Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden Tour 2016

Yarrow flowers (Achillea millefolium) are a great butterfly nectar source.

Bright blooms of apricot mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua), right, a California desert native that blooms nearly year-round, appear in colorful cultivars and frame a frog fountain in the courtyard of the Manhattan Beach, yard of Sarah and Steven Olsen.

The aromatic, edible, medicinal white sage (Salvia apiana), which is often burned as incense.

The iconic California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), are the official state flower of California.

Sarah Olsen is photographed in the front yard of her Manhattan Beach home, where she has planted a wide variety of California natives, some non-natives and mostly drought-tolerant plants. The Olsens’ home is part of the Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden Tour, taking place Saturday and Sunday.

Caterpillar shaped flowers of lacy phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), a spring wildflower, supports numerous beneficial pollinators in the Manhattan Beach yard of Sarah and Steven Olsen.

The delicate foliage of lacy phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), a spring wildflower, casts shadows against a front yard boulder.

Custom CorTen steel doors by artist James Nash greet visitors at the Manhattan Beach home of Sarah and Steven Olsen.

Wildflowers called tidy tips (Layia platyglossa), announce the coming of spring.

The side yard is divided in to three tiers. The lowest tier is dedicated to edibles with a raised-bed kitchen garden made from broken concrete. Figs, Meyer lemons, pomegranate and fava beans are planted along the perimeter.

A “Seal of Approval,” for conserving water and promoting wildlife has been given to the Manhattan Beach yard of Sarah and Steven Olsen.

The foliage of a palo verde tree (Cercidium), one of many California-native and drought-tolerant plants, in the Manhattan Beach yard of Sarah and Steven Olsen.

A raised-bed herb garden, with several succulents added, was made with concrete from the home’s original driveway.

Two Acacia covenyi (blue bush), an Australian native, offers shade in the side yard. The clean, well-defined hardscapes are covered in a mix of “California Gold’ crushed gravel and decomposed granite that not only cuts back on water use, but keeps maintenance to a minimum.

A detail of a blue ceanothus dramatically espaliered against the garage.

A collection of nonnative succulents.

A planter filled with nonnative succulents adds a pop of color to the herb garden.

Designer Margaret Oakley Otto, left, and homeowner Sarah Olsen relax on a banquette made of broken concrete. The three-bedroom, two-bath home was moved from Miracle Mile to Manhattan Beach during the 1950s and was elevated on pylons, causing the home to feel detached from the yard.

A pot of nonnative succulents.

The California native succulent Dudleya palmeri.