May 2026 Newsletter: Help Us With Our Content Survey!

Greetings, friends –

The more we hear about climate turmoil the more we at the Summer-Dry Project are committed to advocating for the best climate-adapted plants to help the cities of the future be resilient and liveable for the humans within these novel landscapes, within a green infrastructure.

Our work with plants is to mitigate climate changes. We don’t try to analyze the scope of change, or pretend we can fix them in this space, we just want to find the best ways to surround ourselves with glorious plants. Our gardens bring us comfort and a connection with nature that not just benefits us but our community around us.

If you are reading this we know you share our love of gardening, and summer-dry climate gardening in particular. But we don’t really know a lot about what you like most about this newsletter and where we might be able to serve you better. We would like to hear from you and have created a short survey that shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.

Take Our Survey Here

We will send out a free autographed copy of our book to one random respondent, and are indeed curious ourselves as to where you would like us to put our own energies.

~ Saxon Holt and Nora Harlow

May’s Blog Post:
Solidagos That Stay Put

Anyone who has inadvertently planted a fast-spreading goldenrod can be forgiven for a painfully acquired reluctance to consider another Solidago. But there are good reasons for planting solidagos. In addition to the late-summer color their long-blooming golden yellow flowers provide, these are keystone plants where they are native, central to the health of local ecosystems

Read On

Instagram Memories

May 25, 2023

In the coastal mountains east of Santa Barbara is this photographer’s playland, an inspiring example of what an imaginative gardener can do in summer-dry climates.

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Creating Green Infrastructure

Two native plant front yard gardens across the street from each other in Fremont, California.

This tightly framed composition helps us imagine an entire neighborhood with beautiful, inviting front yard gardens. It is inspiring to think of gardeners creating this sort of green infrastructure, and it can start with one garden. Indeed, the Lym garden in the foreground inspired the Chang garden across the street.

Permeable flagstone path with Tanacetum bipinnatum dune tansy groundcover leading into Joel Lym’s, California native plant front yard garden.

Lym wanted a garden as a lawn alternative and used the walkway from the driveway to dissect panels of the dune tansy to replace the lawn.

Across the street from Lym, Sophie Chang saw this transformation and wanted to make a statement with her own front yard.

Sidewalk between hellstrip planted with manzanita Arctostaphylos bakeri ‘Louis Edmunds’ and Sophie Chang’s front yard using more manzanita shrubs, perennials, and succulents as a California native plant garden lawn replacement.

She created a mixed garden that’s a lovely addition to the neighborhood.

These semi-public gardens, these front yards, have become community assets, both for the habitat they provide and the humans who live among them. Bravo, and let’s do more.

Want to learn more?

By choosing naturally occurring, climate-appropriate plants, gardeners can promote healthier ecosystems and make a difference from their own backyards. Gardening in Summer-Dry Climates guides you through the journey of cultivating a stunning, bio-diverse landscape with gorgeous pictures, detailed advice, and an expansive plant compendium. Plus, when you order it directly from us, we will autograph it for you.

Check Out Our Book

Links We Like

Projects recognizing green infrastructure as public benefit are happening all around the country and TreePeople in Southern California has partnered with communities to transform urban landscapes into greener, healthier spaces. Read about their projects here.

Timely Links

We would love to hear about any resources you would like to pass along. We all get these snippets from our news feeds and inboxes. Let’s share the best, and we will keep the running list so you can find them later on the Links We Like page.