If you decide not to water your lawn this summer and plants drought tolerant trees in October, you should consider the following 5 native California shrubs.
1- Lemonadeberry (scientific name: Rhus integrifolia) 
- bloom period: February to May
- preference: sun/dry
- edible: berry is edible and can be used for lemonade
- height: 3′
- other information: evergreen shrub
- More photos on google.com
2- California Honeysuckle (Lonicera hispidula) 
- bloom period: May to August
- preference: sun/moist to shade/dry
- height: 1′
- edible: fruit is edible
- humming bird: attract humming bird
- other information: climbing deciduous shrub
- More photos on google
3- Bladder Pod (Isomeris arborea) 
4- Purple Sage (Salvia leucophylla) 
- bloom period: April to July
- preference: sun/dry
- height: 4′ to 8′
- edible: fruit has fragance and is edible
- other information: foliage has fragance and edible; can only be found in California
- More photos on Google
5- Sugar Bush (Rhus ovata) 
- bloom period: April to May
- preference: sun/dry
- height: grow to 10′
- edible: fruit is edible
- other information: evergreen shrub; mainly in California with some in Arizona and Baja California
- More photos on Google.com
Nurseries
In Orange county, we googled and found two nurseries that carry California native plants:
If you know any other nursery in SoCal, please let us know we will update the list.
Links
- Native Plants of the Palos Verdes Peninsula that are Suitable for Gardens – http://sccnps.org/plants-of-local-interest
- California-Friendly Guide to Native and Drought Tolerant Garden – http://www.lvmwd.com/home/showdocument?id=711
- Wikipedia list of California Native Plants – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_California_native_plants