12 beautiful plants and flowers to enjoy in Southern California in 2025

Clearly, there’s nary shortage of flowers successful Southern California. As I constitute this adjacent the extremity of 2024, roses, iris and California fuchsia are inactive blooming successful my Ventura garden, and hummingbirds are darting among gangly orangish whorls of lion’s process (Leonotis leonurus) and abdominous magenta stalks of hummingbird sage.

New adventures are calling, 1 for each period of the year.

That’s apt wherefore it’s casual to instrumentality our blooms for granted successful SoCal. So this year, fto maine assistance you marque a plan. I’ve compiled a database of 12 beauteous buds and their optimum bloom times successful Southern California.

Please note, this is simply a constricted and highly subjective database not intended to encompass the immense fig of spectacular flowers successful our region. Also enactment that these listed bloom times are meant arsenic guides, not absolutes, truthful earlier you program an outing, ever cheque up to guarantee your favorites are really successful flower.

For floral joyousness passim the year, acceptable reminders present to instrumentality immoderate clip successful the coming months to virtually halt and odor the roses ... oregon lilacs.

January: Camellias

Camellia shrubs, with their glossy acheronian greenish leaves, soared successful popularity successful the mid-1900s, which is wherefore they’re ubiquitous successful established SoCal landscapes, and the leaves of immoderate varieties — Camellia sinensis, for lawsuit — springiness america achromatic tea. But it’s the flowers, with their assortment of shapes, colors and fragrance, that truly animate anyone with an oculus for beauty.

One of the world’s premier collections is astatine Descanso Gardens successful La Cañada Flintridge. Descanso’s bonzer camellia wood was created by erstwhile Los Angeles Daily News steadfast and camellia collector E. Manchester Boddy nether unhappy circumstances. According to the history connected Descanso’s website, Boddy amassed galore exquisite varieties from astatine slightest 3 Japanese American nurseries whose camellia breeding owners were forced to merchantability their inventory astatine a fraction of its worth earlier they were incarcerated during World War II due to the fact that of their Japanese heritage.

The bequest of camellia growers specified arsenic F.M. Uyematsu lives connected astatine the gardens, but Southern California inactive has 1 different internationally celebrated nursery devoted to camellias and azaleas successful Altadena. Nuccio’s Nurseries offers much than 500 varieties of camellias, galore created by cross-pollinating bees and past nurtured by the owners. Visit successful January and February to delight successful the galore choices, and instrumentality 1 location — they turn successful pots too. And sojourn this year, due to the fact that family members are trying to merchantability the property, truthful this accidental won’t past forever.

February: Bulbs (daffodils, tulips, etc.)

Bulbs are defiant harbingers of outpouring successful colder climes, sometimes pushing up done the snowfall successful their zeal to greet the prima and dispersed a small colour connected a bleak scenery of slushy grays. We don’t look that occupation overmuch successful SoCal, of course, but our past 2 winters were truthful damp and grey that I astir wept with joyousness past February erstwhile the archetypal daffodils burst distant successful my soggy garden.

Twin Peaks, a tiny municipality adjacent Lake Arrowhead, has planted thousands of daffodil bulbs arsenic portion of the Julie Greer Daffodil Project. Greer, a nonmigratory of Twin Peaks’ Strawberry Flat neighborhood, loved daffodils and began planting hundreds of the bulbs astir her assemblage successful 1999 with the assistance of her husband, Tom, and adjacent person Julie Hale. After Greer died from bosom crab successful 2001, residents planted thousands much bulbs successful her grant successful their yards and on State Highway 189, creating a beauteous outpouring display.

Tulips usually commencement blooming a fewer weeks aboriginal successful SoCal. Several botanic gardens, specified arsenic South Coast Botanic Gardens successful Rolling Hills Estates and the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens successful San Marino, person tulip and bulb gardens — the Huntington plants them successful its celebrated roseate plot to make filler colour aft the roses are pruned. But for an awe-inspring display, sojourn Descanso Gardens successful La Cañada Flintridge, which plants 30,000 tulip bulbs each January for aboriginal outpouring blooms. (This is weather-dependent — cheque retired the useful “What’s successful Bloom” usher for much information.)

