Showy Penstemon
Penstemon spectabilis
- Plant Form: Perennial herb
- Water Use: Very low
- Mature Size: 2-4 ft. tall x 3-4 ft. wide
- Exposure: Full sun
- Bloom Time: Spring (March-May), Summer (June)
- Native to: Southern California, Central California, Baja California
- Hardiness: Cold hardy to 0°F
You will love this prolific bloomer as much as butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and other beneficial pollinators do. This easy-care, fast-growing perennial herb can produce hundreds of blue/purple/pink flowers per stem, and needs little to no added water after becoming established.
Showy Penstemon knocks you out with its spectacular blue, purple, and pink flowers, while their wide-mouthed, tubular blossoms also attract butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and other beneficial pollinators. The upper half of their leafy stems can produce up to 100 flowers—what’s not to love? This fuss-free, fast-growing perennial herb is easy to grow and needs little to no added water once established. Cut back stems after early flowering, but allow later flowers to set seed for new plants. Water every 3-4 weeks or not at all after established. While it has no serious pests or disease issues, it is susceptible to root rot if kept in wet, poorly-drained soils. Showy Penstemon provides charm at the back of dry borders and beds either singly or in masses, in hummingbird and butterfly gardens, Mediterranean and cottage gardens, and in bold groupings.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for March
Linear-leaved Goldenbush
Narrowleaf Goldenbush
Showy Goldenbush
Ericameria linearifolia
- Plant Form: Evergreen shrub
- Water Use: Very low
- Mature Size: 2-3 ft. tall x 3-4 ft. wide
- Exposure: Full sun
- Bloom Time: Spring (March-May)
- Native to: California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah
- Hardiness: Cold hardy to 10°F
Butterflies, birds, and gardeners love the showy spring flowers that this California native goldenbush lends to native desert gardens, while resisting browsing by rabbits and deer and requiring no added water after becoming established.
Linear-leaved Goldenbush is a moderately fast-growing, erect shrub that is highly branched. One of its common names, Showy Goldenbush, was inspired by its prolific spring display of bright yellow, daisy-like flowers on long stems above dark green foliage. The aromatic, resinous, linear leaves of this California native deter browsing by rabbits and deer, while its radiant flowers attract butterflies and other pollinators. It is evergreen, but may drop some leaves during extended droughts. Valued today to achieve a natural look in landscaping, it was prized by Native Americans as a decoction to treat rheumatism. Works well as an accent, in a mixed border, or used in a mass planting for butterfly or bird gardens, as well as on slopes for erosion control.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for February
Rush Milkweed, Ajamete
Asclepius subulata
- Plant Form: Perennial sub-shrub
- Water Use: Low
- Mature Size: 3-5 ft. tall and wide
- Exposure: Full sun, reflected sun
- Bloom Time: Spring (April-May), Summer (June-Aug), Fall (Sept-Nov), Winter (Dec)
- Native to: California, Arizona, Nevada, Baja California, northwest Mexico
- Hardiness: Cold hardy to 20°F
This southwest native plant not only adds sculptural interest in the garden with its rush-like, erect green stems, it also provides food for Monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
Rush Milkweed is an erect, perennial herb named for its dozens to hundreds of rush-like, leafless, green stems. Small, narrow leaves appear after rain and on new growth, but fall off quickly. Rush Milkweed blooms periodically throughout year, and is an important food source for Monarch Butterflies, so conservation-minded groups encourage its planting. Fascinating pollen packages are specialized to clip onto legs of insect visitors, and unclip when inserted into another flower. Pairs of distinctive, horn-shaped, 3-inch-long seed pods follow the flowers, filled with many flat seeds that are covered with long, silky plumes. This milkweed oozes a rubber-containing latex when cut or wounded, which can irritate skin. While moderately easy to grow, this desert native is susceptible to aphids and death by root rot if overwatered. Its strong vertical lines make it eye-catching in desert landscapes, in borders, flowerbeds, and butterfly and rock gardens.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for January
Cape Honeysuckle
Tecomaria capensis
- Plant Form: Semi-evergreen vine, shrub
- Water Use: Low
- Mature Size: 5-6 (to 15) ft. tall x 3-4 ft. wide
- Exposure: Full sun, part shade
- Bloom Time: Fall (Sept-Nov), Winter (Dec)
- Native to: South Africa
- Hardiness: Cold hardy to 23°F
Just when you wished you had some color in your fall-winter garden, Cape Honeysuckle explodes into flower with bright red-orange, trumpet-shaped blossoms. This shrub is happy to be trained into either a vine, espalier, hedge, screen, border plant, shrub, or ground cover — your choice!
