#drought tolerant

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Tuesday 7 May 2024

In a dry garden the Grevillea juniperina f. sulphurea (spider flower) was flowering. The needle-like leaves of this evergreen shrub are well adapted to a well-drained soil in full sun.

Jill Raggett

[lizzy-bonnet]

I'm very proud of my little pollinator garden which I've built up over the years mostly from free plants my neighbours were digging up or splitting (and once liberating some seed heads from a flower bed at work). The last two summers especially, it has been visited by an increasingly diverse population: little busy honey bees and fat doofy bumblers and so many different butterflies like this exquisite swallowtail.

I think it's a black swallowtail? Not very good at identification. I've also seen spicebush swallowtail, a red spotted purple and so many monarchs.

Our summers are very dry so most of my garden is drought tolerant native plants, but this lavender was here when we moved in. It was in a very shady spot, all choked with invasive vines but since moving to the sun it has thrived. The bees love it and it pairs beautifully with my masses of pink echinacea (which self seeds with abandon).

I think of my little garden as symbolic in my life. I have been in many places where I have struggled to thrive, because of a bad environment. But with the right amount of sun and water, and with a little care and help, I do pretty well. I get enormous satisfaction from my garden which thanks to neighbourhood generosity and my own time and effort, blooms and grows. I hope when people walk by, it gives them a little joy too.

[oliviarosaline]

Missouri Coneflower

Rudbeckia missouriensis

This species is endemic to the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas, where it usually grows in limestone and dolomite glades. There's also a few scattered populations in Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Louisiana. It thrives in full sun and dry, well-drained soil.

Sept. 27th, 2023

De Soto, Jefferson County, Missouri, USA

Olivia R. Myers

@oliviarosaline

[soilthesimpletruth]

This is not a hobby.

This is my life.

[wnltl]

Siding Exterior San Francisco

[farmobileo3]

I got a free mystery plant from the nursery and it’s the ponytail palm! I got 7 plants out of one pot 👍🏾 It’s actually not a palm, it’s a succulent from Mexico.

[bumblebeeappletree]

Jane is in Northcote in Melbourne’s north to meet a group of people who are honouring a friend’s memory by turning a neglected patch of ground beside a railway into a thriving garden.

There is a large apple tree in the centre surrounded by plants that were chosen to survive without being watered. Volunteers meet once a month for maintenance.

Many plants were donated, such as a Wigandia.

A scented geranium by a path gives off a lovely smell when people brush past it.

The garden was originally run by a gardening group but became a bit run-down. Much of the work to create the present perennial dry garden was done by late local resident Louise Tinney. To water new plants in, water was brought in by hand in old milk bottles, carted in old shopping trolleys.

Stick fences mark new plants to give them some protection.

Louise was also a great people wrangler, and roped in passers by to help water plants or get involved in planting.

Louise passed away in 2021 and the garden is now being tended by a group of committed locals and family members who are making sure her legacy lives on.

Louise’s daughter Miranda brings her own infant daughter to the garden. Louise’s younger sister Fiona is also part of the volunteer team.

While the garden started with a lot of exotic perennials, the group is now incorporating a lot of indigenous and other native plants.

In 2019 the garden became part of the Stationeers program, run by Keep Australian Beautiful Vic to encourage locals to get involved in beautifying VicTrack-owned land around train stations. There are now 60 station precincts being cared for by volunteers.

A major maintenance task is pruning – volunteer Jane Miller calls it wallaby pruning as it mimics the small but regular nibbling of outer leaves that a wallaby would do.

But the volunteers say they always make time for cake, too!

Featured plants:

Apple (Malus cv.)

Wigandia (Wigandia sp.)

Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus ‘Milkmaid’)

Jerusalem safe (Phlomis fruticosa cv.)

Scented geranium (Pelargonium cv.)

Pine banksia (Banksia tricuspis)

Kangaroo grass (Themeda triandra)

Pigface (Carpobrotus cv.)

Creeping wire vine (Muehlenbeckia axillaris)

Filmed on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country in Northcote, Vic

[rottackk]

Mother of Thousands Starter Sprouts on Sale Now!

[melankoliadam]

Landscape in Los Angeles Design ideas for a mid-sized modern drought-tolerant, rock and full sun front yard gravel landscaping.

[koyominmonogatari]

Landscape in Raleigh Design ideas for a large mid-century modern drought-tolerant and partial sun front yard river rock waterfall.

[i-am-mycroft-holmes]

Phoenix Landscape Natural Stone Pavers Inspiration for a mid-sized southwestern full sun backyard stone landscaping.

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Tuesday 12 September 2023

This garden dry stone wall hosts a number of Sedum species including the grey foliaged Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco' (spoon-leaved stonecrop). The fleshy rosettes are silver-grey in winter becoming blue-grey in summer, overlaid with a white bloom which intensifies with drought.

Jill Raggett

[victorienaubineau]

Flat Roofing in Albuquerque An illustration of a medium-sized one-story, beige, southwest-style home exterior

[natureisthegreatestartist]

New to my garden: Red Mexican hat (Ratibida columnifera), a drought-tolerant wildflower. It may not survive a typically chilly, wet Oregon winter so it's good to enjoy it for now, right?

[soilthesimpletruth]

One of the bitters in our summer salads is sorrel. It’s a calm member of the Knotweed family and shares lots of love with my favorite summertime cover crop buckwheat. It’s also the cousin to rhubarb.

The photo shows how I was transplanting sorrel yesterday.

[cartahstaph]

San Francisco Eclectic Landscape

Photo of a mid-sized eclectic drought-tolerant and full sun backyard mulch and wood fence flower bed.