nora harlow Archives - Page 12 of 12 - Summer-Dry | Celebrate Plants in Summer-Dry Gardens

26 08, 2015

Epimedium

Epimedium

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:25:20-07:00Categories: Blog, perennials|Tags: nora harlow, perennials|

Epimedium x rubrum Dry shade is said to be difficult for gardeners. But shade, even deep shade, provides singular opportunities not available to those who garden in hot sun. Epimediums are a carefree, long-lived, and distinguished choice for dry shade. Their oval to heart-shaped leaves are outstanding combined with shade-tolerant plants such as strap-leaved irises, lacy ferns, or cool-season grasses such as fescues. Once established, many epimediums will get by happily with little to no summer water in part to full shade. They compete well with tree roots where other plants fail. If cut back in winter, they

14 05, 2015

Echium candicans

Echium candicans

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:25:19-07:00Categories: Blog, shrubs|Tags: nora harlow, shrubs|

Echium candicans (aka. E. fastuosum) (Pride of Madeira) flowering along dirt path in summer-dry waterwise garden At its most luxuriant in mid to late spring is Echium candicans. Hailing from Madeira and the Canary Islands, this magnificent plant has spread into wildlands and untended landscapes in some coastal California areas and is sometimes mistaken for a native. Big, bold, and fast-growing, this ultimately massive shrub can overwhelm a small urban backyard at maturity, but if you’ve got the space and appreciate vegetative drama, this is a plant worth considering. E. candicans grows quickly to six or eight feet

3 03, 2015

What’s in a Name ?

What’s in a Name ?

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:25:17-07:00Categories: grasses|Tags: grasses, nora harlow|

Berkeley Sedge got its name from an unlabeled, neglected plant in a Berkeley nursery It is oddly disconcerting when a singular plant, long believed to be a California native, turns out to hail from some other part of the world. One such plant is Berkeley sedge. This bright green grasslike plant was formerly known and grown as Carex tumulicola, a sedge native to California and other parts of the Pacific Coast. Some years ago Berkeley sedge was discovered to be a form of Carex divulsa, which is native to Europe and western Asia.

23 02, 2015

Dwarf Coyote Brush

Dwarf Coyote Brush

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:23:53-07:00Categories: Blog, groundcovers, shrubs|Tags: california native, nora harlow, shrubs, ground covers|

In the world of living plants and landscapes there is no equivalent of the little black dress – the absolutely carefree plant that goes anywhere with the right accessories – but this has never stopped us from looking for one. Nor has it stopped us from believing we’ve found such a plant, from embracing it with too much enthusiasm and then rejecting it outright when it fails to live up to impossible expectations, moving on to the next high fashion. Nowhere is this trend more obvious than in our vain attempts to completely cover the ground. In the 1960s we

17 02, 2015

California Native Redbud Tree

California Native Redbud Tree

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:23:52-07:00Categories: trees|Tags: california native, nora harlow, trees|

I hear from long-time residents of Amador County, California, that our native redbud (Cercis occidentalis syn C. orbiculata ) is not found anywhere in that county except where planted. To me, this is a fascinating mystery, as it is commonly reported by reliable sources as occurring in the wild in that part of the state. Some have suggested it may be the soils, that redbud requires “ultramafic” (basic) soils, even serpentine, that are not common in Amador County. If you live in that part of the world, please let us know if you have seen this special plant in the

3 02, 2015

Gardening Where You Are

Gardening Where You Are

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:23:23-07:00Categories: Blog|Tags: california native, nora harlow|

As the deadline approached for publication of the EBMUD plant book, Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates, I found myself without an introductory chapter, nothing to set the tone or communicate to readers our intentions for the book. Consumed with a growing sense of panic, I headed off for the southern California desert, where I tend to go when I need to rest and recharge. Staying with a friend in Twentynine Palms, I spent mornings hiking in Joshua Tree National Monument and afternoons on the guest house deck staring at my laptop. Days passed and