Common name:Kangaroo Paws
Botanical name:Anigozanthos hybrids
This tender perennial is a clump-forming evergreen that produces fuzzy, yellow/green flowers that bloom in spring and last for over 2 months. Many sizes and varieties are available including yellow and pink flowers.
Common name:Woolly Yarrow
Botanical name:Achillea tomentosa
Short stems of flat-topped golden flowers accent the deep green, wooly, fern-like leaves of the mat formed by this plant. It is a fine performer in rock gardens and at the front of herbaceous perennial borders. Yarrows propagate easily from rooted stems or division, which should be performed in the early spring or fall. Following bloom, dead head the plant and divide the clumps when it appears crowded.
Common name:Red Flowering Currant
Botanical name:Ribes sanguineum
Upright, multibranched deciduous shrub with medium green maple shaped leaves. The rose-red flowers appear in clusters in mid-winter offering winter color for the garden, and food for hummingbirds. Can tolerate some shade on the coast, and needs shade in warm inland areas. Makes a wonderful backdrop in a woodland garden, foundation shrub, or an informal hedge.
Common name:Pink Stripe Flax
Botanical name:Phormium 'Pink Stripe'
Phormium 'Pink Stripe' is an evergreen perennial. Big, dramatic plant composed of many swordlike, stiffly vertical leaves in a fan pattern. Flowers stems reach high above leaves, bearing clusters of 1-2 in. blossoms in dull red to yellow.
Common name:Evergreen Candytuft
Botanical name:Iberis sempervirens
This Evergreen Candytuft is a compact plant that grows 12-18" tall. Its leaves are dark green in color, and in the early spring it exhibits clusters of pure white flowers that are borne at branch ends.
Designer: Teri Kane | Pot in Garden |
Photographer: Amy Palmer |
Practice grass-cycling by leaving short grass clippings on lawns after mowing, so that nutrients and organic matter are returned to the soil.
Check soil moisture below the surface with a soil probe or large screwdriver, trowel or shovel. Don't assume the plants need water just because the soil surface looks dry.
Attract, or buy beneficial insects such as ladybugs and lacewings to control pest outbreaks in your garden.