Plant talk: Alameda plants that thrive on little care

Last weekend I went to a garden tour it was hosted by the bay friendly gardening coalition. At one of the gardens there was a talk by a master gardener who works in the Livermore demonstration gardens about the outstanding plants for Alameda county. The Alameda county master gardeners http://acmg.ucdavis.edu/ have put together a couple of brochures that each list 18 plants that thrive in Alameda county http://acmg.ucdavis.edu/Outstanding_Plants_for_Alameda_County/ . During the talk, master gardener Carol discussed some of the plants that did better for the inland portions of alameda county, and also some tips on care.

Things I learned:
Never water a dormant plant
Deer dint like plants with a lot of scent or weird texture
Strawberry tree likes acidic soil ( good under pines)
Don't prune flax back it won't recover well
Manzanita is a great ground over but takes a long time to fill in
If you plant all three types of lavender, you will extend the bloom time april-novrmber- and you should not fertilize them at all or they get leggy. also, English is good for oil or cooking, intermedia/Provence good for cutting and fragrance
For shade (less than 4 hours of sun) use ribes, Oregon grape, heuchera, or toyon/coffeeberry
Red bud may bloom again in fall if it gets some water.
Manzanita and yellow or white yarrow need zero water