The dry and often hot and sunny weather in Southern California calls for low-maintenance outdoor plants that can withstand tough conditions. Extreme weather events, heat waves, droughts, and more unpredictable precipitation have made gardening more challenging.
Here are selections that add bold color and texture to your Southern California landscape and don’t require a ton of care. The list includes old-fashioned dependable favorites as well as species native to California.
Southern California encompasses a wide USDA Hardiness Zone range between 5 to 11, with most of the area located in Zones 7-10. Inland and mountainous areas are at the lower end of the zone range and have much colder winter temperatures than coastal areas.
Lily of the Nile
BHG / Evgeniya Vlasova
There’s old-world beauty to this well-known and well-loved Agapanthus species. Also known as the lily of the Nile, its distinctiveness lies in the clumping foliage at the base, topped by spikes of flowers, usually trumpet-shaped, that make an appearance in late summer. These low-maintenance perennials are deer-resistant cut flowers that are great for containers.
Name: Agapanthus africanus
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: 18-24 inches tall and wide
Zones: 9-10
Companion Plants: Combine it with yellow yarrow, which grows equally tall and has large blooms for an interesting color contrast.
African Iris
The easy-maintenance African irises are perfect for stretching down your walkway. This summer bloomer loves hard-to-grow spots, bearing dozens of white flowers from spring through summer. Its sturdy, grass-like, evergreen foliage makes it an excellent groundcover or accent plant even when it is not in bloom.
Name: Dietes bicolor
Growing Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; well-drained soil
Size: 2-3 feet tall and wide
Zones: 8-11
Companion Plants: Pair the delicate beauty of African iris with a petite sunflower for pretty, neutral color.
Santa Barbara Daisy
Summer brings plenty of showstopping bloomers, including Santa Barbara daisy, a vigorous, no-maintenance garden plant in the fleabane genus. Also known as Mexican daisy, it has gray-green leaves and profusions of yellow-center flowers. The petals start as white but fade into pink or purple.
Name: Erigeron karvinskianus
Growing Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; well-drained soil
Size: 1-3 feet tall, 3-5 feet wide
Zones: 5-7
Companion Plants: Pair it with mounds of coreopsis to create beautiful masses in the landscape.
Sea Lavender
BHG / Evgeniya Vlasova
A favorite in dried-flower arrangements, sea lavender, or statice, sends out foot-long clumps and spraying clusters of purple and white flowers all summer long. These easy-maintenance plants are deer-resistant and drought-tolerant, and will attract birds to your no-maintenance garden.
Name: Limonium latifolium
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: 9-36 inches tall, 12-18 inches wide
Zones: 4-9
Companion Plants: Choose a foliage accent, such as the silvery-gray, thin-leaf dusty miller.
Matilija Poppy
Not quite a shrub, but not just a flower either, Matilija poppy bears riotous foliage and showy white flowers in summer. Mostly upright with solitary flowers, these low-maintenance native perennials make a vigorous, fast-spreading addition to a no-maintenance garden.
Name: Romneya coulteri
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: 4–8 feet tall, 6-8 feet wide
Zones: 7-10
Companion Plants: For a genuine native landscape, add other shrubby plants native to California, such as California wild lilac, sugar bush, or flannel bush.
Kangaroo Paw
BHG / Evgeniya Vlasova
Distinctive is a word best bestowed on the tropical-inspired form of kangaroo paw. The slender, 5-foot branches add height, while the delicate flowers—tubular and resembling a cute kangaroo’s paw—are covered with hairs and flower from spring to midsummer.
Name: Anigozanthos selections
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: 6-75 inches tall, 1-4 feet wide
Zones: 10-11
Companion Plants: Combine it with a plant such as lavender that contributes to the tropical feel but also adds fullness and bloom profusion.
Bear’s Breeches
Tall and beautiful, in summer, bear’s breeches are easy-maintenance plants that shoot up flower spikes up to 4 feet high. Bear’s breeches is also distinctive for its huge, coarse leaves, adding sculptural form to woodland plantings.
Name: Acanthus mollis
Growing Conditions: Part shade; well-drained soil
Size: 4-5 feet tall and wide
Zones: 7-11
Companion Plants: The dark foliage and similarly spiky blooms of delphinium are a good fit.
California Fuchsia
Liven up your no-maintenance garden with some color. A long bloomer and heat-resistant grower, California fuchsia, also called hummingbird trumpet, offers intense hot-red or orange flowers all summer long. Its distinctive shape adds a bit of informality to a no-maintenance garden.
Name: Zauschneria californica
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: 1-2 feet tall, 4-5 feet wide
Zones: 8-10
Companion Plants: Pair it with the fragrant, low-growing foliage found in herbs such as rosemary.
Bird of Paradise
Bird of paradise is extraordinary. It adds decidedly tropical flair to your no-maintenance garden with its distinctive foliage and glowing orange blooms that bolt up and out of the leaves. This bold plant is surprisingly versatile; it looks equally amazing when grown as a dramatic specimen plant or planted in large groups.
Name: Strelitzia reginae
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: 3-4 feet tall and wide
Zones: 10-12
Companion Plants: Plant it with the large-leaf, tropical elephant’s ear, which provides foliage contrast.
Hens-and-Chicks
BHG / Evgeniya Vlasova
Hens-and-chicks is a succulent groundcover that eventually forms flocks of little drought-tolerant babies. Hens-and-chicks come in a huge number of leaf shapes and tints, including some with rich burgundy foliage. Add interest to your no-maintenance garden by planting different varieties.
Name: Sempervivum spp.
Growing Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil
Size: 2-12 inches tall, 4-18 inches wide
Zones: 5-11
Companion Plants: Add the creeping growth of low-growing groundcover sedum, such as Sedum spathulifolium, commonly called broadleaf stonecrop, which is native to California (Zones 5-9).