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The purple Showy Penstemon is starting to fade, for instance, but the clarkia flowers are ready to open.

L.A. artist Lesley Goren designed these 34-inch-by-70-inch towels to feature abstract blooms of clarkia and sunflower — keystone wildflowers that provide vital habitat for the native insects that feed our dwindling birds.

They said the wells approved in San Luis Obispo County also threaten the habitat of vulnerable species, including the California coast horned lizard and the wildflower pismo clarkia.

In the frontyard, Lariviere installed a walkway paved with yellow Arizona flagstone and planted mostly California natives: penstemon, monkey flowers, California fuchsias, desert mallow, fragrant pitcher sage, apache plume and stunning pink clarkia that makes a statement along the side of the house, which she painted a Frida Kahlo-esque blue-black color.

Easy-to-grow calendula, poppies, larkspur, love-in-a-mist and clarkia, to name but a few, are hardy annuals that flourish in Pacific Northwest gardens and gracefully complement perennial plantings.