berries of Mahonia which add color.
  
  
•  In winter there is the brilliant red berries of our own Christmas berry or Toyon.   

Our Mediterranean climate allows us to grow almost any plant with the addition of water and fertilizer. Plants native to southern California are adapted to its unique climate of long, hot, dry summers and mild, often wet winters.  The subdued sage-green and gray colors, so common in the natural California landscape, is one such adaptation.  The hillsides, though, do not remain subdued year around.  Following the winter rains, many plants burst into a vibrant floral display second to none.  Look below at the seasonal color chart.

Spring
Apricot Mallow		Abutilon palmeri		Shrub		Apricot flowers, soft gray leaves
California Lilac		Ceanothus species		Shrub		Blue, violet, pink or white flowers
California Poppy		Eschscholzia californica		Annual/Perennial		Bright orange flowers
Fuchsia-flowered Gooseberry		Ribes speciosum		Shrub		Red flowers
Lilac Verbena		Verbena lilacina (De La Mina)		Perennial		Lilac-colored flowers
Monkeyflower hybrid		Mimulus spp.		Perennial		Orange, yellow, red, purple, white or pink flowers
Penstemon		Penstemon spp.		Perennial		Many colors, depending on variety
Annual Wildflowers		Eschscholzia californica, etc.		Annual		Many easy-to-grow wildflowers
Summer
Bush Sunflower		Encelia californica		Perennial		Yellow daisy-like flowers
California Fuchsia		Zauschneria californica		Perennial		Cultivars- red, orange, white, pink (late summer to fall)
Desert Willow		Chilopsis linearis		Tree		Purple, lavender, pink, or white
Fall
Golden Abundance		Mahonia (Golden Abundance)		Shrub		Clusters of blue berries
San Diego Sunflower		Viguiera lacinata		Sub-Shrub		Yellow daisy flowers
Roger's Red Calif. Wild Grape		Vitis californica (Roger's Red)		Vine		Red folia
Winter
California Lilac		Ceanothus spp.		Shrub		Blue, white, violet or pink flowers
Gooseberries and Currants		Ribes spp.		Shrub		Pink, white, red, or yellow (early winter blooms provide food for hummingbirds)
Manzanita		Arctostaphylos  spp.		Shrub		Light pink, white
Toyon		Heteromeles arbutifolia		Shrub		Red, orange or yellow berries