My garden in May

I'm pleased with how this prostrate Chamise (Adenostoma fasiculatum can't remember the exact name) and “Santa Barbara Liveforever” (Dudleya traskiae) have grown in these clay pipes that I've placed on end.  I'll have to get some more.  I liberated the larger from underneath my parents' house where it was forgotten for a long time.  The smaller also came from their house where it was part of some yard drainage.

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This is Goldenrod (was Solidago californica now Solidago velutina ssp. californica ). I purchased this from Annie's Annuals and had a bit of trouble as she cites it since it's been supplanted in the latest Jepson Manual.

 Heart Leaved or Climbing penstemon (Keckelia cordifolia).  I don't know why this is Keckelia and not Penstemon. Perhaps it was in the Penstemon genus and later changed as botanists got more refined.

 You can't really see the arching growth habit in the slightly blurry photo above.  Below, it's more apparent as the branch arches in from the upper right.  Annie's has this to say, "...evergreen in mild climates. Goes deciduous in colder areas as well as under drought stress. Arching branches work well against a fence, intertwining nicely neighbors, or grow it the way Mother Nature does – spilling down a hillside. Give it some Summer water & decent drainage. Cut back to 1’ in Fall. Drought tolerant. Sun-Pt. Shade. More shade inland."  Annie's is located in N. Ca and thinking about summers inland there makes me think it might be a better match for other locations on my property.  We'll see how it fares this summer in the rather exposed area I have it now. 

I do like this Lantana, a non-native.  It's often full of flowers, and it has an attractive shape and growth habit.  This one has a stout trunk perhaps 4" in diameter.  Of course I have planted a California native, Linum lewisii (Blue Flax) in front of it.  And there's a weed of course.  I often pull them and leave them in place unless they have viable seed, an untidy habit according to some, and part of the natural order according to me.