Common name:Iceberg Floribunda Rose
Botanical name:Rosa 'Iceberg'
This is a shrub rose (there are climbing varieties) with an abundance of fragrant, medium sized, white blooms. It is one of the most popular roses and very tough.
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:California Pepper, Mission Pepper
Botanical name:Schinus molle
The California Pepper is a fast growing evergreen tree that will mature to a height of 25'-40' and as wide. Its bright green leaves are divided into many narrow, 1.5"-2" long leaflets. This plant can be invasive in some areas, but is a great water conservation tree that has naturalized in California for over 200 years.
Common name:Blue Blossom Ceanothus
Botanical name:Ceanothus thyrsiflorus 'Skylark'
The blue blossom ceanothus is a shrub that has dark blue flower clusters that bloom profusely. This smaller growing selection grows to 6' high and 4'-6' wide. This shrub attracts butterflies, hummingbirds and beneficial insects. Its native counterpart can be found from sea level to 1500' elevations in mixed evergreen and redwood forests of the Coast Ranges.
Common name:Dome Euphorbia
Botanical name:Euphorbia characias
This perennial will reach about 4' tall and has blue green leaves with bright green flowers that bloom from late winter to early spring.This plant can be invasive in some areas, so use caution.
Common name:Dymondia, Rock Ditty
Botanical name:Dymondia margaretae
This foliage is gray/green/silvery; it is a very dense, mat forming ground cover. It tolerates drought, cold, salt spray and poor soils. It's deep rooted and produces small, inconspicuous yellow flowers. Rock Ditty is great for use in between stepping stones or pavers.
Common name:Erodium selections
Botanical name:Erodium hybrids
This Mediterranean island ground cover stands less than 3 to 6 inches tall and has small, dark green leaves with white or pink flowers that bloom during spring, summer, and fall.
Common name:Azure or Russian Sage
Botanical name:Perovskia X atriplicifolia
This broad perennial will grow 3'-6' tall and has small, gray green leaves with blue violet flowers that bloom in the summer.
Putting the right plants in the right places in the right groupings is both the challenge and art of good landscape design.
Click in the green box for more information
Designer: Jeffrey Gordon Smith | Shrub Garden |
Photographer: GardenSoft |
Practice grass-cycling by leaving short grass clippings on lawns after mowing, so that nutrients and organic matter are returned to the soil.
Mulching and adding compost to soil can minimize evaporation and help soil absorb and store water.
Drip and other smart irrigation delivers water directly to roots, allowing no excess water for weeds.