Cape Honeysuckle explodes into bloom late in the season with a welcomed burst of color. Clusters of red-orange trumpet-shaped flowers attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds, just in time for migration. This beautiful shrub has glossy leaves divided into leaflets, and sprawling, vine-like stems that can be trained against a wall or trellis as an espalier, or sheared into a hedge, screen, or accent shrub. Even with its rambling spirit, it is easy to care for, tolerating heat, drought, and poor soils, all while resisting browsing by deer and rabbits. Blooms best in full sun. In colder areas, it may drop its leaves, while in warmer zones, it is evergreen and may bloom nearly all year. Prune back unruly branches, and cut off old or damaged branches at their base to maintain shape. This versatile plant will let you decide whether it will be a climbing vine, hedge, border plant, screen, shrub, or ground cover. It will even be happy in a container on your porch or patio.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for December
Great Basin Sage
Big Sagebrush
Artemisia tridentata
- Plant Form: Evergreen shrub
- Water Use: Low
- Mature Size: 3-6 ft. tall x 3-10 ft. wide
- Exposure: Full sun
- Bloom Time: Summer (July-Aug), Fall (Sept)
- Native to: Western North America, Canada, Baja California
- Hardiness: Cold hardy to -20°F
This high-desert native offers a silvery contrast to dark green landscaping as well as providing aromatic foliage. While Great Basin Sage is an extremely low-water-use shrub, normally growing 3-6 feet tall, along rivers or other wet places it can reach 10 feet tall.
Great Basin Sage is a study in silver and gray. This shrub forms the primary vegetation across vast stretches of the Great Basin desert. A member of the sunflower family, it develops a woody trunk that twists in age and becomes picturesque, reminiscent of a bonsai specimen. Spikes of tiny, pale yellow flowers are inconspicuous. Silvery, felt-like hairs cover the wedge-shaped leaves that have 3 to 5 teeth at their tip. The foliage is extremely aromatic, and is used to make smudge bundles for cleansing and purifying. In fact, this sagebrush’s pungent fragrance, especially after a desert rainstorm, is one of the high desert’s signature aromas. Prune out old stems periodically to encourage attractive new growth. Its silver foliage adds texture and light to the landscape, and sets off nearby dark green plants. This plant is valuable to wildlife and butterflies, and is useful on banks and slopes, or as an informal hedge, groundcover, or screen.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for November
Lion’s Tail
Leonotis leonurus
- Plant Form: Semi-evergreen shrub
- Water Use: Low
- Mature Size: 3 – 6 ft. tall x 2-3 ft. wide
- Exposure: Full sun
- Bloom Time: Summer (Aug), Fall (Sept-Nov)
- Native to: South Africa
- Hardiness: Cold hardy to 20°F
This is a fun plant all around, showing off its curious rounded flower buds that look like miniature orange pumpkins nestled inside green cups — right in time for Halloween. The fur-like covering and edges of Lion’s Tail flowers do look reminiscent of lions’ tails or lions’ ears. While the prolific flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies, they do not attract browsing deer or rabbits.
Lion’s Tail is prized for its dazzling, tubular flowers covered with a fur-like coat of fine hairs, said to resemble either lions’ tails or lions’ ears. Tiered whorls of orange blossoms encircle the square stems, which are covered with dark green, lance-shaped leaves. The abundant flowers are a magnet for hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees, but seem to resist browsing by deer and rabbits. Cut flowers are good in arrangements. Plants are not fussy about soil type as long as it is well drained. This easy-care plant is virtually pest-free and disease-free. Prune yearly after flowering, and mulch well over winter to protect the wood crown from cold. If this more tender plant freezes back in winter, new growth often resprouts from hardened wood. Use this striking plant in borders and beds, containers, cottage and Mediterranean gardens, and even for screening.
