Margarita Penstemon BOP
Penstemon heterophyllus x ‘BOP’
- Plant Form: Evergreen sub-shrub
- Water Use: Low
- Mature Size: 1-2 ft. tall and wide
- Exposure: Full sun, part sun
- Bloom Time: Spring (Apr-May), Summer (June-July)
- Native to: Hybrid from California parents
- Hardiness: Cold hardy to 10°F
The long-lasting, vibrant blue-to-rose purple flowers on this compact penstemon attract hummingbirds and butterflies…and human garden admirers! This low-water-use perennial is tolerant of heavy soils and summer water, although it needs only occasional watering when established.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for April
Sansevieria, Snake Plant
Dracaena trifasciata
- Plant Form: Succulent
- Water Use: Very low
- Mature Size: 2-3 ft. tall x 1-3 ft. wide
- Exposure: Part sun, full shade outdoors
- Bloom Time: Infrequent in Spring (Mar-May), Summer (June-Aug)
- Native to: Africa
- Hardiness: Cold hardy to 30°F
Finding a drought-tolerant plant that also tolerates full shade can be a challenge. Snake Plant, also known as Sansevieria, meets both criteria. This sturdy, long-lived plant performs well in pots and planters, either as a background plant or as the star of the show at entries and in shaded spots under eaves or in covered patios.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for March
‘Belgravia Rose’ Sunrose
Helianthemum hybrid
- Plant Form: Evergreen perennial
- Water Use: Low, moderate
- Mature Size: 0.5-o.7 ft. tall x 2-4 ft. wide
- Exposure: Full sun, part sun
- Bloom Time: Spring (May), Summer (June-Aug), Fall (Sept-Oct)
- Native to: Hybrid
- Hardiness: Cold hardy to 25°F
Looking for a flowering evergreen perennial that tolerates poor soils and little irrigation? This Sunrose steps up to the plate, with blossoms so abundant, they can totally cover the plant. You will love this tidy plant as a small ground cover, as an edging, in flower beds, in rock gardens, or draping over a stone or brick wall.
‘Belgravia Rose’ Sunrose is noted for its beauty, abundance of blossoms, and ability to thrive on poor soils with little to no irrigation once established in Mediterranean climates. This low-growing, eye-catching evergreen sub-shrub is covered with so many flowers from late spring to midsummer, it can look like a total carpet of flowers. One-inch-wide flowers open for a day, then close by evening, but due to the mass of flowers, the entire plant can be hidden behind the blossoms. Plant in soil with good drainage in full sun to part shade with regular to infrequent summer irrigation. While attracting pollinators to its flowers, this sunrose is both deer and rabbit resistant. Shear after flowering for a tight growth shape and to encourage repeat bloom. Belgravia Rose is great for an edging, a sunny border, flower beds, or a small ground cover, as well as in rock and cottage gardens, or cascading over a stone wall.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for February
Ghost Plant
Graptopetalum paraguayense
- Plant Form: Succulent
- Water Use: Very low
- Mature Size: 0.5-1 ft. tall x 2-3 ft. wide
- Exposure: Full sun, part sun
- Bloom Time: Spring (Mar-May)
- Native to: Mexico
- Hardiness: Cold hardy to 20°F
Like magic, you can create your choice of colors on Ghost Plant by placing it either in full sun or part shade. For pinks, purples, and yellow, place this hardy plant in full sun; for blues, greens, and silvers, keep this popular succulent in partial shade. Either way, water it sparingly.
Ghost Plant is one of the most widely grown of all succulents, popular for over a century because it is so easy to grow and offers an intriguing range of pastel leaf colors. In full sun, its fleshy leaves blush pink, purple, and yellow, while in partial shade, they display blues, greens, and silvers. This small succulent produces fleshy rosettes of thick, triangular leaves on stems that spread to trail or hang. Stems detach easily, an adaptation that allows it to reproduce vegetatively in its habitat. Any rosette or leaf that breaks off has the potential to root and start a new plant. Place it away from high traffic areas, and avoid handling it or moving it from its favorite spot. This hardy and forgiving succulent can rebound if frozen by weather below 20 degrees. It needs well-drained soils and hates to be overwatered, so water only when the soil is dry, or you risk root rot. Ghost Plant is attractive as a groundcover in rock gardens and border edgings, spilling over walls, and in hanging baskets and pots.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for January
Toyon, Christmas Berry
Heteromeles arbutifolia
- Plant Form: Evergreen shrub/tree
- Water Use: Low
- Mature Size: 8-15 (to 25) ft. tall x 8-10 ft. wide
- Exposure: Full sun, part sun
- Bloom Time: Summer (June – Aug)
- Native to: So. California
- Hardiness: Cold hardy to 0°F
Toyon adds many beneficial aspects to southwest landscapes. Besides its wildlife value and drought resistance, it makes a great natural hedge or screen, stabilizes slopes and controls erosion, is low maintenance, and requires little water after established. Its seasonal red berries are a popular decoration in wreaths, on mantels, in centerpieces, or anywhere you want to add holiday cheer and color.
Toyon, also called Christmas Berry and California Holly, is a very giving evergreen shrub or small tree from California’s chaparral communities. The city of Hollywood was named after this plant. This very adaptable, dense shrub is valued for its holly-like foliage, clusters of white flowers in summer, and showy bright red berries all winter that are popular for Christmas decorations and relished by birds. Fire resistant if watered every 2 weeks during spring and summer. The early California landscape architect, Ralph Cornell, wrote about Toyon, noting that any plant that encourages bird life, supplies the bees with an unexcelled source of honey, gives food to humans, furnishes tannin from its bark, protects arid slopes from erosion, paints the landscape with vivid colors, and carries joy into the home at Christmas time, when no other berries are available to most Californians, surely deserves the protection of humans, whom it serves so well. Toyon can be pruned into a handsome tree, or left in its natural form for a dense evergreen border or privacy screen as a native substitute for oleander.
Check out our “Garden Tasks” for December
Pink Muhly Grass
Muhlenbergia capillaris
- Plant Form: Ornamental grass
- Water Use: Low, moderate
- Mature Size: 2-3 ft. tall & wide
- Exposure: Full sun, part sun
- Bloom Time: Summer (July – Aug), Fall (Sept – Nov)
- Native to: Texas, Northern Mexico
- Hardiness: Cold hardy to -10°F
The morning and evening sun lights up this dramatic clumping grass when backlit, maximizing the drama of its colorful flower plumes from summer into fall. Pink Muhly Grass has a long list of great attributes, making it an easy-care, tough, adaptable, striking winner in your garden.
Pink Muhly Grass is a traffic-stopper with its masses of airy, pink to purple flower plumes in late summer and fall. Plant on the east or west side of your yard to collaborate with the morning or evening sun to help provide the dramatic backlighting that accentuates this plant’s seasonal color. This fast-growing, heat-tolerant, cold-tolerant, drought-tolerant ornamental grass is an easy-care, low-water-use plant that is also rabbit and deer-resistant (what more could you want?). Pink Muhly can also tolerate full sun, reflected heat, and part shade, as well as almost any soils, including clay. Use this well-behaved, native clumping grass instead of the invasive Fountain Grass, and tuck cuttings into flower arrangements for magical texture. Prune vigorously in spring to remove spent flower spikes and dormant foliage, but avoid cutting back during the hot summer months. ‘Regal Mist’ is a popular cultivar grown from cuttings to ensure consistent color. Use as an accent or border, along driveways, by patios, in mass plantings for drama, or on slopes for erosion control or bank stabilization.
