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Branching Out
The Garden's Plant Introduction Program
The Garden's Branching Out program was established to increase awareness, appreciation, and availability of the many outstanding California native plants suitable for use in the landscape. Since the 1930s, improving the horticultural quality of California natives through selection, breeding, and grafting has been an important activity at the Garden. In the early 1960s, Botanic Garden Horticulturist Dara Emery began developing cultivars that combined exceptional physical features with adaptability to the growing conditions of the average home garden. Garden staff continue this important work. To date, more than 30 cultivars have been introduced to the gardening world, several of which are now standards in California landscape design.
Prospective cultivars are evaluated at the Garden and several other test sites throughout the state. Selection criteria include appearance, distinctive physical traits, landscape potential, ease of propagation, adaptability to garden conditions, insect and disease resistance, drought tolerance, and commercial demand. For those plants that receive favorable evaluations, a cultivar name is selected and stock material is offered to nurseries for commercial propagation under a licensing agreement. Proceeds help support the introduction program.
Please click on any one of the plant images below to learn more about that plant. You can print out individual fact sheets for any of the cultivars by double clicking on the pdf icon associated with that plant record. Please note that the nurseries listed under "Availability" are primarily wholesale growers that do not sell directly to home gardeners. Check their web sites for details. The Garden's Retail Nursery is an excellent source for many of these plants.
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Aesculus californica 'Canyon Pink'
Common Name: Canyon Pink California Buckeye
A large deciduous shrub to medium tree, with fragrant, light pink flowers in erect clusters from May to June. The medium green leaves are palmately compound, with 5-7 leaflets that reach 3-6 inches across. 'Canyon Pink' offers the familiar attractive features of California Buckeye, with abundant showy inflorescences in spring, good tolerance to summer drought and striking light gray branches during fall and winter. Shiny tan fruits add seasonal interest in late summer to fall.
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Arctostaphylos 'Arroyo Cascade'
Common Name: Arroyo Cascade Manzanita
A drought tolerant, truly prostrate ground cover manzanita with 3/4 inch long, slightly gray-green leaves, rosy pink blossoms in winter, and reddish stems. Plants slowly spread 6 to 9 feet wide.
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Arctostaphylos 'Canyon Blush'
Common Name: Canyon Blush Manzanita
A massive shrub whose lower branches may root, 'Canyon Blush' is a beautiful manzanita with light pink flowers in winter, followed by a decorative crop of "little apple" fruits. Its name refers to both the red-flushed new foliage and the blush of pink in the flowers, which fade to white. Older leaves have a faintly bluish cast.
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Arctostaphylos insularis 'Canyon Sparkles'
Common Name: Canyon Sparkles Manzanita
An evergreen shrub which develops an arborescent form with age, 'Canyon Sparkles' is distinguished by its large, dense clusters of white flowers in winter. Its elliptic, medium green leaves are glossy when young. Its ghostly gray bark slowly exfoliates to reveal a dark brown undercoating. A handsome upright shrub for the mixed border, woodland, or as a focal point.
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Arctostaphylos 'White Lanterns'
Common Name: White Lanterns Manzanita
A very dense shrub, 'White Lanterns' slowly matures to 5-7 ft tall by 8-12 ft wide. The white flowers are tinged pink and borne in profusion in winter, contrasting well with the dark mahogany bark. 'White Lanterns' is similar to 'Howard McMinn' but more dense and fine textured. Small elliptical leaves are medium green in color. Elegant winter-blooming, medium-sized shrub for mass planting in sun or part shade.
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Artemisia californica 'Canyon Gray'
Common Name: Canyon Gray Sagebrush
Dense semi-evergreen shrub, spreading to 10 ft or more, yet remaining about 2 ft tall. Leaves are deeply lobed and highly aromatic when crushed. Flowers are fairly inconspicuous. 'Canyon Gray' is a large-scale groundcover. Its fine-textured, silver-gray foliage is especially beautiful in rock gardens or covering hillsides
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Berberis aquifolium 'Mission Canyon'
Common Name: Mission Canyon Oregon-grape
A spreading evergreen shrub with shiny, pinnately compound foliage. The bright yellow flowers in spring are followed by blue-black berries that attract birds. This tough and durable evergreen shrub is a reliable, east-to-grow groundcover.
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Ceanothus arboreus 'Powder Blue'
Common Name: Powder Blue Ceanothus
A medium sized shrub with distinctive and copious, teardrop-shaped, 4-5 inch long, powder blue flower clusters. With the large (3x3 inch) leaves typical of the species, the plant has a bold texture that combines well with many finer-textured drought tolerant plants. The Garden's oldest specimen of this selection is 9 feet tall and 15 feet across. This species is a consistent early bloomer (late February into March) within the genus.
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Ceanothus 'Far Horizons'
Common Name: Far Horizons Ceanothus
A dense evergreen shrub, Ceanothus 'Far Horizons' is noted for its distinct button-shaped, deep blue flowers in winter and shiny, elliptical 1 inch long leaves. A dependable medium-sized shrub and consistent early bloomer (late February into March) within the genus.
