Scientific Name

Brickellia californica

Full Sun

Part Sun

Low

Max. Height × Width

2-5 feet × 2-4 feet

More information

calscape.org

Price & Availability

3 inch

In production for fall 2023

Hyper-local yet generally underappreciated, Brickell Bush is a verdant species that can be found thriving in the brutal summer heat of Southern California’s dry foothills. A member of the Asteraceae (Sunflower) family, Brickell Bush blooms during the hot, summer months, providing support to local pollinators at a time when the abundant flowering of spring has long passed. This unprepossessing plant’s flowers are not particularly showy, but they exude a pleasant fragrance that may remind you of your favorite hiking trail and the seed heads beautifully catch the late summer light. Much like Coyote Bush (Baccharis pilularis), another low-key member of the Asteraceae family, Brickell Bush will provide both habitat and a somewhat neutral, green backdrop for the more extroverted species in your garden. This is an extremely low-maintenance plant requiring virtually no supplemental water once established. All it needs is a hard trim after setting seed. It will respond with lush, new growth over the course of the rainy season.