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.
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.
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.
Common name:Eaton Canyon Dwarf Fountain Grass
Botanical name:Pennisetum 'Eaton Canyon'
This grass will grow 2'-3' tall and has red or bronze colored stems that are very slender and topped with red purple whips.
Common name:Hollywood Twisted Juniper
Botanical name:Juniperus chinensis 'Kaizuka'
This wild-looking tree will give an artistic Japanese accent to any setting. It has an upright habit which includes broad, shrubby branches that spread irregularly but gracefully. Junipers are highly combustible plants.
Common name:Jupiter's Beard, Red Valerian
Botanical name:Centranthus ruber
This perennial ground cover will grow 1'-3' high and has medium-size blue/green leaves with red, pink, or white flowers that bloom in the summer.
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.
Common name:Grosso Long Stemmed Lavender
Botanical name:Lavandula X intermedia 'Grosso'
Long Stemmed Lavender has beautiful violet colored plumes in the summer. It is very drought tolerant and is a great plant to create that Mediterranean effect.
Common name:Bougainvillea selections
Botanical name:Bougainvillea cultivars
This species is hardy and vigorous, with a showy, ornamental display of purple color. It blooms well in areas with cool summers. It is senstive to frost and will die back hard but comes back in a number of weeks. Be carefeul of this in the Santa Ynez Valley.
Common name:Scarlet Trumpet Vine
Botanical name:Distictis buccinatoria
This evergreen vine is highlighted by large, blood red, trumpet-shaped flowers with a yellow throat. These flowers will continue to appear throughout the warm months.
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: Linda Shotwell | Back Yard Fun |
Photographer: GardenSoft |
Incorporate compost 6" into your soil to retain water, reduce compaction, feed earthworms, and provide valuable nutrients to your plants.
Adjust sprinklers to avoid watering sidewalks and driveways.
Drip and other smart irrigation delivers water directly to roots, allowing no excess water for weeds.