March: California poppies and wildflowers

Fields afloat of wildflowers are breathtaking. They look to make a benignant of joyful delirium, which is wherefore each outpouring experts get the aforesaid exasperating question: Will determination beryllium a superbloom? The query is particularly important to SoCal residents, arsenic we unrecorded comparatively adjacent to large bloom areas similar Walker Canyon successful Lake Elsinore, Carrizo Plain National Monument adjacent Santa Margarita and numerous authorities parks specified arsenic Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Chino Hills State Park.

Please enactment that “superblooms,” erstwhile hillsides are blanketed with colour similar agleam quilts lying against the ground, are comparatively rare. But we usually get immoderate beauteous wildflower displays each year, casual to spot connected hikes successful the godforsaken oregon adjacent mountains, oregon adjacent on the hills that enactment our freeways. Rule of thumb: Wildflower blooms are triggered by warming temperatures, truthful godforsaken areas volition spot blooms earlier than higher elevations. Check the Theodore Payne Foundation’s Wild Flower Hotline, which provides updates each Friday astir the champion viewing spots for wildflowers from March done June. Note: It’s always a atrocious thought to parkland your car connected a freeway enarthrosis truthful you tin dash up a elevation and trample immoderate wildflowers successful your quest for a colorful selfie. Admire carefully, without destroying oregon picking.

April: Roses

Almost each SoCal botanic plot worthy its brackish has immoderate abstraction devoted to the genus Rosa, along with a fewer nationalist parks and ranchos, specified arsenic Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum successful Rancho Dominguez, Rancho Los Alamitos successful Long Beach and Exposition Park successful South L.A. But astir apt the astir bonzer is the rose plot astatine the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Lucky for us, Arabella Huntington loved roses, due to the fact that the botanic plot she and her hubby near down features much than 1,300 varieties, tended by famed roseate breeder Tom Carruth, who near his occupation creating caller roseate varieties astatine Weeks Roses to go the Huntington’s roseate plot curator.

Roses are tougher than you’d deliberation — during the drought I spied galore residential yards with dormant lawns and an aged roseate bush inactive valiantly blooming contempt neglect and deficiency of water. April is the period astir varieties participate afloat bloom, but these plants similar Southern California, truthful expect to spot roses blooming good into precocious fall.

May: Lilacs

I spot your eyebrows arching ... lilacs? In Southern California? Well, yes, and I don’t conscionable mean the autochthonal ceanothus shrubs, a.k.a. California lilacs, that commencement coloring (and perfuming) our chaotic hills and galore autochthonal situation gardens arsenic aboriginal arsenic March. Varieties specified arsenic Joyce Coulter (Ceanothus ‘Joyce Coulter’) look precise overmuch similar the accepted lilacs (i.e., Syringa vulgaris) that necessitate freezing wintertime temperatures to profusely bloom.

Descanso Gardens has developed heat-tolerant hybrids for its garden, and there’s besides a low-chill assortment known arsenic Beach Party. Or you tin turn them successful upland areas, specified arsenic Idyllwild, wherever Gary Parton, a retired assemblage creation teacher, has nurtured 165 varieties successful his Idyllwild Lilac Gardens.

For 20 years, Parton has opened his lilac plot to the nationalist for escaped each spring, but 2025 volition beryllium the past time. You tin sojourn each Friday, Saturday and Sunday from the past play of April done May from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. After that, Parton, 86, is putting his location and adjacent acre of onshore up for merchantability to determination to warmer climes.

June: Lavender

What is it astir lavender that makes radical privation to don gauzy apparel and rotation the fields, fingers trailing done the fragrant flowers? (There indispensable beryllium a Hallmark movie successful present somewhere.) These Mediterranean autochthonal flowers person a scent that keeps giving, adjacent if you portion each the small buds disconnected the upright stalks and enactment them successful a container.

Southern California has respective lavender fields adjacent L.A. to fulfill your day-trip, lavender-field cravings. If you bash an online hunt for “lavender farms Southern California,” you’ll get a good-sized database for farms northbound of Los Angeles, specified arsenic Frog Creek Farm successful Ojai, Foxen Canyon Farms successful Solvang, Lavender Fields Forever successful Buellton and Clairmont Farms successful Los Olivos. To the east, you’ll find 123 Farm successful Cherry Valley, the Fork & Plow Lavender Farm successful Aguanga (19 miles eastbound of Temecula) and Ross Lake Lavender Farm successful Fallbrook.

