Why Natives
Beauty and biodiversity
Restore a sense of place
While California’s native plants have graced gardens worldwide for over a century, few of the landscapes designed for our state’s gardens, parkways, and recreational areas reflect the natural splendor of our extraordinary state. By gardening with native plants, you can bring the beauty of California into your own landscape, enjoy numerous benefits, and help preserve our local ecosystems.
California is home to nearly 7,000 plants – many found no where else in the world!
What are Native Plants?
Learn what native plants are and why they are the foundation to our ecosystems.

Why garden with natives?

Biodiversity hot spot
The California floristic province is one of only 36 biodiversity hotspots in the world.
Plants are habitat
California’s wildlife has evolved in conjunction with our native plant species, which means they need them to survive!
Benefits of natives
Native plants are perfectly suited to our climate, soil, and animals, which comes with a number of important advantages!
See what’s possible with a California native garden!



Explore California Natives!
Use Calscape to discover the many native plants suitable for your garden!