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Ceanothus 'Wheeler Canyon'
Common Name: Wheeler Canyon Ceanothus
A dense mounding, evergreen shrub with copious clusters of dark blue flowers that open from prominent burgundy-colored floral bracts. With dark green, 1-1.5 inch long leaves, 'Wheeler Canyon' is highly ornamental in both coastal and inland locations. Useful on slopes and for accent and understory plantings in light shade.
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Eriophyllum nevinii 'Canyon Silver'
Common Name: Canyon Silver Catalina Silver-lace
Distinguished by its deeply divided, lacy, white-tomentose foliage, 'Canyon Silver' yields rich yellow blossoms in summer that turn an appealing chocolate brown in the fall. With handsome foliage year-round, this evergreen woody perennial provides a dramatic textural accent in a mixed border or gray garden and can be used as an informal low hedge.
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Fremontodendron 'Dara's Gold'
Common Name: Dara's Gold Flannelbush
The low, mounding form, shiny green foliage and bright yellow, 1.5 - 2.5 inch wide flowers distinguish 'Dara's Gold' from the other named cultivars of decumbent flannel bush. It is particularly effective when planted on slopes and in containers. The vibrant green foliage, sun-yellow flowers that combine well with the rich blues of ceanothus and sages, and long blooming season make this selection particularly desirable.
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Galvezia juncea 'Gran Canon'
Common Name: Gran Canon Bush Snapdragon
An upright to arching, 3-6 foot tall evergreen shrub with numerous, rush-like almost leafless stems that bear 1 inch long tubular red flowers in spring and summer. Decumbent stems may take root and promote lateral spread. 'Gran Canon' is a fast growing, fine-textured, floriferous plant that complements bold forms or spiny succulents in the garden.
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Heuchera 'Blushing Bells'
Common Name: Blushing Bells Coral Bells
Heuchera 'Blushing Bells' forms a compact mat of 3 inch tall rosettes with 1 inch wide, dark green leaves. Densely clothed with 8-12 inch flower spikes of small white to pale pink flowers in spring, it makes an excellent border or container plant, or small-scale groundcover. A nice addition to rock gardens.
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Heuchera 'Canyon Belle'
Common Name: Canyon Belle Coral Bells
Heuchera 'Canyon Belle' is a compact herbaceous perennial which forms 12 inch wide by 5 inch tall rosettes of dark green, somewhat glossy, 2 inch wide leaves. With its springtime display of very showy reddish flowers on 18 inch stalks, it is a desirable, compact Heuchera for use in flower gardens, as a small-scale groundcover, for edging, in rock gardens or in decorative containers.
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Heuchera 'Canyon Chimes'
Common Name: Canyon Chimes Coral Bells
Evergreen, compact, matlike herbaceous perennial. Leaves 1 inch wide on rosettes 12+ inches across and 2 inches tall. A very reliable coral bell with dark pink flowers on 15 inch stalks borne in profusion over a long period in spring.
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Heuchera 'Canyon Delight'
Common Name: Canyon Delight Coral Bells
An herbaceous, evergreen perennial reaching 1/2 ft tall by 2 ft wide. Leaves 2 inches wide, medium green. Rose-red flowers bloom on 16 inch stalks in spring. Remains one of the best medium-sized coral bells, easy and long-lived.
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Heuchera 'Canyon Duet'
Common Name: Canyon Duet Coral Bells
Evergreen, compact, matlike herbaceous perennial. Leaves 1 inch wide in rosettes 12+ inches across and 5 inches tall. Strongly bicolored flowers of pink and white on 12-18 inch stalks in spring. 'Canyon Duet' is a charming, diminutive, sturdy cultivar with distinct bicolored flowers.
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Heuchera 'Canyon Melody'
Common Name: Canyon Melody Heuchera
Evergreen, compact, matlike herbaceous perennial. Leaves 1 inch wide on rosettes 12+ inches across and 3.5 inches tall. Flowers medium pink with white hightlights on densely clothed 12-inch stalks in spring. Masses of flowers create a shimmering effect. A miniatue version of Heruchera 'Canyon Pink'.
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Heuchera 'Canyon Pink'
Common Name: Canyon Pink Coral Bells
An herbaceous, evergreen perennial with a low, compact habit reaching 1/2 ft tall by 2 ft wide. Leaves 2 inches wide, medium green. Saturated, medium pink flowers on 16 inch stalks in spring. Remains one of the best medium-sized coral bells, easy and long-lived.
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Heuchera 'Dainty Bells'
Common Name: Dainty Bells Coral Bells
An herbaceous, evergreen, compact perennial with 1.5 inch wide leaves in 3 inch tall rosettes. Large inflorescences of small rose-pink to rose-red flowers in spring.
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Heuchera 'Pink Wave'
Common Name: Pink Wave Coral Bells
An herbaceous, evergreen perennial with unusual vegetative features: 1-2 inch tall by 9-18 inch wide, mat-like habit with glossy, wavy-margined leaves reminiscent of ivy geranium, flowers rose-pink.
