Giant coreopsis (Coreopsis gigantea) flowers are two-to-three inches across with fern-like leaves clustered on tall fleshy stalks. These drought-tolerant perennial asters are among Spring's earliest wildflowers brightening exposed coastal dunes and rocky slopes from Baja California and the Channel Islands to Central Southern California. With their wild grass companions, this arrangement of natives was photographed in the Santa Monica Mountains against the deep blue sky of the breezy Malibu coast.

Giant coreopsis (Coreopsis gigantea) flowers are two-to-three inches across with fern-like leaves clustered on tall fleshy stalks. These drought-tolerant perennial asters are among Spring's earliest wildflowers brightening exposed coastal dunes and rocky slopes from Baja California and the Channel Islands to Central Southern California. With their wild grass companions, this arrangement of natives was photographed in the Santa Monica Mountains against the deep blue sky of the breezy Malibu coast.