Fire Resistant California Native Plants: No Time Like the Present to Consider These

Almost anything in the path of a fast-moving wildfire will burn, but some plants are more fire-resistant than others, including some native plants that can be established on cleared hillsides. Last week I wrote about a landscaping project I completed using California native plants and listed three places to find them.

My garden project wasn’t in a fire danger zone, so I didn’t try to find fire-resistant plants. There are plenty of hillsides in Glendale and Pasadena with homes that need all the fire protection they can get, though, so today I found this list and discovered that I actually used two of the plants in my garden: Dwarf Coyote Bush (a fast-growing, LA County Fire Department approved groundcover), and Monkeyflower (a fast-growing shrub with bright green leaves and small orange or red flowers). Most of the plants are both drought-tolerant and fire-resistant. In my opinion, native plants with these qualities should be available at every nursery in Southern California.

My last “fire season”-themed post featured three hillside properties in La Crescenta. Almost two months have passed, and one home is still on the market, one is currently in escrow accepting backup offers, while the last (which looks like a foreclosure) has been taken off the market.

Here are the properties I featured on August 27, with their original listing prices:

2837 Pinelawn Drive
$869,000
4 bed/2.5 bath
2,376 sq.ft.
$366 per sq.ft.
On Redfin 44 days

2723 Pinelawn Drive
$899,000
4 bed/2.75 bath
2,292 sq.ft.
$392 per sq.ft.
Currently accepting backup offers.

3535 Paraiso Way
$679,900
3 bed/2 bath
1,702 sq.ft.
$399 per sq.ft.
The last sale shown on the record currently is June 2008, for $603,000. The property has been taken off the market.