California Landscape Design

I love the gnarly, twisty green branching silhouette in winter of Ponicirus trifoliata. It is a super hardy citrus and gives an "all season" presence with winter silhouette, spring bloom, summer/fall fruit and fall color. Best if placed against a wall where branch structure can be displayed.

Two of my favorite plants that carry a garden throughout the winter are Beschonaria yuccoides ‘Flamingo Glow’ and Correa ‘Wyn’s Wonder’. The Beschonaria looks smart, neat and tidy all year giving a low maintenance focal point to the winter garden. The variegated Correa ‘Wyn’s Wonder’ spreads steadily through the garden, with the added bonus of blooming in the winter providing, through its tubular flowers, nectar for our winter-hungry hummingbirds.

St. Catherine’s lace buckwheat (Eriogonum giganteum) is amazing this time of year. The blooms turn rich chocolate and look incredible with the pale blue foliage beneath. Pairing this plant with cape rush, sage, and ‘blue glow’ agaves accentuates the combination even more.

Symphoricarpos albus: White flowers are followed by clusters of berries that start off marshmallowsbut ripen to pure white by early autumn. They look amazing on the naked dark winter stems, and are reminiscent of small marshmellows ready to be roasted. The berries persist through the winter largely because most birds don't like to eat them, which is fine by me! Their strange form and odd colored fruit are a solid backbone of any winter display. 

Aloe rubroviolaceae is one of my all time favorite aloes and it is blooming beautifully in my garden now. This is a low growing rosette-shaped aloe, each 2 to 2.5 feet across and eventually forming a colony. The blades are blue-green with a rose-purple blush and the blooms are intense coral and pink. The rosettes orient themselves so they face the sun. Just stunning.

Felicia echinata from South Africa is a great little subshrub that has tiny grass-green, scale like leaves that clothe upright, two-foot tall stems, each topped in a quarter sized lavender flower with a distinct yellow center. The yellow/green/lavender color contrast is a knockout. I started with just a couple of these plants and they slowly spread, their cottony seeds float across the garden and sprout where they want to grow. And I’m just fine with that. 

        Ryan Prange, APLD member and founder and principal of Falling Waters Landscape Design, has been practicing in the Los Angeles area for over a decade. He has now decided it is time to share his knowledge with others. He recently launched a subscription mailing list called “Think Outside” filled with insights and business tips. His goal is to provide education and inspiration to help others get started in landscape design, or to boost their business.
        Included in this article is an excerpt from the “Playbook” which is a guide that shares insights, tricks of the trade, business advice, systems and processes, case-studies, and everything he’s learned over the years.