Southern California Native Plants

Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator

Book design by Bliss Parsons
Photography by Chris Imhoff and Adam Thomas

Our highly anticipated native plant guide is now available for free download! This beautifully illustrated book is chock-full of TreePeople’s favorite native plants and trees, garden planning tips, maintenance hints, planting requirements, and other helpful resources.

Read the full e-book here

Illustrations of California poppy, yarrow, purple needle grass, sunflower, California fuchsia, red buckwheat, hummingbird sage, Catalina currant and bladderpod
Illustrations of desert willow, manzanita, Catalina cherry, coast live oak, redbud, California buckeye, Desert Museum palo verdeand chaparral mallow
Southern California Native Plants cover page
Southern California Native Plants intro page
Southern California Native Plants open page
Southern California Native Plants open page
Southern California Native Plants open page
Southern California Native Plants open page for red buckwheat
Southern California Native Plants page for common yarrow

Because the success of this project relies on the accuracy of the information presented (as it is a guide), I had to make sure that the plants are carefully illustrated in a way that helps the viewer easily identify the plant once they see it in the real world. The guide already includes photographs so having the art completely resemble the real thing may feel redundant. To strike a balance between the perfect portrayal and being fun to look at, I experimented with an art style that's quite a departure from my usual style. The use of grain adds interest to a minimalistic base while at the same time, creating depth and bringing out the plants' unique characteristics.​​​​​​​

Illustration of toyon, California buckwheat, black sage, wooly bluecurls, narrowleaf milkweed, lemonadeberry, golden currant and bush anemone
Illustrations of dudleya, ceanothus, Ken Taylor flannelbush, deer grass, pueple sage, monkeyflower, Pigeon Point coyote bush and California meadow sedge
Southern California Native Plants open page
Southern California Native Plants open page
Southern California Native Plants open page

These plant illustrations are now part of TreePeople's vast library of assets and are being reused in multiple promotional materials including flyers, posters, social media posts, etc.

Previous
Previous

TreePeople Logo Redesign

Next
Next

Guide to Yards