UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars are low-water and low maintenance

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Anybody else fantasizing about redoing your garden for the fall? Before heading to the nursery you may want to check out the UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars, a list of 100 plants that the horticulturalists at the arboretum have declared the best plants for the Central Valley California garden. (And if it can survive in the Central Valley, I’ve been assured, it will certainly do well here too). To get on the list a plant has to be low-water, disease resistant, and attractive to pollinators. (It also has to be a plant that the arboretum is currently growing.)

Because I’m on the urban farming kick, I was disappointed to find that the only food plants on the arboretum’s list are herbs. If only UC Davis’ sustainable agriculture program put out a similar list, I’d be all over it.

And thanks to my favorite gardening newsletter, Dirt Du Jour, for the link.

-- Deborah Netburn

Lavandula stoechas) is one of the showiest types of lavender. It thrives in sunny dry conditions and attracts butterflies, making it a UC Davis Arboretum top 100.