Hello everyone. Hope I can learn some things from all of you.

[tjwash]

There is some very good info I have already perused on this board. Hoping I can learn a few things from everyone here, and maybe shoot out a few ideas your way as well.

Right now our Plum tree is in full bloom here, and our avocado tree is shooting up it's spring flowers. I just finished renovating the rose garden, and mulched / manured the peach and apple trees, hoping for another bumper jam/jelly/sauce crop like we had last year.

Any suggestions on some hardy plants that keep short and can handle full sunlight? I am re doing the back yard area which about 700 square feet, and ripping out half the grass and doing plants in a rock garden (long story-drainage sucks in that one area and it just is not worth the time and effort to keep the grass green in that area). Keeping the other 800 SF of bluegrass, and doing drip irrigation on the new area with a path down the middle so we can access the vegetable garden. I want some nice looking colorful perennials that don't get too tall and block our view of the mountains. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

[babylonsister]

1. Welcome to the group! Is that a plum delight you're speaking of?

That's what I have-here's a pic:


It gets really hot here so I face the same problems as you with the landscaping; by August I throw in the towel.
I usually wind up planting some annuals for color; snapdragons, gazanias, etc. I've planted lots of bulbs this year; they're so much fun to watch grow. You might want to consider lilies. They are perennials (at least the ones I'm familiar with are) and come in lots and lots of colors. My dream is to not ever plant another annual and let the perennials rule the garden, but that just hasn't happened yet. Caladiums can be colorful, too, and return every year (so far).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily
I have a couple of dwarf crape myrtles that are nice for summer color. Azaleas will give you spring color.
Your best bet would be to visit your local nursery and snoop around. Also, check out what your neighbors are growing and see what grows well.
Hopefully someone will chime in here as I know some folks are from the CA area. Good luck, and share pics when you can!

:hi:

[tjwash]

4. Here's our baby...

And we get a lot of Jam out of it every year. It makes for great xmas presents. It gets awful here in August too. Half of the bluegrass in the back has the right drainage to hang all year, the other half just dies out and turns to weeds in the spring. That's why I am re-landscaping the bad half, and keeping the bluegrass in the good half.

I just got the fountain installed and done last summer. The good news, that the tropical plants survived our record cold we had out here. Here's the latest:



I'll post more pics as I get more done in the coming weeks. :toast:

[babylonsister]

2. PS Here's a site for reference; it has perennials that attract hummingbirds!

http://www.butterflybushes.com/hummingbird_plants.htm

[tjwash]

3. Awesome. I have lots of honeysuckle for hummingbirds.

Thanks for the link. I am planting some butterfly attractors, and the site led me in the right direction. I'll post some pics when I get the first batch in. :hi:

[Gormy Cuss]

5. Do you know your Sunset zone #?

I know what grows well in my hot interior valley but the microclimates could mean that they would be miserable where you are.

One element that comes to mind for a portion of that space is echinacea (cone flower.) The classic variety looks like this photo but there are white and yellow echinacea and some with unusual petal arrangements. Most varieties are tall (4 -5 ft range) but some are shorter (2 - 2.5 ft.) I have a mixture of varieties and heights in full sun where I live in the inland SF East Bay and they do quite well. They don't require much care. After the bloom is spent it should be deadheaded but there's only a handful of blooms on each plant so it's not a lot of work. Other than that, the foliage should be cut back almost to the ground at the beginning of winter. That's it.


Another one is justicia suberecta (sometimes labeled dicleptera suberecta.) You won't find this at Home Depot type stores, but it should be available at a good nursery. This is a short,hardy plant (2 -2.5 ft tall) and requires about as much care as the echinacea. Blooms are small and plentiful, no deadheading needed except for the early winter cutback. Caution here -- be sure to find the 'suberecta' variety as many others are full size shrubs.




edited to add: my avatar is a rockrose (cistus.) They're mounding shrubs with a short but intense blooming period. Some varieties are short, some are tall. Rockroses need a good trim once or twice a year.

Another good small mounding shrub with a much longer blooming period is germander. Teucrium chamaedrys is the common low mounding variety, but be careful because there are other germanders that have tall and/or rangy habits. The leaves are tiny and evergreen. The little purple flowers last for a long time. I keep mine pruned into mound shapes but they can be allowed to form a solid mat too. Mine line the driveway -- can't get much hotter than that.

[sazemisery]

6. Note on cone flower

If you have goldfinches, leave the seed heads. Goldfinches swarm my echinacea as the petals wither and the seed heads get big.