Common name:Jerusalem Sage
Botanical name:Phlomis fruticosa
This hardy perennial is a useful, old-time garden plant with coarse, woolly gray green, wrinkled leaves and yellow, 1" flowers in ball-shaped whorls. It handles drought and poor soils but needs full sun.
Common name:Santa Barbara Daisy, Mexican Daisy
Botanical name:Erigeron karvinskianus
This low mounding perennial, with fine leaves and white to pinkish, daisy-like flowers, is an excellent asset to rock gardens.
Common name:Sea Pink, Common Thrift
Botanical name:Armeria maritima
This clumping, grass-like perennial is native to many areas, including coastal CA. Its flowers range from deep rose pink through white.
Common name:Jeruselum Sage lanata
Botanical name:Phlomis lanata
Phlomis lanata is a dense, compact, shrubby perennial to 2.5' tall, with 1" wide, woolly, wrinkled leaves and whorls of 1/2", tubular, yellow flowers. It is nearly everblooming if old, faded stems are cut out.
Common name:White Gaura
Botanical name:Gaura lindheimeri
White Gaura is a profusely flowering perennial for all zones; it grows 2'-4' high. It has pink buds that open to showy white flowers in spring and fall. It needs full sun and is drought tolerant.
Common name:Purple Coneflower
Botanical name:Echinacea purpurea
The Purple Coneflower is a long-lived, reliable standby for the perennial garden. Rosy purple petals fall below the prominent orange-tinged cone and blooms in late June to September. It should be placed toward the front or middle of the border, or interplanted with Ox-Eye Daisy in the cut flower garden. It should be grown in fertile, well-drained soil. The plant blooms well in shade, but does even better in sun.
Common name:Trailing Germander
Botanical name:Teucrium X lucidrys
This mini-shrub with small, shiny, dark green leaves on woody stems can be sheared and shaped. The stems trail and rise to 24", with lovely, reddish purple flowers between the upper leaves. It can be used as a low hedge plant in herbal knot gardens. To encourage branching, it should be pruned in the spring.
Designer: C&K Landscape Design | Native Touch Backyard Splendor |
Photographer: GardenSoft |
Physical weed control, including mulching, or hand removal protects the watershed from harmful chemicals.
Mulching and adding compost to soil can minimize evaporation and help soil absorb and store water.
Develop healthy soil for plants that are vigorous and naturally pest-resistant.