Common name:Sea Lavender
Botanical name:Limonium perezii
This mounding shrub will reach about 3' high and has large, dark green leaves with small blue and purple flowers that bloom in spring and summer.
Common name:Powis Castle Artemisia
Botanical name:Artemisia 'Powis Castle'
This mounding shrub reaches 3 ft. high and up to 5ft. wide with fine silver foliage. - Cornflower Farms
Common name:Lemon Swirl Bush Lantana
Botanical name:Lantana camara 'Lemon Swirl
Showy lemon yellow blooms contrast beautifully with chartreuse-edged foliage. Very useful as a colorful substitute to annuals in flower beds or pots. An excellent low hedge or accent shrub. Evergreen in frost-free areas; treat as an annual elsewhere. Attracts hummingbirds, dramatic foliage color, easy care, waterwise, benefits birds. This is a fast grower to fill in a young landscape for the first season or two until woody plants are established. A great color source for hot and dry gardens, along driveways and full sun banks. Plant in flower and shrub beds, raised planters, along fence lines and foundations, and in parkways, where they take the reflected heat from the pavement in stride. Put it in pots for powerful color on a deck or patio. Thrives in average, well-drained soils. Water deeply, regularly in first growing season to establish root system. Once established in the landscape, reduce frequency; continue to water container plants regularly. Fertilize in spring. Remove spent blooms periodically and prune annually to shape. Reaches 4'-6' tall and wide.
Common name:Verbena
Botanical name:Verbena peruviana
This perennial forms a flat mat that covers an area rapidly. It has dark green leaves with clusters of bright flowers that bloom all year. Hybrids will have a little more height, different flower colors and spread more slowly. It is drought tolerant.
Common name:Azure or Russian Sage
Botanical name:Perovskia X atriplicifolia
This broad perennial will grow 3'-6' tall and has small, grey-green leaves with blue-violet flowers that bloom in the summer. Foliage is aromatic if brushed against it.
Common name:Giant Catmit
Botanical name:Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant'
From the early summer and into the fall, this aromatic plant will bloom with grey-green foliage and lavender blue flowers. This perennial grows from 30" to reach a height and width of 3'. It is tolerant of both humidity and drought. This perennial is effective when grown below roses, as a filler in perennial gardens, and as an edging plant. It also is complemented by pines and pale yelow flowers. The perennial should be placed in a well-drained location.
Common name:Lavender Cotton
Botanical name:Santolina chamaecyparissus
This groundcover-small shrub will grow to 3' tall and has small, greyish-silver leaves with yellow flowers that bloom in the summer.
Common name:Moonshine Yarrow, Milfoil, Sneezewo
Botanical name:Achillea 'Moonshine'
Long, straight stems with pale yellow flowers are striking on the mats of green to grey-green leaves of this plant, which are flatter and less divided than those of the Achillea millefolium. This Yarrow propagates easily from rooted cuttings or divisions which should be performed in the early spring or fall. Following bloom, one should dead head the plant and divide the clumps when it appears crowded. Introduced by Alan Bloom in the 1950's.
Common name:Smoke Tree
Botanical name:Cotinus coggygria 'Purpureus'
A deciduous shrub or small tree that grows up to 10' tall, the "Purpureus" is grown for its wispy, thread-like flower clusters and outstanding fall color. Its foliage has a reddish purple color that turns somewhat green in summer. This plant requires sun to part shade, with little or no summer water. -Monterey Bay Nursery
Common name:Early Sunrise Coreopsis
Botanical name:Coreopsis grandiflora 'Early Sunrise'
The 'Early Sunrise' is a wonderful cultivar and showy, southern U.S. native. Semi-double, deep yellow flowers that flush to orange-yellow near the center on 18" tall bushy plants bloom from June to September in full sun and average to dry soils. It makes for good cut flowers, and pruning keeps the plants abundant with blooms. -Holland WIldflower Farm
Designer: Terri Nichols
Photographer: GardenSoft
Physical weed control, including mulching, or hand removal protects the watershed from harmful chemicals.
Replace turf with groundcovers, trees, and shrubs. If you have areas where no one uses the grass, patches that do not grow well, or a turf area too small to water without runoff, consider replacing the turf with water-efficient landscaping.
Attract, or buy beneficial insects such as ladybugs and lacewings to control pest outbreaks in your garden.