Island Bristleweed
Hazardia detonsa
This is a bit of a collector’s plant in my garden. Hazardia detonsa is a rare plant from the Northern Channel Island. I encountered this plant first at Kuruvunga Springs, growing in a large amount of Winter Shade close to, but not receiving regular water from the springs. Considering it’s a full sun plant (it’s white foliage tells us this) I figured it would probably be OK in my front yard with partial sun and low(ish) amounts of water. The reason why I like this plant is for its foliage— the bright white, pale leaves are very striking and contrast against the green and dark green of my house and Toyon. Designing with foliage color is important since flowers are ephemeral in the garden, but foliage is pretty much forever; if you have interesting foliage textures and colors, your yard will always have something going for it even when it’s out of its flowering season.