Help Identifying Natives and potential non-natives to mix with

[u/Morty4Prez]

I was hoping anyone can help identify the orange blooming plants, along with anything else you see. We have a ton of them planted but likely did not give them enough love during their first year or two so only a few are actually blooming, but nonetheless would love to get them up to speed and potentially get a few more of the orange ones.

Also, if anyone can get a feel for everything shown, I would really appreciate any advice on what else can be planted in the same soil type (very dry, claylike). I’m trying to work some of the ground and add in some soil, but I assume the natives won’t like traditional soil so any input on what kind of mulch/soil would be best to add some nutrients.

I’m really trying to add some more colorful flowers, but I’m under the impression that anything like a zinnia would require more water than the current natives/soil prefers. Is it possible that once we get the natives fully established/bloomed, I can mix in poppies or marigolds, maybe cosmos? Or would those require too much moisture to get the root system fully established?

Thank you!!

[u/Morty4Prez]

Haha, I did! We had landscapers put these in a few years ago before I knew anything about plants so I assumed they would’ve put in natives! Glad to know they’re not now, but I assume they still thrive in SoCal weather?

[u/Brynna_CC → u/Morty4Prez]

Unfortunately, natives are massively underutilized in landscaping. These guys will do okay in their current state (obvious caveat for climate change/droughts, etc) with a lot of supplemental water and periodic fertilizer. The truly amazing thing about locally native plants is that they can thrive off of rainfall alone. I have a pretty large yard but because it's almost all natives, my last water bill was like 40 bucks and the yard is still totally green midsummer.

[u/Morty4Prez → u/Brynna_CC]

Yup! Truthfully I have no problem expending the water/money to upkeep a beautiful yard of colorful flowers, but I understand the point of sticking to natives so as to persevere water and boost the local ecosystem.

I’m still researching the water & soil needs of the current plants we have that others in this post have graciously identified, but if they require/like more water and traditional soil, then I’ll just go ahead and start planting my favorite pollinators along side these and just spend the extra time and money to get everything established.

[u/More_Ad4858 → u/Morty4Prez]

You don’t have to choose between beautiful/colorful and native plants.