Creeping Mahonia, Mahonia repens

Creeping Mahonia, Mahonia repens

by | Aug 2, 2018 | Groundcovers

 Full Shade
Medium Water

Mature Size: 1’X 2’
Blooming Season: Spring
Flower Color: Yellow

The shade of a tree or large shrub along the north side of a courtyard wall with the runoff from a nearby downspout is the ideal setting for this high elevation evergreen groundcover. Given the right spot, your reward will be year-round yellow flowers among the bright green leaves in spring, deep blue-green leaf color turning red-purple in cold weather. In larger spaces where a bit more height is needed, the closely related Compact Mahonia is another option.

Hardy Purple Iceplant, Delosperma cooperi

Hardy Purple Iceplant, Delosperma cooperi

by | Aug 2, 2018 | Groundcovers

Full Sun
Low Water

Mature Size: 6”X 18”
Blooming Season: Summer
Flower Color: Purple-Pink

Purple Iceplant is another fine South African introduction, valued for its shimmering fuchsia-purple daisies that keep coming all summer. A vigorous spreader, it forms a dense mat of succulent, linear green leaves in any well-drained soil. Stop watering in mid-fall to harden for winter. This plant has become a staple in xeric gardens. Right at home where planted to spread on top of gravel mulch; it helps to cool down these hot areas.

Hardy Plumbago, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides

Hardy Plumbago, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides

by | Aug 2, 2018 | Groundcovers

Full Sun, Part Shade
Medium Water

Mature Size: 12”X 24”
Blooming Season: Early Fall
Flower Color: Blue

An outstanding, long-lived groundcover that slowly weaves itself into the garden, creating large drifts of fall color. The deep blue flowers, which begin as the weather begins to cool and days grow shorter, are numerous and long lasting. As the plant’s flowering finishes, its leaves begin a month-long change to a vivid mahogany-red color. Plumbago is extremely adaptable, growing equally well in sun or shade, and thriving in a wide range of soil types.

Yerba Mansa, Anemopsis californica

Yerba Mansa, Anemopsis californica

by | Aug 2, 2018 | Groundcovers

Full Sun, Part Shade
Medium Water

Mature Size: 1’X 3’+
Blooming Season: Summer
Flower Color: White

Widely regarded as a medicinal plant, and often found in the bosque as the wild groundcover under Cottonwoods, the landscape value of Yerba Mansa is finally being recognized. Its white coneflowers stand a foot above a dense carpet of large thick leaves that are deep green during the growing season, turning red and then a rich rusty brown through winter.

Calycinum Flameflower, Phemeranthus syn talinum

Calycinum Flameflower, Phemeranthus syn talinum

by | Aug 2, 2018 | Desert Accents

Full Sun, Part Shade
Low Water

Mature Size: 8”X 8”
Blooming Season: Summer
Flower Color: Bright pink

This perennial relative of moss rose grows neat tufts of narrow succulent leaves topped with a continuous show of rose pink flowers every afternoon throughout the hot summer months. The flowers float above the leaves on wiry gold stems giving them a delicate appearance completely at odds with their resilient nature. They reseed easily in gravelly or sandy soil without becoming weedy. With Flameflower you can’t have too much of a good thing.