Plant GuideS for your Schoolyard Habitat
Sonoma County Schoolyard Habitats primarily incorporate Northern California native plants. You can learn more about the benefits to wildlife and planting needs at California Native Plant Society’s Calscape website. Calscape also offers the option to print Native Plant Cards to help introduce your students to native plants and their ecosystem value. Simply click 'Print Plant Sign' found at the bottom of each plant page. The Sonoma County Master Gardeners have also put together a slideshow of their favorite California native plants for Sonoma gardens.
More information about a few common native plants can be found below.
More information about a few common native plants can be found below.
Showy milkweed
Asclepius speciosa **Host plant for the Monarch butterfly Erect perennial that grows to about 4 feet tall. The large, pointed, banana-like leaves are arranged opposite on the stalk-like stem. The fragrant eye-catching furry pale pink to pinkish-purple flowers are arranged in thick umbels. Their petal structure is reflexed and the central flower parts, five hoods with prominent hooks, are star-shaped. Size: 4’ tall x 4’ wide *Mark well where you plant them as they go completely dormant in Winter and don’t re-sprout until mid-April. 
Gumweed
Grindelia stricta Perennial herb forming low clumps to a sprawling subshrub. Yellow flower cluster holds one or more flower heads each up to 5 centimeters wide. Size: 3’ tall x 6’ wide Blooms: Spring-Fall 
Coyote mint
Monardella villosa “Russian River” Perennial herb that forms a small bush or matted tangle of hairy mint-scented foliage. The fragrance is one of the best features of this plant. It grows in chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and various forest/woodland habitats. It produces rounded flower clusters of small, thready, bright lavender or pink flowers that are attractive to butterflies. Cut back over winter for denser mounds. Size: 2’ tall x 3‘ wide Blooms: Summer/Fall 
California aster
Symphyotrichum chilenses The hairy leaves are narrowly oval-shaped, pointed, and sometimes finely serrated along the edges. The flower cluster holds aster flower heads with centers of yellow disc florets and fringes of many narrow light purple ray florets. Great for a butterfly garden.The flowers attract many beneficial insects. The genus Symphyotrichum is a host plant for the Northern Checkerspot, Field Crescent, and Pearl Crescent butterflies. Size: 2’ tall x 3’ wide but spreads easily Blooms: Summer/Fall |
Narrow-leaf milkweed
Asclepius fasicularis **Host plant for the Monarch butterfly Flowering perennial sending up many thin, erect stems and bearing distinctive long pointed leaves which are very narrow and often whorled about the stem, giving the plant its common names. It blooms in clusters of lavender or lavender-tinted white flowers which have five reflexed lobes that extend down away from the blossom. The fruits are smooth milkweed pods which split open to spill seeds along with plentiful silky hairs. *Mark well where you plant them as they go completely dormant in Winter and don’t re-sprout until mid-April. 
California Sunflower
Helianthus californicus A sprawling, gangly plant, sending a thin stem to heights between one and three meters or more. The lance-shaped leaves may be 20 centimeters long and are smooth or slightly toothed along the edges. The flower cluster holds several flower heads. Supports butterflies, bees, and birds. Size: 8” tall x 3’ wide Blooms: Summer/Fall 
California goldenrod
Solidago velutlina ssp californica It produces masses of yellow flowers when many other plants are dormant. Birds and pollinating insects love this plant. Loves to spread so plant where it has room to move. Size: 1.5’ tall spreads aggressively Blooms: Summer/Fall |
Email our Schoolyard Habitat Program Manager today!
Michelle.Krieg@schoolgardens.org
Michelle.Krieg@schoolgardens.org