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Hyptis emoryi 'Silver Lining'
Common Name: Silver Lining Desert-lavender
A fragrant, loosely unpright, drought-tolerant shrub 3-10 feet tall. Softly pubescent, exceptionally silver, rounded leaves about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long and wide. Blue-violet flowers borne in small but numerous woolly clusters for much of the year on stems that are often flushed with purple.
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Iris 'Canyon Snow'
Common Name: Canyon Snow Iris
One of the loveliest of the Pacific Coast Hybrid irises, this clone has pure white flowers that consist of three erect standards and three broad falls held perpendicular to the stem. Each fall is highlighted by a yellow patch at the base. This rhizomatous iris, with its bright shiny green foliage, slowly spreads to form clumps up to 4 feet across. A wonderful addition to the perennial border, a meadow garden, for high shade under native oaks or other trees, or paired with roses as a ground cover.
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Lessingia filaginifolia 'Silver Carpet'
Common Name: Silver Carpet Branching Beach-Aster
'Silver Carpet' is a low, dense, trailing perennial with white-tomentose foliage that creates a silver appearance. A profusion of 1 inch pink-lavender flowers cover the mound in late summer. 'Silver Carpet' makes an effective groundcover, especially when allowed to spill down a slope or over a low wall. Its year-round, handsome white foliage blends well with other plants, and its summer blossoms provide welcome cool color in a season when warmer-toned natives - California fuchsias and goldenrods, for example - prevail.
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Leymus condensatus 'Canyon Prince'
Common Name: Canyon Prince Giant Rye
Medium sized evergreen grass with striking blue-gray foliage which spreads slowly by rhizomes. The flower stalks rise 1-2 ft above the foliage and are topped with tight, congested clusters of flowers in summer. One of the most popular and adaptable of California's native grasses, 'Canyon Prince' makes a terrific accent plant or backdrop in a perennial border. Its bold texture and blue foliage make it effective in many situations, from meadows to tropical gardens. This beautiful drought-resistant grass is more striking and much less invasive than the European dune grass (Elymus arenarius).
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Salvia brandegeei 'Pacific Blue'
Common Name: Pacific Blue Sage
An upright, multi-stemmed shrub with arching branches, 3-4 ft tall by 4-6 ft wide. Aromatic, narrow green leaves have a pebbled texture above and downy white undersides. In late winter and spring, the gentian blue flowers are borne in profusion on branched, 1-2 foot stalks. 'Pacific Blue' is a robust, fast-growing, aromatic native sage that will appeal to gardeners who have had difficulty growing the more finicky blue-flowered sages.
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Salvia cedrosensis 'Baja Blanca'
Common Name: Baja Blanca Sage
A low, rounded subshrub to 2 feet tall and slightly wider. The white stems bear gray-green, somewhat rounded leaves 1/2 inches long and 3/4 inches wide. The 1/2 inch white flowers (the species is typically light to medium blue) are held in 4-5 inch long inflorescences. This diminutive sage has a pleasing shape, copious flowers, and a long blooming season, especially in when grown as a container specimen.
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Salvia 'Dara's Choice'
Common Name: Dara's Choice Sage
Very compact, evergreen subshrub 1.5 ft tall by 4-6 ft wide whose stems may root. The leaves are medium green above, whitish green beneath, 3 - 4 inches long, oblanceolate and aromatic. The blue-purple flowers are held in short spikes in spring. The low spreading habit makes 'Dara's Choice' a desirable groundcover in mixed borders. Other features include aromatic foliage and hummingbird-attracting flowers.
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Salvia leucophylla 'Amethyst Bluff'
Common Name: Amethyst Bluff Purple Sage
Starts out as a low-mounding shrub, eventually reaches 5 feet in height and continues to spread out laterally. Large, vivid purple-pink flowers on 12 inch stalks in spring to summer. Silvery foliage typical of the species.
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Salvia spathacea 'Avis Keedy'
Common Name: Avis Keedy Hummingbird Sage
A rhizomatous, herbaceous groundcover with 3-8 inch long, wavy leaves and 1-3 foot tall flower stalks that bloom in late winter or spring. This selection is distinquished by its lemon yellow flowers with lime green bracts as opposed to the typical magenta-flowered forms of hummingbird sage. The entire plant has a wonderful, fruity fragrance. Flowers fade to a creamy white as they mature.
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Sphaeralcea fulva 'La Luna'
Common Name: La Luna Desert Mallow
An open, rounded, billowing shrub to 3 feet tall and wide. Leaves sage green, shallowly lobed, and mealy-textured along fuzzy golden stems. The cup-shaped flowers of clear, silky white petals tinged with pink are held on 1-2 foot long, wand-like inflorescences. The pink stigma and black anthers add contrast. The copious, shimmering white blossoms, long blooming season and unusual color combination of golden stems, grey leaves and white flowers make this a fine addition to the dry garden.
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Verbena lilacina 'De La Mina'
Common Name: De La Mina Verbena
Evergreen subshrub. Plant forms a tidy, handsome mound to 3 feet high with an equal spread. Deeply divided medium green leaves. Dark purple, fragrant flowers on 8 inch stems bloom almost year-round in coastal California.
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