Plants Suitable for the High Deserts of California

In order to help you select and purchase the plants most suitable for the high desert areas of California, El Nativo Growers has created a list of plants that are well adapted to both extreme low and high temperatures. While many of the plants listed below can tolerate a full sun location, some of the species, such as Lobelia laxiflora, will prefer a filtered sun or morning sun location. We will be updating this list with new species and cultural requirement information, so please check back for posted revisions and additions.

Taxonomic Name	Common Name	Hardiness (Fahrenheit)
Acacia constricta	White Thorn Acacia	11-15
Acacia smallii	Sweet Acacia	15
Acacia greggi	Cat Claw Acacia	0
Acacia redolens	NCN	15
Acacia stenophylla	Shoestring Acacia	15
Achillea millefolium	Yarrow	0
Agave americana	Century Plant	15
Agave bracteosa	Spider Agave	15
Agave deserti	Desert Agave	5
Agave havardiana	NCN	0
Agave parryi	Parry's Agave	-20
Agave victoria reginae	Queen Victoria Agave	10
Agave weberi	Weber Agave	10
Anemopsis californica	Yerba Mansa	-20
Anisacanthus wrightii	Desert Honeysuckle	0
Artemesia ludoviciana	Prairie Sagebrush	-30
Artemesia tridentata	Big Sagebrush	-20
Asclepias tuberosa	Butterfly Bush	-30
Atriplex canescens	Four-wing Saltbush	-30
Atriplex lentifomis brewerii	Quail Bush	15
Baccharis sarothroides	Desert Broom	10
Baileya multiradiata	Desert Marigold	-10
Bouteloua curtipendula	Sideoats Grama	-30
Bouteloua gracilis	Blue Grama	-30
Buddleia davidii	Butterfly Bush	-20
Buddleia marrubifolia	Woolly Butterfly Bush	0
Bulbine frutescens	NCN	10
Bulbine frutescens 'Hallmark'	NCN	10
Caesalpinia gillesii	Bird of Paradise Bush	-10
Caesalpinia pulcherrima	Red Bird of Paradise	15
Calliandra eriophylla	Pink Fairy Duster	10
Carex pansa	California Meadow Sedge	15
Carex perdentata	Texas Hill Sedge	0
Carex tumulicolia	Berkeley Sedge	15
Cercidium floridum	Palo Verde	10
Cercis occidentalis	Western Redbud	-30
Cercocarpus ledifolius	Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany	-30
Chiltalpa tashkentensis 'Pink Dawn'	Chiltalpa Selection	0
Chilopsis linearis	Desert Willow	-10
Chrysothamnus nauseosus	Rabbitbrush	0
Convolvulus cneorum	Bush Morning Glory	10
Dalea bicolor	Blue Dalea	10
Dalea capitata	Lemon Dalea	0
Dalea frutescens	Black Dalea	10
Dalea gregii	Trailing Indigo Bush	10
Dalea versicolor	Mountain Indigo Bush	10
Dasylirion longissimum	Mexican Grass Tree	0
Dasylirion wheeleri	Desert Spoon	0
Dicliptera suberecta	Desert Honeysuckle	15
Dodonea viscosa	Hopbush	15
Echinacia purpurea	Purple coneflower	-40
Encelia farinosa	Brittlebush	15
Erigeron karvinskianus	Santa Barbara Daisy	-10
Eriogonum fasciculatum	California Buckwheat	10
Gaura lindheimeri and selections	Gaura	-20
Hesperaloe funifera	Giant Hesperaloe	-10
Hesperaloe paryiflora	Red Hesperaloe	-20
Hesperaloe parviflora 'Yellow'	Yellow Hesperaloe	-20
Justicia spicigera	Desert Honeysuckle	15
Lagerstroemia indica	Crape Myrtle	11-15
Larrea tridentata	Creosote Bush	5
Leucophyllum candidum	NCN	10
Leucophyllum frutescens 'Compacta'	Compact Texas Ranger	10
Leucophyllum frutescens 'Green Cloud'	Texas Ranger	10
Leucophyllum laevigatum	Chihuahuan Rain Sage	10
Leucophyllum langmaniae	Texas Ranger	10
Leucophyllum pruinosum	Bubble Gum Sage	10
Leucophyllum zygophyllum	NCN	10
Linum lewisii	Blue Flax	-30
Lobelia laxiflora	Mexican Lobelia	0
Mimulus cardinalis	Monkey Flower	-20
Mimulus guttatus	Streamside Monkeyflower	0
Mimulus lewisii	Lewis Monkeyflower	0
Miscanthus sinensis and selections	Maiden Grass	Variable below 0
Muhlenbergia capillaris	Pink Hairgrass	0
Muhlenbergia dumosa	Bamboo Muhly	10
Muhlenbergia filipes	Purple Muhly	0
Muhlenbergia lindheimeri	Lindheimer's Muhly	0
Muhlenbergia rigens	Deer Grass	0
Nolina microcarpa	Grasstree	-10
Panicum virgatum and selections	Switch Grass	-30
Penstemon barbatus	Bearded Penstemon	-30
Penstemon eatonii	Firecracker Penstemon	-30
Penstemon palmeri	Palmer's Penstemon	-30
Penstemon parryi	Parry's Penstemon	15
Penstemon pinifolius	Pine-leafed Penstemon	5
Penstemon pinifolius 'Yellow'	Yellow Pine-Leafed Penstemon	5
Penstemon psuedospectabilis	Canyon Penstemon	-20
Penstemon spectabilis	Showy Penstemon	0
Penstemon strictus	Rocky Mountain Penstemon	0
Penstemon superbus	NCN	-10
Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Blue Spire'	Russian Sage	-20
Populus fremontii	Cottonwood	-30
Prunus ilicifolia	Hollyleaf Cherry	10
Quercus agrifolia	Coast Live Oak	10
Quercus engelmannii	Engelmann Oak	10
Quercus lobata	California White Oak	10
Rhus ovata	Sugar Bush	10
Rhus trilobata	Squaw Bush	-40
Rosa woodsii var. ultramontana	Interior Rose	0
Rosmarinus officinalis and selections	Rosemary	0
Salvia chamaedryoides	Germander Sage	15
Salvia clevelandii	Cleveland Sage	10
Salvia greggii	Autumn Sage	0
Salix goodingii	Gooding's Black Willow	0
Salix lasiolepis	Arroyo Willow	15
Sambucus mexicana	Mexican Elderberry	0
Schizachyrium s. 'The Blues'	Little Blue Stem	-30
Simmondsia chinensis	Jojoba	15
Sophora secundiflora	Texas Mountain Laurel	10
Sphaeralcea ambigua	Globe Mallow	-10
Sporobolus airoides	Alkali Dropseed	-20
Stipa tenuissima	Mexican Feather Grass	-5
Tagetes lemonii	Mexican Bush Marigold	5
Vauquelinia californica	Arizona Rosewood	-10
Verbena goodingii	Goodding's Lavender Verbena	10
Verbena rigida (Verbena venosa)	NCN	0
Vitis californica and selections	California Wild Grape	0
Yucca australis (Yucca filifera)	NCN	0
Yucca glauca	Spanish Bayonet	-35
Yucca schidigera (Yucca mohavensis)	Mojave Yucca	0
Yucca whipplei	Our Lord's Candle	10
Zauschneria californica and selections	California Fuchsia	10
Zephyranthes candida	Rain Lily	0