THE farther one travels from Los Angeles, the better the chances of seeing California’s most ravishing native shrub, variously named backbrush, or snowbush, or pine mat, or whitethorn, or mountain ...

Four years ago, I wrote a column about my newly planted Ceanothus "Concha." I had chosen large plants over less costly small ones because, at my age, deferred gratification didn’t make much sense.

May 13—Ceanothus is a diverse group of shrubs called by the common nicknames "Wild lilac" and "California lilac", since the majority of species are native to California. It's easy to find a spot for ...

IF YOU’RE LOOKING for a plant that bears masses of spring flowers, stays green year round, takes little to no summer water and thrives on benign neglect, it’s hard to beat California’s wild lilacs ...

A good blue is a rare commodity in the garden, which is why California lilacs are so prized. With the best, such as Ceanothus 'Concha', the intense blue flower colour is heightened by a backdrop of ...

Ceanothus is a fast grower – and there's one to suit every size of garden, says Marie Staunton Ceanothus There's a ceanothus to suit every size of garden, says Marie Staunton. I have no doubt you have ...

If Walt Whitman had lived in California, he might have written, "When ceanothus last in the dooryard bloom'd," for in California, it is the ceanothus that marks the "ever-returning spring." A native ...

Then visit a new children’s garden at Kew and harden off bedding plants Plant this Blue doesn’t come more dazzling than the Californian lilac (ceanothus). Spring-flowering members of this clan of ...

Helen Birks is in a bit of a quandary about her spring-flowering ceanothus (variety unknown) that she says has suffered from last winter’s extremes. It is about 8ft high, and spread in an umbrella ...