July: Sunflowers

If you person adjacent a scrap of sunny crushed for planting, decidedly propulsion a sunflower effect into the crushed this wintertime and basal backmost — it’s not precisely similar Jack and the Beanstalk, but the mode sunflowers turn is genuinely miraculous. In conscionable a fewer months, that small effect tin turn doubly arsenic gangly arsenic the mean American antheral (5-foot-9), with a stalk arsenic heavy arsenic his limb and flowers acold bigger than a quality head.

Sunflowers travel successful each sizes, shapes and colors, from gigantic to knee-highs designed to capable a vase with blessed flowers. We adjacent person the California autochthonal sunflower (Helianthus annuus) decorating our chaotic hills, an yearly reseeder that Bruce Schwartz of the L.A. Native Plant Source calls “a surviving vertebrate feeder” due to the fact that of the harmless perches and nutrient the works provides.

A fewer farms successful Southern California turn fields of sunflowers for wandering and picking, with flowers blooming from summertime into fall, including Tanaka Farms’ Hana Field successful Costa Mesa, the Pumpkin Station successful Rancho Bernardo (near Escondido — telephone up to spot erstwhile flowers are acceptable for picking) and Carlsbad Strawberry Co. successful Carlsbad, which typically has a sunflower maze for photos (no picking) successful the fall.

August: California buckwheat

Come midsummer, it’s casual to spot autochthonal California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) shrubs increasing successful the chaotic areas of cardinal and Southern California, particularly successful Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. The ample spreading shrubs are covered with flowers that turn successful heavy bunches, similar cream-colored bouquets dotted with pinkish successful the spring. Late successful the year, the flowers crook a handsome copper color, but successful August, they are mid-change, truthful from a distance, the shrubs look speckled with pick and rust.

Up close, you instantly recognize wherefore these shrubs are considered a keystone taxon — 1 of SoCal’s astir important situation plants — due to the fact that the flowers are live with bees, butterflies and a multitude of different nectar-loving bugs, not to notation the birds who happily dine astatine this insect buffet.

You tin spot buckwheats astatine the California Botanic Garden successful Claremont, the state’s largest plot devoted to California autochthonal plants, arsenic good arsenic astatine the Theodore Payne Foundation successful Sun Valley and Tree of Life Nursery successful San Juan Capistrano.

September: Crape myrtle

Hear that rumbling? That’s the dependable of shadiness histrion advocates unhappy that I’m mentioning crape myrtles successful this list. But my ma loved these showy trees with the colorful crepe-papery flowers, arsenic did my grandmother, and astir a billion-jillion different SoCal residents who person planted them successful yards, astir businesses and on galore metropolis streets. These trees are a triple threat, said Los Angeles County Arboretum arborist Frank McDonough: beauteous bloomers successful precocious summertime with clouds of frilly flowers successful purples, pinks, fuchsia and white; melodramatic reddish and golden leaves successful the fall; and sculptural bark that makes the bare histrion beauteous successful winter.

So wherefore the grumbling? Crape myrtles are truthful fashionable they’ve go the salient trees successful immoderate cities, which means those cities could suffer overmuch of their municipality wood if the trees were attacked by a illness oregon insect. And portion crape myrtles are beauteous to behold and necessitate small h2o erstwhile they’re established, they don’t supply overmuch successful the mode of shade, a occupation erstwhile you’re trying to trim municipality vigor levels.

Despite these concerns, these eastbound Asian natives are inactive beauteous erstwhile they’re blooming successful the precocious summertime and aboriginal fall, and dissimilar the much loved and overmuch despised jacaranda, their magnificent flowers don’t permission a slippery purple messiness connected cars and sidewalks. The Arboretum has 1 of the largest collections extracurricular of metropolis streets, McDonough said, but you tin besides spot them astatine the San Diego Zoo, Descanso Gardens and the Japanese Garden astatine the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. But for the involvement of diverseness and our expanding request for shade, consider planting thing else astir your concern oregon home.

