Winter Flowering Shrub - California Lilac - Ceanothus

This is another favorite low maintenance shrub of mine.  It flowers in the late winter and early spring, and it comes in many different shapes and sizes.  You can get it as a low growing ground cover from about 1'tall to 5' wide or even 15' wide.  It also comes in small shrubs from about 4' high by 4' wide to as tall as 15' high and equally as wide.  It comes in different shades of blue from pale blue to bright blue to cobalt blue.  It also comes in white.  If you buy the correct size plant for the spot you want to plant it in you'll never have to prune it.  It's a California native and once established does not need summer water.  Below are links to a few of the more common Ceanothus:

Ceanothus 'Dark Star' 
Ceanothus 'El Dorado' - a variegated form! aka Ceanothus thyrsiflorus 'Perado'
Ceanothus 'Sapphire'

And here's a link with information on a few more Ceanothus:  Las Palitas Nursery