Plants for Paso Robles
Here are some plants we grow and sell that are good for people in Paso perusing our website, trying to plant a sustainable landscape, drought tolerant landscape, or find something the deer won't eat. Many of you show up and I scratch out a similar list for you so instead of leaving you to decipher my handwriting. Here is that list with links.
These are plants that, once established, on most years, will need no irrigation to survive. Most are native to SLO county and specifically the Paso area. A few are found elsewhere in California but work very well in Paso. Many of these grow or will grow in San Miguel and Atascadero as well.
Flowering perennials, color for Paso Robles!
There are many very colorful local flowers to Paso. They also have the added benefit of being great for local birds and butterflies and can survive on rainfall alone once established.Penstemon Margarita BOP, Foothill or Mountain Penstemon
Penstemon centranthifoliusn, Scarlet Bugler
Zauschneria californica mexicana, Common California Fuchsia
Eriophyllum confertiflorum, Golden Yarrow
Eriogonum elongatum, Longstem Buckwheat
Sisyrinchium bellum, Blue-Eyed Grass
Monardella villosa, Coyote Mint
Diplacus longiflorus, Southern Monkey Flower
Milkweeds for monarchs
With all the interest in Monarch butterflies I thought it would be nice to include the three species of milkweed native to Paso Robles. These are the larval food plant of the Monarch butterfly.
Asclepias fascicularis, Narrowleaf Milkweed
Asclepias eriocarpa, Monarch Milkweed
Asclepias vestita might also be around but I haven't actually seen it in Paso Robles only La Panza and Atascadero.
Small shrubs for Paso Robles
Trichostema lanatum, Woolly Blue CurlsSolanum umbelliferum incanum, Bluewitch
Eriogonum fasciculatum foliolosum, California Buckwheat
Salvia Pozo Blue
Isomeris arborea, Bladderpod and California Cleome
Lupinus albifrons, Silver Bush Lupine
Hedge screen plants
Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon and Christmas Berry
Ceanothus L.T. Blue, White Bark Mountain Lilac
Prunus ilicifoli, Hollyleaf Cherry
Shade coast live oak or north slope chaparral
Salvia spathacea/ Hummingbird Sage
Satureja douglasii, Yerba Buena
Symphoricarpos albus laevigatus, Common Snowberry
Clematis lasiantha Pipestem Clematis and Chaparral Clematis.
valley oak understory
Cornus californica, California Dogwood.
Ribes aureum gracillimum, Golden Currant
Small landscape trees
Arctostaphylos glauca, Blue Manzanita, Big Berry
This is our local Paso Robles Manzanita. It is a beautiful blue gray Manzanita with shinny red bark and white flowers. Manzanita are great because they look well watered and clean all year with no irrigation. They flower in the winter when flowers are few and far between. This makes them a good nectar source for hummingbirds as well as other native pollinators. Looks kind of like a bluer version of Dr. Hurd but is much more cold and drought tolerant then that northern California cultivar. Plant Blue Manzanita as a specimen, or use it as a large scale hedge.
Chilopsis linearis, Desert Willow
For a patio tree, this is my personal favorite. This lacy tree is not native to Paso Robles but is from the deserts of eastern California. It is fast to get established and needs no water after it matures. It flowers all summer making it a great addition to an outdoor entertaining area or other high profile summer hangout. Hummingbirds love the flowers too. The shade isn't very dense though so use it in combination with another shade tree or a shade structure with wild grape if you think you might be needing denser shade. Other manzanita
Sambucus mexicana, Blue Elderberry.
This small tree is great to put in a far corner of your yard where you can just catch a glimpse of it through your kitchen window. It goes dormant in that late summer to survive our long dry summers. So don't put it out in front. But it is also one of the top four bird plants in California. It is a HUGE bird magnet. The flowers are fragrant and the berries can be used to make jelly. This tree is speciafically native to the Paso Robles area.
Cercis occidentalis, Western Redbud
This one is also not native in Paso but it seems to do well there. It will need a little more water to get established though as it is form areas of California with hgher rainfall then paso. It needs no irrigation though wants it matures. Redbud is a small deciduous tree with a plethora of purple flowers in spring. Leaves are dark green and heart shaped.
Large trees
Shade is a good thing to have in Paso in the summer. These trees are great for local wildlife and are local to the area.Quercus lobata, White Oak, Valley Oak
The Vally Oak is the majestic oak tree of Paso. It is fast growing, so nice for a shade tree. Valley oak does not have the spines of the evergreen coast live oaks so is much nicer to have around a home. Also unlike the coast live oak, it is deciduous, giving you sun in the winter when you need it and shade in the summer when you don't. It does need a high water table so if you are out of the Salinas river valley floor and up in heavier soil, especially in east Paso this oak will struggle without regular water. It needs to be able to get its feet down into the water table.
Quercus douglasii, Blue Oak
This oak looks very similar to the valley oak but grows in more upland environments with much less moisture and heavy clay soils. These guys are really slow growing which always them to survive long periods of drought but makes them difficult to establish as a landscape tree. I thought it important to mention them because they are such a large part of Paso's oak population. This is one if you are luck you have it already. Just try not to kill it and you are in good shape.
Pinus sabiniana, Gray Pine
This Pine is local to Paso and is by far the best pine for the area. It is very fast to get established, extremely drought tolerant and can be planted in some pretty harsh, extreme environments successfully. This is not a tree I would plant in a yard in town. It is huge! But if are in a more rural area and need to screen the neighbors or the road. This is the tree. It also is a huge bird and wildlife plant. Plant it and the birds will come.
There are a few other large trees native to the Paso area that are pretty cool but I'm just going to includes some links. Here are other species you can read up on
Populus fremontii, Zapata Fremont Cottonwood
Juniperus californica, California Juniper
Quercus agrifolia, Coast Live Oak
Quercus john-tuckeri, Tuckers Oak
There are lots of other great California plants that will grow in
Paso but this list is already very long. So if you want to explore
more of California.
Other topics people in Paso might be interested in...
