shrubs Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Summer-Dry | Celebrate Plants in Summer-Dry Gardens

21 09, 2021

Wild Buckwheats

Wild Buckwheats

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:30:24-07:00Categories: Blog, Garden Plants, groundcovers, shrubs, perennials, California Native|Tags: california native, nora harlow, shrubs, perennials|

What could be more emblematic of the summer-dry/winter wet, semi-arid, and arid climates of western North America than the wild buckwheats? Annuals, perennials, and low to medium or tall shrubs, one or more species of Eriogonum is native from western Canada to Baja California and throughout much of the intermountain west. More than 100 species are native to California, from seaside cliffs to rocky alpine outcrops. Eriogonum grande var. rubescens Most of the buckwheats commonly available to gardeners are shrubs or shrubby perennials with green to gray-green or silvery gray leaves and masses of tiny flowers in small,

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

25 02, 2021

Rosemary

Rosemary

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:26:32-07:00Categories: Blog, Garden Plants, shrubs|Tags: nora harlow, shrubs|

In our continual search for new and unusual plants for our gardens we tend to forget, or to reflexively dismiss, the old, reliable standbys. Rosemary needs no care, has no "down" season, and can last for decades. It is quite content to play a supporting role in any garden scheme and it comes in varied heights and habits. Salvia rosmarinus Prostratus Group cascades over walls There are prostrate or cascading rosemaries as well as upright forms of many sizes. Flower color varies from pale or bright blue to pinkish lavender or even almost white. The fine-textured, intensely fragrant,

28 07, 2017

Peeling Bark

Peeling Bark

summerdry2024-06-27T19:26:23-07:00Categories: Blog, trees|Tags: california native, saxon holt, shrubs|

In a not uncommon response to summer-dry heat, a number of trees and shrubs shed their bark in the middle of the summer. Summertime bark break, manzanita (Arctostaphylos) In California, this exfoliation seems to happen almost instantly in madrone (Arbutus menziesii) and many species of manzanita (Arctostaphylos) with great delight to any observer who watches these natives with any regularity. One day a walk in the dry woods, the always beautiful red mahogany bark will be split open, as the bark rolls back and the girth expands just that much more. In manzanita the bark will curl back

26 04, 2017

Oleander

Oleander

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:26:22-07:00Categories: Blog, shrubs, Nora Harlow|Tags: shrubs|

Nerium oleander Every so often it is worth reconsidering a once wildly popular plant that, apparently for no reason other than overexposure, has fallen completely out of favor. Agapanthus is one of those plants. Oleander (Nerium oleander) is certainly another. Overplanted in housing developments and along freeways in the 1960s and ‘70s, oleanders now seem to be seldom planted except by those who appreciate the dense screening provided by their lush evergreen foliage, their lengthy period of exuberant flowering, and their robust constitution. Oleanders are astonishingly tolerant of drought, reflected heat, wind, salt spray, poor soil, neglect, severe

18 02, 2017

Pittosporums

Pittosporums

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:26:21-07:00Categories: Blog, shrubs, Nora Harlow|Tags: trees, shrubs|

Pittosporums are a large group of tough and adaptable evergreen shrubs or smallish trees native to subtropical and tropical Australasia, Africa, and Asia and grown in warm temperate climates throughout the world. Most are fairly fast growing in full sun to part shade in any reasonably fertile soil with decent drainage and little to moderate moisture. All bear small, fragrant, late spring or summer flowers in clusters at the ends of stems followed by conspicuous fruits with bright orange seeds. Several species and quite a few cultivars are commonly found in the nursery trade. Pittosporum crassifolium leaves and flowers

6 01, 2017

Pacific wax myrtle

Pacific wax myrtle

Nora Harlow2024-06-27T19:26:21-07:00Categories: Blog, shrubs, California Native|Tags: california native, shrubs|

Myrica californica as a tall privacy hedge Pacific wax myrtle (Myrica californica) is a tall, dense evergreen shrub, perfect as a backdrop for any garden large enough to accommodate it. Fast-growing, adaptable, and good looking year round, this is a fine choice for informal hedges, windbreaks, and privacy screens. You will hear that Pacific wax myrtle can be sheared as a formal hedge, but don’t do it. Shearing destroys the natural grace of the glossy green leaves, which are long and narrow, softly serrated, and elegantly displayed on multiple upright stems. If you find its height of 12