Iris House
Installation May 2023
Project Scope
grading
mulch
installed all new irrigation
drainage + water harvesting design
plant selection
vegetable garden
fruit trees + grey water system
full planting
Project Details
🌎 Highland Park
🏡 Front yard— 1,000 sq ft
Side yard— 4,000 sq ft
Backyard— 1,800 sq ft
☀️ Entire property has varying degrees of sun
💧 Drip irrigation + overhead sprinklers
fruit trees receive recycled greywater from the home’s laundry and bathroom
✨ Featured on the Theodore Payne Foundation Native Plant Garden Tour 2025
Side yard Plants
Full Sun
Bush Sunflower - Encelia californica
California Buckwheat - Eriogonum fasciculatum
Chaparral Yucca - Hesperoyucca whipplei
Deergrass - Muhlenbergia rigens
Foothill Penstemon - Penstemon heterophyllus
Grevillea - mounding and upright varieties (non-native)
La Luna Desert Mallow - Sphaeralcea fulva ‘La Luna’
Passionfruit - Passiflora edulis
Pearl Acacia - Acacia Podalyrifolia (non-native)
Purple Sage - Salvia leucophylla
Snow Flurry Ceanothus - Ceanothus thyrsiflorus ‘Snow Flurry’
Waverly Salvia (non-native)
Part Shade/ Full Sun
Bee Plant - Scrophularia californica
Blue Eyed Grass - Sisyrinchium bellum
Bush Anemone - Carpinteria californica
Coyote Mint - Monardella villosa ‘Russian River’
Douglas Iris - Iris douglasiana
Hummingbird Sage - Salvia spathacea
Island Alum Root - Heuchera maxima
Joyce Coulter Ceanothus - Ceanothus ‘Joyce Coulter’
Lilac Verbena - Verbena illicinia
Manzanita ‘Lester Rowntree‘ - Arctostaphylos ‘Lester Rowntree’
Mock Orange - Philadelphus lewisii
Pigeon Point Coyote Brush - Baccharis pilularis ssp. pilularis 'Pigeon Point'
Pitcher Sage - Lepechinia fragrans
San Clemente Island Bushmallow - Malacothamnus clementinus
Santa Barbara Daisy (non- native)
Toyon - Heteromeles arbutifolia
Western Columbine - Aquilegia formosa
Yerba Buena - Clinopodium douglasii
sample planting plan
The following images showcase the "before" and "after" shots.
August 2023
March 2025
August 2023
March 2025
Backyard Plants
Sun
California Buckwheat Hybrid - Eriogonum blissianum
Island Snapdragon - Gambelia speciosa ‘Firecracker’
Fruit Trees
Katy Apricot (non- native)
Meyer Lemon (non- native)
Mexican Lime (non- native)
Owari Satsuma (non- native)
Santa Rosa Plum (non- native)
Tango Mandarin (non- native)
Part Shade/ Full Sun
African Basil (non-native)
Boca Rosa Showy Island Snapdragon - Gambelia speciosa ‘Boca Rosa’
California Buckwheat - Eriogonum fasciculatum
California Grape - Vitis californica
Canyon Prince Wild Rye - Elymus condensatus 'Canyon Prince'
Catalina Perfume - Ribes viburnifolium
Clustered Field Sedge - Carex praegracilis
Island Alum Root - Heuchera maxima
Mexican Marigold (non-native)
Moonshine Yarrow (non-native)
Ray Hartman Ceanothus - Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’
Thyme (non-native)
Yerba Buena - Clinopodium douglasii
Front Yard Plants
Sun
Bee's Bliss Sage - Salvia ‘Bee's Bliss’
Black Sage - Salvia mellifera
California Buckwheat - Eriogonum fasciculatum
Chaparral Yucca - Hesperoyucca whipplei
Deer Grass - Muhlenbergia rigens
Giant Chalk Dudleya - Dudleya brittonii
Howard McMinn Manzanita - Arctostaphylos ‘Howard McMinn’
La Luna Mallow - Sphaeralcea fulva ‘La Luna’
Louis Hamilton Desert Mallow - Sphaeralcea ‘Louis Hamilton’
Matilijah Poppy - Romneya coulteri
Palmer’s Indian Mallow - Abutilon palmeri
Point Sal Spreader Sage - Salvia leucophylla ‘Point Sal Spreader’
Purple Sage - Salvia leucophylla
Toyon- Heteromeles arbutifolia
White Sage - Salvia apiana
Part Shade
Bush Anemone - Carpenteria californica
California Fuchsia - Epilobium canum ‘Catalina’ and ‘Calistoga’
Canyon Prince Wild Rye - Elymus condensatus ‘Canyon Prince’
Golden Currant - Ribes aureum
Island Alum Root - Heuchera maxima
Santa Barbara Daisy (non-native)
Existing plants
Camellia (2)
Walnut tree
three months
two years
