Water-Wise Gardening Solutions: Gardening with Water-Wise Plants with James Maxwell

[creationslandscapedesigns]

I love designing with CA natives. The cobalt color of the Ceanothus flower is stunning.

[salviabuckwheats]

Actually, California is a big state. It has deserts and alpine meadows and riparian ecosystems and beaches and our Southern California Mediterranean climate. So beware: not all California native plants are "drought-tolerant, " which is taken to mean require no supplemental water in the summer. But many are!! But if you want something in the middle of your drought-tolerant garden to surround your lovely fountain, where it stays moist in a ring around it, plant Limonium californica - Marsh Rosemary. Yes: right in the middle of my garden that gets no water all year from me or my sprinklers, is a marsh plant that loves to have wet feet even in my heavy clay soil. In September and October, it bloom profusely, tiny little purple clusters on 12 inch spikes that attract tiny white and blue butterflies. Find them at Theodore Payne if not at your local native nursery.

[connietownsend]

Although I find Salvia 'Winifred Gilman' to be a beautiful and very aromatic sage, it is very picky about soil and water conditions.