What Should You Be Planting in El Dorado County?
While it is so-o tempting to head for the nursery and buy all the pretty flowers, maybe you should consider what's going to happen once you get them back to the property. More than just digging a few holes and reaching for the garden hose, you should consider what you're buying and how it fits into the scheme of things. If you are familiar with Plant Hardiness Zone information, you need to consider your elevation; do you live at 1500 feet? or above 4000 feet? Your pretty nursery plants might have been grown in greenhouse conditions in the Sacramento Valley; they won't necessarily be prepared for their new habitat in your chilly back yard! (By the way, not all nursery plants are appropriate plants. Read why...)
Uh, “Scheme” of Things?
Basic truth: Native plants are typically a better choice over the usual assortment of 'nurseryfied' plants. At the very least you should be using natives for the majority of your landscaping, puncuated by your bright blooming favorites like azaleas, tulips, or snapdragons. The reason is easy to understand: native plants (or cultivars) are adapted to our Mediterranean climate; once established, they do very well without summer watering. This means less work for you, money saved, and an attractive, bird-and-butterfly-friendly landscape. 
In fact you might be surprised to learn just how showy many native shrubs and perrenials can be. If you have never seen the native western azalea (Rhododendron occidentale), wait for June and head for Bassi Falls or Loon Lake where these road-side plants are gorgeous. As for snapdragons: investigate the penstemons for a more native approach to a similar flower. Are you really looking forward to watering your plants through the hot, dry summer? If you are, why? Using water to keep plants alive, or worse, a green lawn, is costly to you and a bad way to use our local supply of fresh water. Your well, or your EID water supply isn't just yours, remember, it's a shared aquifer.
Do You Even NEED a Lawn?
“Reducing the size of your lawn can benefit the environment while saving you time, energy and expense. And the result need not be a loss in aesthetic appeal.” —EarthEasy
“Greenery sucking up more of state's water!” — San Francisco Chronicle
“Most of the grasses used in U.S. lawns aren't native to the area they are grown; many of the species come from the East, Kentucky bluegrass, for example. A lawn isn't a big deal in the northeast, but when you recreate that same landscape out West, it becomes a major ecological issue because the only way to grow those grasses is with high use of water and nitrogen.” — Earth Observatory
“Did you know that the chemical fertilizers you put on your lawn and garden could be affecting the water quality of Lake Tahoe? Fertilizers contain nitrogen and phosphorus, which are the preferred food sources of algae. The more nitrogen and phosphorus that get into the waters of Lake Tahoe, the more the algae can grow. And, the more algae there is the greener and murkier the lake becomes.” — Lake Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
The good news is that there are loads of great looking flowers, shrubs and trees that will augment the natural vegetation you might already have. The bad news is that it can be hard to find these plants when you live around Placerville–Pollock Pines. There are some nurseries in Sacramento, and twice a year the local chapter of CNPS puts on a Native Plant Sale that always sells out. You can also check the California Native Plant Link Exchange to see what works for this area. Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum, shown right) is a native plant that could do well for you and may be purchased from the CNPS plant sale.
I will be posting a list of recommended plants (wildflowers, native shrubs, and trees) as soon as I can complete the list and check some suppliers; meanwhile, reading Gardening with a Wild Heart can help you better appreciate the terrific park-like setting you can have with native plants. And California Native Plants for the Garden is getting great individual reviews and looks like a winner.
Are You New to the Foothills?
Many people are moving into the area and finding native vegetation that they are not familiar with. It seems a hard concept to grasp but native plants don't usually need to be watered! If you have become a new resident on a property dotted with native oak trees, please resist the temptation to landscape under the oaks that surround your new house! Chewing up the soil and planting impatiens in a bordered, tidy garden is like signing a death warrant for the oak tree. Oaks evolved to thrive in a dry environment; watering plants means watering the oak, and that will kill it. It is very important to avoid distubing the soil or watering anywhere within what is called the drip line. Check this: "...trees may be adversely effected by supplemental watering during this period since warm-moist conditions can favor harmful diseases. It is particularly critical that the trunks of oak trees remain dry." — California Oak Mortality Task Force.
Protect the Pollinators: Don't Spray Poisons!
“Thanks to the wonderful work of bees, butterflies, birds, and other pollinating animals, the world's flowering plants are able to reproduce and bear fruit, providing many of the foods we eat, the plants we and other animals use, and the beauty we see around us. Yet today, there is an alarming decline in pollinator populations worldwide.’ — NBIS
Where Do You Get The Right Plants?
I have looked at several llocal nursuries and found only one that was really ready to provide something beyond the standard plants you'd find in any area, any state! Interestingly, I was told that they had a hard time keeping the native-type plants alive because low-wage workers were watering everything to do a good job, but the whole deal with natives is that water actually kills them! Strange as that sounds, this is why you want them: drought-tolerant plants look great and save you maintenance.
One local place deserves some attention: The Golden Gecko Garden Center: 4665 Marshall Road, Garden Valley offers plenty of stuff to choose from.