Celebrate California Arbor Week with LA’s Blooming Trees
March 2026. LA never stops blooming! In a show of typical-Angeleno optimism, she gives us reasons to look up in early spring – especially around California Arbor Week. Think of what’s Blooming Now as LA’s reminder that beauty grows from rainy days and hard times.
Here are reasons to keep your chin and eyes up as you move about LA.
Our Umbrella: Western Redbud
She’s usually the first sign of hope. From barren branches, bright candy-pink blooms begin to pop, challenging January raindrops. First one, then a few, her blooms forecast a change in our fortunes. In March, the pink forms an uplifting umbrella (cue Rihanna).
Season-brightening blooms are just one of Western Redbud’s charms. She delivers throughout our climate cycle, seeming to anticipate what we’ll need next through each season. Learn More
Pro Tip: While usually pruned to form a tree, Western Redbud (cercis occidentalis) will naturally form an attractive, deciduous shrub. You can see her in this shape, shading the south side of the Santa Monica Conservancy’s Preservation Resource Center.
Something Blue: California Lilac
When you feel blue, look up. California Lilac (ceanothus) will match your mood and see you fragrance and song. While his blooms can be short lived, he really puts on a show. He’ll turn almost entirely blue for you. It’s not unusual to become so transfixed, you forget he also has dense, dark, glossy evergreen leaves. See Lilac vs. Lilac for more of his charms.
Many have become accustomed to seeing him in groundcover form. Native plant lovers and hikers understand him as a robust shrub as well. It’s not every day he’s seen as the tree he can be.
Pro Tip: If you dream of blue trees, create them! Begin training ceanothus early and take care with your prunes. Even master gardeners have been known to kill these long-living shrubs by taking too much or too large a branch. A good rule of thumb is to keep prunes to branches about a pencil in diameter or smaller.
Sunshine Any Day
When clouds hide the sun, Palo Verde trees continue to fill LA with sunshine. Delicate, delicious, delightfully sunny blooms fill its kelly-green branches. In the height of its bloom season, it may look like it is nothing but blooms! Yet, when those blooms finally fade, ferny leaves provide shade.
Pro Tip: Palo Verde’s native range extends into Arizona. There, it prefers riparian environments. In our more temperate climate, it will struggle if overwatered. Take good care not to take too much care!
Spectacular – and Under Appreciated: Toyon, Catalina Cherry, Elderberry
Toyon (Christmas Berry), Catalina Cherry and Elderberry are all known for their fall fruits. Maybe that is why so many overlook their compelling spring blooms? Not us!
Pro-Tip: Elderberry is truly a tree. Toyon and Catalina Cherry will happily become trees if trained to do so. We also love them as alternatives to LA’s monotonous stretches of ficus hedges. As hedges, in comparison to ficus, they’ll be healthier, stronger, more drought tolerant, provide habitat, and, of course, bloom and berry.
Newest Color: Coast Live Oak
Okay, they aren’t technically blooms. We can’t fool you! Still, the new growth of Coast Live Oak looks anything but leaf-like. It’s pink. Fuzzy. Intricate. We find their arrival every bit as hopeful as little Western Redbud’s blooms. Due to the Oak’s exquisite height, she seems to challenge us to look beyond what is right before us.
Pro Tip: If we could, we’d plant a Coast Live Oak in every garden. They do need more room to grow than most LA properties offer. Luckily, the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains is happy to share some of their space! Interested? Adopt a sapling at Trippet Ranch to bring their distinctive form of hope to the Palisades.
Still Blooming: Flannel Bush
Flannel Bush (Fremontadendron) continues to shine her bright and sunny palm-sized blooms through March. See Love Looks Like Sunshine for more about her charms.
Pro Tip: Plant her where you need to reinforce a boundary. Her “flannel” leaves have stellate hairs that deliver a bit of a prickle to space invaders.
More Blooms
We started with the top, yet you’ll see LA beginning to bloom head to toe in March. We share what we see in our Bloom Stories in Instagram. You can save our in-garden favorites from our Blooming Now Boards in Pinterest or collect ideas in Houzz, where we post our go-to California Native Plants.
Of course, our favorite option is to get outside! To meet these beauties live and in-person join us on tour or visit one of our demonstration gardens.
