Cliff,
Here's my list of drought tolerant, full sun perennials that do well with rocks and pea gravel...with some pictures to follow.
Of course some plants can love one area of the garden more than others so you may learn as you go like I did. The ones with * are evergreen depending on freezing temps for a few of them but they are the ones that don't die back to the ground during winter. I like to have some winter interest since we have no bushes.
The photo with the numbers are these plants:
1. Red hot poker- love these!!! They looove heat!
2. Snowcap Shasta daisy- bloom more if you prune back spent flowers
3. Coreopsis- same as above ^
4. *Agave whales tongue- love these and they are slow growers but get quite large. In fact I admire all agaves but most send runners and these don't.
5. Walkers low catmint- first season for this but the nursery raves about them.
6. *Red Yucca- great staple plant. Have them all around the front yard. Humming birds love the blooms on the stalks. They do grow large width wise in the long run.
7. *Prickly Pear Cactus Thornless- ha ha they say thornless until you get poked by the itty bitty thorns but for the most part they are the best cactus with the least amount of pain
. You can also pull off a paddle and plant it and it will grow. They bloom small yellow flowers.
8. Liatris- beautiful flowers. Buy them as bulbs but beware if you have any stinkin rabbit issue like we do they will devour them. Ugh... I dislike rabbits.
9. Blackfoot daisy- awesome flower that blooms to no end but hates water and wet feet... seriously. It needs it (especially when first planting) but it is the most minimal water drinker in my yard. The first year I had them I killed them by watering too much. Good luck if you try them... I planted them again
10. *Bright edge yucca- awesome since it doesn't grow too big width or height. During spring they shoot up beautiful white flower stalks.
11. Coreopsis sun fire- very pretty but the bees definitely love them so I wouldn't plant to close to pool or sitting area.
Other plants I like and have in the yard are:
*Texas Scullcaps- very easy to care for
*Soft leaf yucca- grows taller and can also send out shoots for new ones to grow next to it. Also shoots up with white stalks of flowers in spring.
*Salvia greggi- mine have stayed evergreen. Some people chop them back in the spring but I've just let them do their own thing. They sorta look like small flowering bushes.
*Powis castle- I honestly think these are ugly, but I wanted something that didn't die back in that area and the flowers I had there weren't cooperating sooo...
*Hot pink Riding Hood Penstemon-awesome
*Dianthus
Daylily
Forester Reed Grass
Hameln Dwarf Fountain Grass- awesome
Purple coneflower- had these and loved them but the rabbits ate them all
I strongly suggest you DO NOT plant Mexican feather grass -Woo wee these take over and spread like wildfire in a rock garden. You will be picking them out like crazy. Trust me... I still am. And they shed way too much!
Russian sage- I love this plant, it is beautiful and I still have them in the front yard but they seed beyond belief! I justify keeping them because bees love them and I support having bees around lol. They also litter like crazy so I wouldn't put them anywhere near a pool.
If you want an annual pop of color that you can change out every year- I've had luck with Zinnias and Vincas aka "Periwinkles".
For our larger evergreen tree-ish plants along the fence in the backyard for softening we recently planted Hollywood Junipers and for a bit of privacy we planted Eastern Red Cedars 'Brodie'.
Well, that's my story on what I've learned so far with good ol drought tolerant plants. I learn more each year and have fun digging in the dirt. May I suggest, in your free time, Google the plants and learn a little about them before you start digging. Or talk to your local nursery. It's great to know how big things get before you plant them.
Good luck on your gardening journey!!
By the way, your pool build looks great and what a beautiful setting you have! You're going to enjoy it so much!
If you have any more questions just let me know! Hope this helps!
Thanks,
D
Here's my list of drought tolerant, full sun perennials that do well with rocks and pea gravel...with some pictures to follow.
Of course some plants can love one area of the garden more than others so you may learn as you go like I did. The ones with * are evergreen depending on freezing temps for a few of them but they are the ones that don't die back to the ground during winter. I like to have some winter interest since we have no bushes.
The photo with the numbers are these plants:
1. Red hot poker- love these!!! They looove heat!
2. Snowcap Shasta daisy- bloom more if you prune back spent flowers
3. Coreopsis- same as above ^
4. *Agave whales tongue- love these and they are slow growers but get quite large. In fact I admire all agaves but most send runners and these don't.
5. Walkers low catmint- first season for this but the nursery raves about them.
6. *Red Yucca- great staple plant. Have them all around the front yard. Humming birds love the blooms on the stalks. They do grow large width wise in the long run.
7. *Prickly Pear Cactus Thornless- ha ha they say thornless until you get poked by the itty bitty thorns but for the most part they are the best cactus with the least amount of pain
. You can also pull off a paddle and plant it and it will grow. They bloom small yellow flowers.8. Liatris- beautiful flowers. Buy them as bulbs but beware if you have any stinkin rabbit issue like we do they will devour them. Ugh... I dislike rabbits.
9. Blackfoot daisy- awesome flower that blooms to no end but hates water and wet feet... seriously. It needs it (especially when first planting) but it is the most minimal water drinker in my yard. The first year I had them I killed them by watering too much. Good luck if you try them... I planted them again
10. *Bright edge yucca- awesome since it doesn't grow too big width or height. During spring they shoot up beautiful white flower stalks.
11. Coreopsis sun fire- very pretty but the bees definitely love them so I wouldn't plant to close to pool or sitting area.
Other plants I like and have in the yard are:
*Texas Scullcaps- very easy to care for
*Soft leaf yucca- grows taller and can also send out shoots for new ones to grow next to it. Also shoots up with white stalks of flowers in spring.
*Salvia greggi- mine have stayed evergreen. Some people chop them back in the spring but I've just let them do their own thing. They sorta look like small flowering bushes.
*Powis castle- I honestly think these are ugly, but I wanted something that didn't die back in that area and the flowers I had there weren't cooperating sooo...
*Hot pink Riding Hood Penstemon-awesome
*Dianthus
Daylily
Forester Reed Grass
Hameln Dwarf Fountain Grass- awesome
Purple coneflower- had these and loved them but the rabbits ate them all
I strongly suggest you DO NOT plant Mexican feather grass -Woo wee these take over and spread like wildfire in a rock garden. You will be picking them out like crazy. Trust me... I still am. And they shed way too much!
Russian sage- I love this plant, it is beautiful and I still have them in the front yard but they seed beyond belief! I justify keeping them because bees love them and I support having bees around lol. They also litter like crazy so I wouldn't put them anywhere near a pool.
If you want an annual pop of color that you can change out every year- I've had luck with Zinnias and Vincas aka "Periwinkles".
For our larger evergreen tree-ish plants along the fence in the backyard for softening we recently planted Hollywood Junipers and for a bit of privacy we planted Eastern Red Cedars 'Brodie'.
Well, that's my story on what I've learned so far with good ol drought tolerant plants. I learn more each year and have fun digging in the dirt. May I suggest, in your free time, Google the plants and learn a little about them before you start digging. Or talk to your local nursery. It's great to know how big things get before you plant them.
Good luck on your gardening journey!!
By the way, your pool build looks great and what a beautiful setting you have! You're going to enjoy it so much!
If you have any more questions just let me know! Hope this helps!
Thanks,
D