October: Chrysanthemums

Come October, it’s intolerable to locomotion into a supermarket oregon hardware store without seeing an service of potted chrysanthemums successful galore sizes and colors. But those retail displays, mostly meant for decorating beforehand porches and patios, are conscionable the extremity of the iceberg.

One of the country’s premier chrysanthemum growers, Sunnyslope Gardens, operated successful San Gabriel for immoderate 70 years, but the nursery closed much than a decennary ago. Now ardent chrysanthemum growers successful Southern California commercialized with each other, said George MacDonald, outgoing president of the San Gabriel Valley Chrysanthemum Society, oregon bargain online from King’s Mums successful Oklahoma, which offers 130 cultivars arsenic good arsenic publications for radical who privation to turn their own.

The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden astatine California State University Long Beach hosts a Chrysanthemum Festival (scheduled for Nov. 8 successful 2025), but astir apt the champion mode to spot this flower’s galore faces is astatine the 2 yearly shows sponsored by the San Gabriel Valley Chrysanthemum Society, usually the archetypal play of November astatine the Los Angeles County Arboretum successful Arcadia, and the Orange County Chrysanthemum Society, usually the past play successful October, astatine Sherman Library & Gardens astatine Corona del Mar.

November: Poinsettias

By November, poinsettias commencement crowding mums retired of retail displays, and yes, I cognize the plant’s showy reddish “petals” aren’t really flowers but leaves — the plant’s flowers are really the tiny yellowish centers — and these days, cultivars travel successful galore different colors, including cream, pink, white, airy green, orangish and speckled.

It was SoCal nurseryman Paul Ecke Sr. who took a little-known, spindly outdoor works from Central America successful the aboriginal 1920s and bred it into a hardy potted works “whose tapering reddish leaves person been synonymous with the Yuletide play for much than 70 years,” according to his obituary successful 1991. Ecke started increasing and selling his poinsettias successful a tract connected Sunset Boulevard but moved to Encinitas astir 1923, wherever Ecke Ranch became the largest poinsettia shaper successful the world.

The household concern was sold successful 2012, and the company’s poinsettias are chiefly grown successful Guatemala now. But it’s inactive imaginable to spot greenhouses filled with poinsettias successful Encinitas. Weidner’s Gardens, a locally owned, 50-year-old nursery, grows 30 varieties, according to co-owner Kalim Owens, and offers escaped tours of the greenhouses each twelvemonth astatine 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. connected the Friday and Saturday earlier Thanksgiving.

December: Toyon berries

OK, toyon berries are not flowers, but they are truthful agleam and festive, and autochthonal to Southern California, truthful they seemed a fitting extremity to this floral calendar. This clip of year, you tin spot these tall, bushy shrubs covered with berries passim Southern California, from the autochthonal works way astatine Rio de Los Angeles State Park successful Glassell Park to Walnut Canyon Road starring to the Oak Canyon Nature Center successful Anaheim Hills, to Griffith Park and galore of the different chaotic areas that framework our SoCal cities.

Or, sojourn the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, which has a grove of astir 25 gangly toyon successful its autochthonal works garden. This clip of year, its toyon are ablaze with berries, until they’re picked cleanable by bare birds, reports depository pedagogue Lila Higgins successful a delightful nonfiction titled “California Holly: How Hollywood Didn’t Get its Name,” successful which she debunks the romanticist and oft-repeated story that Hollywood got its sanction from the toyon plant, which resembles English holly.

Instead, Higgins writes, the sanction came from Daeida Wilcox, woman of Harvey Henderson Wilcox, a affluent businessman from Kansas who, successful 1886, bought 120 acres of fig and apricot groves adjacent Cahuenga Pass for astir $18,000 and discovered helium could marque bully wealth subdividing the onshore and selling tons for $1,000 each. Initially it was called the Wilcox subdivision, until Daeida met a affluent traveler connected a bid “who owned a good property successful Illinois” named Hollywood. Daeida truthful loved the sanction that connected Feb. 1, 1887, her hubby filed a subdivision representation successful the Los Angeles County Recorder’s bureau with the sanction “Hollywood.” And thus, a prima was born, acknowledgment to a accidental brushwood connected a train, which is simply a beauteous romanticist Hollywood ending successful itself.