chives, comfrey, herbs,clover, yarrow,etc.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've been cruising the Peaceful Valley Farm Supply catalog and I've come to basically the same conclusion. I would like to plant a low growing mix of plants that will attract beneficial insects. I am also planning on adding the beehive which I have always wanted and so it seems like a good place to add some bee plants. The area is only about 500 sq-ft. Since I don't want to provide much supplemental water, I need plants that will go dormant in California summers. I appreciate any suggestions.

It's going to be tough finding plants that will go dormant in spite of the irrigation water available to them. I am assuming USDA 11? If that's the case you're pretty much out of luck since you don't even have high heat to induce dormancy. If you are in Sunset zone 11 then you might want to try growing cool weather annuals during the early spring and fall, and let the heat kill them off in the summer.

I'm thinking of using strawberries under my apple trees. They may make it and then I would get some fruit too. Otherwise I had been thinking of Vinca minor as it stays relatively flat and evergreen so the fruit might still be visible and not hidden by it like by some taller plants. Even my ground-cover comfrey got pretty tall this spring.

Go for the strawberries, I have been growing them under my fruit trees for the last 3 years with great success..

Watch what you plant under the trees for some of the following reasons:

1) Competition for water and nutrients for those rather shallow-rooted trees, or trees with active feeder roots in upper foot to 18 inches -- "weediness" factor of companion plantings. I have fall planted garlic and onions in deepish permanent orchard mulchings with good effect. I tried strawberries and leafy vegetables but suffered from bird and mollusk predation.

2) Alternative habitats for pest insects, mites and diseases -- orchardists in CA discovered that mowing middles rich in "desirable" plants at the wrong time drove the pests into the trees. We have to be aware that plants that share same pests as trees ought to be minimized. This is true with plant selection in hedgerows.

I prefer winter covers of grasses and legumes, especially oats and subclovers. These are mowed at flowering while trees still dormant. Regrowth continues on residual soil moisture while trees are irrigated as needed. The subclovers tend to persist and continue to fix nitrogen into the summer, then go dormant until the fall/winter rains.