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Concrete Planter in Back Yard
Brazilian Lilac Verbena
Bird Of Paradise
Lily of the Nile
Kangaroo Paws, Red
Cecile Brunner Rose (polyantha)
Brazilian Lilac Verbena

Common name:Brazilian Lilac Verbena
Botanical name:Verbena bonariensis

This 4'-5' tall plant is a drought hardy performer, with blooms atop the sturdy, squarish stem all summer and fall. The flower is a striking purple tuft that makes a good fresh or dried flower. The sparse foliage makes this a great accent flower that hovers high and blends well. Deadheading will prolong its blooming.

Bird Of Paradise

Common name:Bird Of Paradise
Botanical name:Strelitzia reginae

This shrub will grow to 6' tall and has large, gray green fronds with orange, blue, white, or multi-colored flowers that bloom throughout the year.

Lily of the Nile

Common name:Lily of the Nile
Botanical name:Agapanthus hybrids

This evergreen ground cover/shrub will grow about 3' tall and has large green leaves with blue flowers (there is a white variety and dwarf varieties) that bloom in spring and summer. It will grow in all soils but prefers loam soil.

Kangaroo Paws, Red

Common name:Kangaroo Paws, Red
Botanical name:Anigozanthos hybrids

This tender perennial is a clump-forming evergreen that produces fuzzy, yellow green flowers that bloom in spring and last for over 2 months. Many sizes and varieties are available including yellow and pink flowers.

Cecile Brunner Rose (polyantha)

Common name:Cecile Brunner Rose (polyantha)
Botanical name:Rosa 'Cecile Brunner'

This climbing rose can grow as tall as 25' with support. It has become one of the most popular roses in cultivation because of its strong display in spring of lightly fragrant flowers that look like tiny, high centered, hybrid tea roses. It is long-lived, disease resistant and tolerates everything from poor soil to partial shade.

Sustainable Fertilization

If you mulch heavily as recommended in the compost and mulch fact sheets you should not need traditional fertilization. Sustainable landscapes fertilize themselves as soil organisms break down and recycle the dropped leaves into nutrients.

Click in the green box for more information

Designer: Linda Shotwell

Concrete Planter in Back Yard

Photographer: GardenSoft

Soils and Compost:

Maintain a two to four inch layer of mulch on the soil surface to reduce weeds, infiltrate rain water, and reduce compaction.

Integrated Pest Management:

Drip and other smart irrigation delivers water directly to roots, allowing no excess water for weeds.