Introducing Our New All-Star Plant Lineup for a Changing Climate
Explore the updated database
The new Arboretulm All-Stars online plant database offers more detailed profiles and search filters along with gardening tips and maintenance guidance to help gardeners make informed choices! Click through them all or use our enhanced filters!
The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden is updating its iconic plant program—Arboretum All-Stars—to meet the challenges of today’s climate. Because our region is experiencing more heat waves, drier conditions, and extreme weather events, the refreshed All-Stars lineup features plants that can withstand these conditions, support local ecosystems, and help gardeners create resilient, beautiful landscapes throughout the Sacramento Valley and beyond.
“We’re in a different world now than when the All-Stars first launched 20 years ago,” said Emily Griswold, director of GATEways horticulture and teaching gardens. “As horticulturists, we’ve been seeing first-hand how many plants that once thrived in our conditions are no longer performing as reliably. It was time to update the list.”
The original Arboretum All-Stars program highlighted 50 reliable, low-water, pollinator-friendly plants that had proven themselves in UC Davis landscapes. The list quickly grew to 100 plants that shaped thousands of home gardens and public spaces across California.
Now, the program is getting a climate-ready refresh. Thirty-eight of the original 100 All-Star plants have been retired and 68 new ones added. Gardeners now have 130 regionally appropriate All-Stars to choose from—plants selected not just for their performance, but for their ability to meet the moment.
“This isn’t just a plant list—it’s a tool for transformation,” said Rachel Davis, GATEways horticulturist. “We’re helping people build habitat-rich, water-wise landscapes. We want gardeners to feel empowered—not overwhelmed.”
What Makes These Plants All-Stars?
All plants in the updated Arboretum All-Stars list were selected using a thoughtful, climate- and habitat-focused approach. Each All-Star must offer strong habitat value (providing food, shelter, or nesting for wildlife and pollinators) or require low to very low irrigation making them ideal for a future of more extreme weather.
To be included, plants also had to be tested in the UC Davis Arboretum and meet several key criteria:
- Provide seasonal beauty or sensory interest
- Easy to grow with minimal maintenance and adapted to local soil and climate conditions
- Tolerant of heat and cold under current and projected climate scenarios
- Not invasive and able to be sourced and propagated at our seasonal plant sales
Many All-Stars also have bonus traits like being California natives, offering year-round appeal, tolerating seasonal flooding, providing shade, or being fire-smart and easy to propagate at home.
What’s New in Arboretum All-Stars 2.0
In addition to the new plant list, the relaunch features a refreshed visual identity—anchored by a redesigned Arboretum All-Stars logo inspired by the flower of the California native blue-eyed grass. The new online plant database offers more detailed profiles and search filters along with gardening tips and maintenance guidance to help gardeners make informed choices.
At the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery, new signage and plant labels will make it easy for shoppers to identify Arboretum All-Stars and learn how to incorporate them into water-wise, habitat-friendly landscapes.
“We’re not reinventing the program—we’re updating it to give people the best information that our expert horticulturists have learned through their own experience,” said Carmia Feldman, UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden director. “We’re evolving the Arboretum All-Stars to stay relevant, impactful, and inspiring for the next generation of gardeners.”
Take an Arboretum All-Star Home
Celebrate the debut of the new lineup of Arboretum All-Stars at the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden Plant Sales this fall! Shop the campus’s one-acre Teaching Nursery (1046 Garrod Dr., UC Davis) on three special dates:
- Members-Only Plant Sale & All-Stars Launch Party • Sat., Sept. 27 • 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
Be the first to pick from the new All-Stars and enjoy commemorative giveaways! - Public Plant Sale • Sat., Oct. 18 • 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
- Public Clearance Plant Sale • Sat., Nov. 15 • 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
Each sale features ten of thousands of beautiful, low-water, climate-adapted plants—including the brand-new lineup of Arboretum All-Stars. Grown onsite by Arboretum staff, students, and volunteers, these plants are already acclimated to local conditions and often hard to find elsewhere. Shoppers also receive expert guidance from the Arboretum’s friendly staff and volunteers, ready to help you match the right plants to the right places.
Friends members always receive a 10% discount. Not a member yet? Join online or at the door!
Proceeds from plant sales support the Arboretum and Public Garden’s environmental education programs, student leadership internships, and the continued growth of its gardens and collections.