Three Drought-Tolerant Plants to Consider
Garden tip from Christiane Holmquist, Member APLD
Christiane Holmquist Landscape Design
760-586-6065
Christiane Holmquist views plants as her partners when she turns clients’ landscape visions into reality. “Maintaining a deep respect for plants prevents me from creating structure-driven gardens that rely too heavily on hardscapes,” she says. “I believe that when plants are accorded proper attention and space, they can create an emotionally resonant space for the homeowners. After all, a garden is meant to engage beauty and to nurture a person’s deep accord with the natural world. A landscape without plants isn’t a garden at all.”
Three Drought-Tolerant Plants to Consider
This fall replace the plants that haven’t made the mark; there are much better ones available. In the increasingly hot summers these past years, a number of my drought-tolerant plants have been looking sparse, lanky and tired; even when cooler temps set in they didn’t pick up the pace. I’m itching to replace them with tougher plants. Mountain States Wholesale Nursery specializes in desert-plant species promised to do better in our climate and soils. San Diego’s climate is getting drier, and our occasional ocean winds should be a bonus (salt spray and heavy-clay soil excepted — please check on the individual plant’s requirements). The plants are retailed at Kniffings Discount Nurseries in El Cajon. Here are three beauties that I’d like to try:
1. Hesperaloe parviflora ‘Perpa’ Brakelights Red Yucca (pictured left): A compact grower with narrow, leathery, blue-green leaves, this yucca is named for its vivid red flowers that bloom (and attract hummingbirds) from September to June. This tough, low-maintenance native to Texas and Northern Mexico thrives in full sun and reflected heat; good specimen container plant, suitable for a wide range of climates and soils.
SIZE (H X W): 2 feet x 2 feet
WATER: Low
GROWTH RATE: Slow
HARDINESS: -20º F, USDA Zone 5
PRUNING: Remove old flowers
2. Chilopsis linearis ‘Lucretia Hamilton’ Desert Willow (pictured center): The natural form of this deciduous tree is multi-trunked with a graceful, weeping appearance with long, narrow leaves and attractive burgundy trumpet-shaped, orchid-like flowers. Blooms appear in terminal clusters from May through October. The resulting seedpods cling on branches throughout winter. After flowering, long narrow seedpods are produced.
SIZE (H X W): 18-20 feet x 18-20 feet
WATER: Low
GROWTH RATE: Moderate
HARDINESS: -10º F, USDA Zone 6
PRUNING: Prune to shape
3. Leucophyllum candidum ‘Thunder Cloud’ Texas Sage (pictured right): An evergreen shrub with compact form, silver foliage, deep-purple flowers summer/fall. Blooms repeatedly. Needs well-drained soil.
SIZE (H X W): 3 feet x 3-4 feet
WATER: Low
GROWTH RATE: Slow
HARDINESS: 10º F, USDA Zone 7
PRUNING: Shear in late spring if at all
