Plant Lists

Plant Lists

We love and have gardening experience with many types of plants. Because most people don't have the time to experiment with the incredible variety plants available, we like to put together and share different kinds of plant lists. We think the plants on these lists are attractive, typically low-water perennials that perform well in our Central Valley climate.

We love our Arboretum All-Stars too, but there's so many more great plants out there! Expand your gardening palette with some of the plant recommendations below.  

 

Image of four plants each with future favorite climate-ready plant branding around it in green and gold.

Future Favorites - Climate-Ready Plants

The climate is changing, and so are our plant recommendations. Enter Future Favorites, a new and evolving list of plants that our horticulturists have identified as thriving in today’s shifting climate. Many of these plants overlap with the original Arboretum All-Stars, while new additions reflect observations about how specific species are responding to increased heat, changing rainfall patterns, and other environmental challenges.
Image of a hummingbird drinking nectar from California fuchsia in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.

Pollinator Plant List: Hummingbirds

  • by Sydney Odman

Did you know hummingbirds move much faster and over considerably larger areas than insect pollinators do? With their fast wings, compact size and slender bills, it's no wonder that these tiny birds play such an important role in our environment. Unfortunately, due to climate change, habitat loss and a variety of other human-caused influences, researchers consider nearly 15% of hummingbird species vulnerable to extinction. 

Image of students preparing to donate their Good Life Garden harvest to The Pantry.

Fall 2018 Edible Plant List

Below is a list of plants that students in our Learning by Leading™ Edible Landscaping internship will be planting in the UC Davis Good Life Garden in Fall 2018. Most of these plants will also be available at our plant sale on Saturday, October 13 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Butterfly and host plant

Larval Host Plants for Butterflies

When creating gardens to attract butterflies, expand your palette beyond plants that only provide nectar for mature butterflies. There’s another type of plant, called larval host plants, that any well-rounded butterfly garden needs.
Image of Haven Kiers' lawn-free front yard.

Life After Lawn Plant List

Fill your lawn-free front yard with selections that not only have less-than-lawn water needs, they also perform well in our region, look great, and benefit our ever important pollinators!
Image of Aster monk.

10 Rising Stars

THE ORIGINAL 100 ALL-STAR PLANTS are not the only ones that we have found to have excellent qualities for gardens in our area. This season, our Teaching Nursery staff nominated ten plants that they consider “Rising Stars.” These plants have many of the same characteristics as our Arboretum All-Stars—they are attractive, dependable, drought tolerant, low maintenance, and provide value to our wildlife.
stacey parker_lawn

(Almost) 50 Greens for Shade

Here is a list of almost 50 plants–actually it’s 33–that Stacey Parker, horticulturist with the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, has included in her  shady “new front yard” to date.
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