Simple & Bold

Lily-of-the-Nile Agapanthus 'Rancho White' 

• Evergreen Perennial, Sun or Shade, Water or No Water
• Plant on a 1.5' interval for 1.5' tall ground cover

Madrone Arbutus menziesii

• Evergreen tree or shrub requiring fast draining soil and just enough water
• 20'-100' tall
• Whitish bell shaped flowers in spring
• Brightly colored berries in fall with wildlife value (birds like them)

Color & Texture--Median Planting

While typically I wouldn’t plant Barberry so near to pedestrians and vehicles, it was placed here before me.  I love the plant, absolutely love it.  So, it stays.  And, I think my openness to some of what came before is why I find the planting in this particular bed so gratifying.

• Japanese Barberry Berberis thunbergii
• Deciduous red leaf to 4-6’ with arching branches
• Can be rejuvenated by cutting back hard, get larger leaves this way
• Gives coveted inland autumnal vibe with red leaves falling to the ground in late fall
• Tough plant
• Honey Bush Melianthus major

• Love it for its fabulous architectonic leaf, relates in a gnarly way to the Barberry 
• 6-12’ tall and a couple feet wider beautiful evergreen grey-green shrub
• Can be pruned as a small tree, prefer it as a shrub personally
• Another tough plant

• Wormwood Artemisia 'Powis Castle'
• Easy to care for, cut it back once in awhile to rejuvenate 
• Fine, soft, fragrant foliage
• Fast growing excellent ground cover
• Brilliant contrast with burgundy of Barberry, additional textural contrast
• Softness makes frames the gnarly Barberry, making it seem a little more welcoming
• New Zealand Flax Phormium tenax 
• Be sure you have the space to sustain these monsters and the time to maintain them
• I like them and inherited several happily, but they still require companion plantings to help them belong

Cutting Garden

• Gooseneck Loosestrife Lysimachia clethroides
• White conical flower
• Vigorous runner requiring little care
• Cut it back occasionally to reinvigorate it
• 2-3’ tall evergreen perennial
• Perfect for en masse plantings and ground cover
• Rose Rosa
• Red flower
• Pick a red rose with great scent and not too many petals—allow it to rise out of the Loosestrife
• Light Blue Beladonna Delphinium Delphinium x belladonna ‘Light Blue’ sp.
• Purple flower
• 3-4’ tall x 3’ wide perennial
• Spoil with great soil, amendments and water
• St. John’s Wart Hypericum androsaemum
• Green foliage with red berries
• 3’ x 3’ semi-evergreen shrub
• No overhead watering!
• Baby’s Breath Gypsophila elegans*
• 1.5’ x 1.5’ short lived annual
• All white version of Feverfew Chrysanthemum parthenium (Tanacetum parthenium) would be an excellent perennial substitution

*Please note that when necessary, I substitute plants pictured with plants of similar character for the sake of gardening success in Zone 17.