San Francisco is not always an easy city to garden in. From dark light wells to dry-shady spaces along walls and under stairways, to dense apartment blocks with little outdoor space, urban gardening has its challenges.
California's native flora evolved across an extraordinary range of conditions — sun-baked chaparral, yes, but also the shaded floor of coastal redwood forests, the dry north-facing slopes of the Coast Ranges, and the foggy, dim margins where almost nothing else grows. Some of the most beautiful natives are built exactly for the spots you've been writing off.
