Resources for Gardening with Native Plants
Books

The Wildflower Gardener's Guide - California, Desert Southwest, and Northern Mexico Edition
Art, H.W. 1990. Storey Communications, Inc. A selection of wildflowers of desert, grassland, chaparral, and foothill areas. Excellent drawings and maps.

A Flora of San Diego County
Beauchamp, M. 1986. Sweetwater River Press. A technical key to San Diego's species with notes on distribution.

California's Changing Landscapes - Diversity and Conservation of California Vegetation
Barbour, M., et al. 1993. California Native Plant Society. Addresses the future of California's landscapes by examining the diversity and conservation of its native vegetation. Explores the use, restoration, and ecology of California's changing landscapes.

Gardener's Guide to Growing Wildflowers
Connelly, K. 1991. Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants, Inc. California wildflowers from seed, with an emphasis on site preparation, weed control, plant combinations, and sequence of blooms. Good photographs.

Flowering Plants - The Santa Monica Mountains, Coastal and Chaparral Regions of Southern California
Dale, N. 1985. Capra Press. Field guide to plants of western Los Angeles County, but useful in San Diego County. Interesting reading with outstanding photographs.

The Jepson Manual - Higher Plants of California
Hickman, J.C., ed. 1993. University of California Press. Comprehensive, but hefty and technical.

How to Grow The Wildflowers
Johnson, E.A., and S. Millard. 1993. Ironwood Press. Includes about 90 wildflowers of the southwestern United States. Good basic gardening section, well illustrated with photographs of mixed plantings.

California Native Trees & Shrubs for Garden & Environmental Use in Southern California and Adjacent Areas
Lenz, L.W., and J. Dourley. 1981. Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. Devoted to the horticulture of southern California's native trees and shrubs, based on experience at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden.

Complete Garden Guide to the Native Perennials of California and Complete Garden Guide to the Native Shrubs of California
Keator, G. 1990, 1994. Chronicle Books. Gardening basics, encyclopedias of species, plus sections on designing habitats. Good guides to attractive combinations of plants.

Oaks of California
Pavlik, B.M., P.C. Muick, S. Johnson, M. Popper. 1991. Cachuma Press and the California Oak Foundation. Identification, history, ecology, and conservation of California's oaks. Beautifully illustrated.

Landscape Plants for Western Regions - An Illustrated Guide to Plants for Water Conservation
Perry, R. 1992. Land Design Publishing. An ecological approach to landscaping - descriptions, cultural information, and uses for over 650 native and introduced plants appropriate for our Mediterranean climate. Suggestions for plant groupings. Excellent photographs.

Trees and Shrubs for Dry California Landscapes
Perry, R. 1981. Land Design Publishing. A well-illustrated introduction to more than 360 California native and introduced plants which survive with limited water in southern California.

Growing California Native Plants
Schmidt, M. 1980. University of California Press. From ferns to trees. Includes basics on culture, propagation, and getting started. Needs to be supplemented with a southern California garden guide.

California Native Plant Society's Inventory of Rare and Endangered Vascular Plants of California
Skinner, M.W., and B. Pavlik, eds. 1994. California Native Plant Society. Status and distribution summaries for 1742 of California's rarest plants.