Coreopsis gigantea

Coreopsis gigantea, or Giant Coreopsis, is a show-stopper!! A truly one-of-a-kind that only exists in a few coastal areas of Southern and Central California and the Channel Islands. The shrub is straight from a Dr. Suess drawing, as it has a big, fleshy, Baobab-tree looking trunk, lacy green foliage that comes out in the winter rains, followed by the brightest yellow daisy flowers imaginable. The flowers turn the whole coastline and the islands a bright yellow (you can see the Coreopsis blooming on Anacapa in the spring! I have seen it around Pt. Mugu, Conejo pass, then a huge stand in Jalama, as well as Surf Beach in Vandenberg. After it flowers, nothing remains but the weird trunk, and brown dead lacy brown foliage until the rain comes again.  Don't even attempt to plant this unless you are near the coast..I live 8 miles from the ocean, and the frost will kill this shrub every year.