Flowering Plants | 505 Outside

Gray Santolina, Santolina chamaecyparissus

by 505 Outside | Aug 2, 2018 | Flowering Plants

Full Sun

Low Water

Mature Size: 18”X 36”
Blooming Season: June
Flower Color: Yellow

A terrific evergreen perennial known for its button-like yellow flowers and its unique aromatic silver-green foliage that looks great all year long. Its woody stems are densely covered with fine, whitish gray leaves (which is why it’s sometimes known as Lavender Cotton). Can be used as a groundcover or as a foreground planting in a bed of perennials or shrubs. With a little extra shearing to remove faded flowers and tighten up the shape in early spring, it gives a garden the look of age and maturity. Very cold hardy and heat tolerant.

Garden Sage, Salvia officinalis

by 505 Outside | Aug 2, 2018 | Flowering Plants

Full Sun

Medium Water

Mature Size: 24”X 24”
Blooming Season: August-October
Flower Color: Violet-Blue

Yes, Garden Sage is an aromatic herb. Its leaves can be used to flavor meats such as pork, goose and sausage. Equally impressive is its beauty in the garden. The fuzzy leaves of Garden Sage are a de- lightful gray-green. Two-foot-tall spikes covered with violet-blue flowers appear in late summer and last until fall. Handles drought well once established.

Prairie Coneflower, Mexican Hat, Ratibida columnifera

by 505 Outside | Aug 2, 2018 | Flowering Plants

Full Sun

Low Water

Mature Size: 32”X 32”
Blooming Season: June-September
Flower Color: Yellow-Orange

The roadsides of northeastern New Mexico light up with color in mid-summer when large stands of Prairie coneflower come into bloom. This drought-tolerant plant is easy to establish, and it naturalizes readily so you can grow your own stand of wildflowers. Prairie Coneflower (a.k.a. Mexican Hat) is a heavy bloomer, with a mature plant producing hundreds of flowers with distinctive mahogany-red petals edged in yellow. Cold hardy and able to handle hot summers as long as it gets deep watering twice a month when flowering.

Desert Beardtongue, Penstemon pseudospectabilis

by 505 Outside | Aug 2, 2018 | Flowering Plants

Full Sun

Low Water

Mature Size: 3’X 3’
Blooming Season: Spring into summer
Flower Color: Rose pink

Penstemon species exhibit a wide range of flower and leaf colors, but most share a strong preference for lean, well-drained soils and modest amounts of water. Desert Beardtongue is valuable for its deep rose pink flowers that can bring hummingbirds to dine near your patio and for its persistent silver or blue-green leaves that add garden interest long after the flowers have faded for the year.

Pineleaf Penstemon, Penstemon pinifolius

by 505 Outside | Aug 2, 2018 | Flowering Plants

Full Sun

Low Water

Mature Size: 12”X 20”
Blooming Season: June-July
Flower Color: Orange

Pineleaf Penstemon is an outstanding but often overlooked species from southern New Mexico and Arizona. Blooming for 6-8 weeks in mid-summer, the tubular orange flowers are profuse, attracting hummingbirds from miles around. P. pinifolius is long-lived and grows easily in both xeric and traditional perennial gardens. As the plant matures, the stems become woody, forming an attractive evergreen shrublet with bright green needle-like foliage.

Rocky Mountain Penstemon, Penstemon strictus

by 505 Outside | Aug 2, 2018 | Flowering Plants

Full Sun

Low Water

Mature Size: 24”X 24”
Blooming Season: May-June
Flower Color: Purple

A native Penstemon of the foothills and mountains of the southern Rockies (sometimes known as Beardtongue), this plant grows well in central New Mexico. It grows well in full sun, yet can tolerate some shade. Its tall, showy spikes of purple flowers last for over a month in the late spring. Spreading steadily via stolons to form large clumps of dense green foliage, Rocky Mountain Penstemon is one of the longest lived and most easily grown of the Penstemons.