The Drought-Defying California Garden: 230 Native Plants for a Lush, Low-Water Landscape

by Greg Rubin, Lucy Warren

A must-have for every gardener in California looking for a new way to garden in a changing climate

In recent years California has been facing extreme drought, and in 2015 they passed state-wide water restrictions that affect home owners. Unfortunately the drought is only going to get worse, and gardeners who aren’t willing to abandon their beloved pastime entirely are going to have to learn how to garden with the absolute minimum of water.  The Drought-Defying California Garden highlights the best 230 plants to grow, shares advice on how to get them established, and offers tips on how to maintain them with the minimum amount of water. All of the plants are native to California—making them uniquely adept at managing the harsh climate—and include perennials, annuals, shrubs, trees, and succulents.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Reference, Nature

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 23, 2016

Reviews

[C Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good reference for California Gardeners. As a reference book, I refer to it often and will take it with me to nurseries and plant sales. I like having a reference of so many native plants in one book.

[Kim Wyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every California gardener needs to read this book. Water conservation gardens don't limit us to the barren and uninviting rock and prickly cactus look.
The plants in this book thrive in our high desert conditions and look gorgeous too.

[Britt · Rating 1 out of 5]

kindle book is broken

The kindle version of this has black bars obscuring every section. Literally unreadable. Recommend not purchasing until a new version is uploaded.

[mary volaski · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth the time

Way too much of this book is redacted. Couldn't see most of it. I really wanted this kind of info. Too bad.

[c]

If you are considering a California native plant garden but are held back by worries that it will look dead most of the summer, start here. This provides information for evergreen perennials, trees, and shrubs to form the backbone of a native plant garden that looks lush year-round.

Not comprehensive, but has a good selection of all the commonly planted native garden backbone plants. As a novice, I thought it had more than enough information to get me started. I found it helpful to cross-reference with other books, like Carol Bornstein's California Native Plants for the Garden.