What Should I Plant?

When beginning a garden, the amount of information and resources can be overwhelming! Here are a few resources to inform you on Southern California gardening and help you decide what to plant.

What do you want to do?

• Get information about plants found in California, native and non-native: Calflora
• Choose which California native plants are local to your zip code: Calscape
• Gauge the quality of pollinator habitat at your U.S. location: Beescape
• Get help with Southern California gardening issues: San Diego County Master Gardeners
• Figure out which ornamental species are drought-tolerant and water-wise: UCANR Water Use Classification of Landscape Species
• Read a detailed summary of ANR-approved California pollinator info: "How to Attract and Maintain Pollinators in Your Garden"

For results from our local study, visit the page "Most Attractive Ornamentals for Pollinators," or navigate to other pages on our site.

A student worker helps spread mulch and prepare the research site at San Diego Botanic Garden, 2018.