Illustration by S.W. Parra / MCT California poppies can be part of a wild border.

This is the time of year that we love to get out in the garden, dig in the fresh soil, and see what new plants and flowers we can bring into our lives and our gardens.

Planting local native plants can bring an element to your garden that will encourage butterflies and birds to visit. You can look for the more ornamental forms or the pure locals; both can be found at upcoming native plant sales in the county.

Cultivating plants that naturally grow in the Ventura River watershed is one of the most environmentally friendly things that a local gardener can do. A rustic border of black, purple and white sages, California sagebrush, coyote brush and bush sunflower, for instance, will grow wild, smell great, and attract birds and butterflies. Other locals, such as sugar bush (Rhus integrifolia) and toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), look very neat and trim and have been used horticulturally for years.

To make your wild border look a bit more cultivated, put a front row of lower-growing species, such as California buckwheat, bush monkeyflower, California poppy or golden yarrow. A fall pruning also can create a more cultivated appearance. Removal of deadwood and old blossoms may reduce habitat value but can improve visual appeal.

If your garden is near a natural area, purely local natives are desirable because the cross-pollination of local and nonlocal natives can be detrimental to the wild populations.

In the most urban areas, such as the inner and coastal areas of Ventura and Oxnard, the yearning for a more landscaped look can be indulged in without as much concern. Some of the horticultural selections and hybrids might be planted, such as Ceanothus "Joyce Coulter," with rich blue flowers and neat habit, or "Dark Star," with mysterious midnight-blue flowers and small, dark-green, convoluted leaves.

Salvia "Alan Chickering" is a hybrid sage that blends the vigor of purple sage with the bright blue flowers of Cleveland sage. You can create a low-growing carpet of green foliage with Actostaphylos "Emerald Carpet" (a manzanita), and delight in the rusty stems and bronzy new growth.

If you have space, the ultimate native to plant is the Matilija poppy. It needs space because its underground runners will boldly go where no structure can inhibit it, but its classic huge, white, crinkly flowers will brighten even the gloomiest heart.

Another high value, space-requiring plant is the oak tree. The coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) and the valley oak (Quercus lobata) are most commonly available; the valley oak population particularly needs to be replenished in Ventura County.

— Patt McDaniel is horticultural chair of the California Native Plant Society's Channel Islands chapter, which serves Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. For more on the chapter, go to http://www.cnpsci.org or call Lynne Kada, vice president, at 643-4842.