Blog Archives - Page 8 of 15 - Summer-Dry | Celebrate Plants in Summer-Dry Gardens

21 07, 2021

Teucriums Are Deer-Proof Too

Teucriums Are Deer-Proof Too

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:27:53-07:00Categories: Blog, Garden Plants, perennials, Nora Harlow|

Those of us with unfenced gardens adjacent to wildlands usually learn the hard way which plants are ignored by browsing deer and which, without special protections, are not. It may seem that our choices in plants are rather limited, but lush and lovely deer-resistant gardens can be made. Madeira germander (Teucrium betonicum, in flower) with sages and santolina Perhaps the widest range of deer-resistant options for summer-dry climates lies within the Lamiaceae, or mint family, which includes among its more than two hundred genera many plants that are widely used in gardens where summers are dry -- salvia,

17 06, 2021

Lion’s Tail

Lion’s Tail

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:27:46-07:00Categories: Blog, Garden Plants, perennials, Nora Harlow|Tags: nora harlow, perennials|

Some plants just naturally bring out the child in all of us, and lion's tail (Leonotis leonurus) is surely one of them. The whorled clusters of softly woolly yet spiky-looking, neon orange flowers can look almost cartoonish --a caricature of flowers-- spaced out along emphatically upright, six- or even eight-foot stems. Leonotis leonurus in full bloom in the San Francisco Botanical Garden Of the nine to twelve or more recognized species of Leonotis, only lion's tail, a perennial or subshrub endemic to eastern South Africa, is reliably available in nurseries. Lion's ear (L. nepetifolia), an annual native from

11 06, 2021

Embracing Wildness and Change

Embracing Wildness and Change

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:27:47-07:00Categories: Blog, California Native, Nora Harlow|Tags: california native, nora harlow, garden maintenance|

It is possible that the most life-negating aspect of modern landscapes is the whole idea of landscape maintenance. Landscape maintenance implies -- no, insists -- that landscapes must be maintained as originally designed, whatever the costs and losses. A lightly maintained meadow garden in California In the service of what is called maintenance, most residential front yards and almost all commercial landscapes are forced into compliance, preserving the outlines of their original design but with virtually no sign of life. Shrubs considered too large or wrongly shaped are brutally distorted. Weeds and “bugs” are sprayed with pesticides. Soil,

19 05, 2021

Climate Change and Water Supply

Climate Change and Water Supply

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:27:47-07:00Categories: Blog, Water, Climate, Nora Harlow|Tags: water issues, climate|

Global temperatures have been rising at least since the middle of the last century, and most projections anticipate that this trend will continue. Effects of warming vary from one region of the world to another but prominently include the likelihood that precipitation will shift from snow to rain in many snow-fed watersheds. It is also likely that snow will melt faster and run off earlier, changing the timing of peak streamflow. Snow is an important, even critical, seasonal water source for many regions with large mountain ranges, including most summer-dry climates. Snowpack accumulates in the mountains in winter when demand

13 05, 2021

Eucalyptus macrocarpa (mottlecah)

Eucalyptus macrocarpa (mottlecah)

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:27:45-07:00Categories: Blog, shrubs|Tags: great plants, nora harlow, shrubs|

With its large, tightly packed, silvery bluish white, mint-scented leaves and outsized, scarlet, pink, or rarely yellow flowers, this shrubby eucalyptus brings show-stopping drama to almost any summer-dry garden. Its features are decisively eucalypt, but its effect, especially at full height and in full bloom, is Alice-in-Wonderland. Eucalyptus macrocarpa can be pruned to maintain it at almost any size. Here it combines perfectly with Agave americana. One of several Australian shrubs called desert mallee, mottlecah can reach eight to ten feet tall and wide, sometimes erratically upright but more often sprawling. Mallees are shrubby eucalypts native primarily

9 04, 2021

Living with Wildfire

Living with Wildfire

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:26:31-07:00Categories: Blog, Nora Harlow|

The goal of "firewise" landscaping is to reduce the intensity of fire and slow its advance as it nears the house. The basic principles are simple and few. Harden the target by making the house as resistant to fire as possible. Keep the area next to the house free of anything that will burn. Design and maintain planted areas farther out to provide no continuous path for fire to reach the house or move up into the tops of trees. Retain sufficient vegetation to buffer the house from airborne embers. Low plantings and concrete patio next to house reduce

19 03, 2021

Weeding in Summer-Dry, Winter-Wet Clay

Weeding in Summer-Dry, Winter-Wet Clay

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:27:42-07:00Categories: Blog, weeds|Tags: nora harlow, invasive plants, weeds|

Where winters are wet, summers are dry, and soils consist of any appreciable amount of clay, the difference between too wet and too dry to weed is barely perceptible. In some years there may be only a few days when the soil is dry enough to walk on without compaction, when weeds come out of the ground without resistance, and when the earliest weeds have yet to set seed. If you miss those days, well, I guess there's always next year. Invasive oxalis (Oxalis pes-caprae) and advancing Matilija poppies (Romneya coulteri) mix inextricably with fortnight lily (Dietes grandiflora) in