Good Drainage

Soil that allows surface water to seep away into the subsoil not quickly or immediately, but within an hour's time and does not puddle.

Common Name: Blue Mist Spirea

Rarely does a shrub feature as much versatility as the blue mist spirea. It will grow and flower in sun or shade, low water-use or high. This Caryopteris, a hybrid itself, normally blooms in a pleasant light blue, but other selections have deeper blues hues. Summer blooming into fall. And as unlikely at it seems for hybrid to set viable seed, blue mist spirea reproduces itself pleasantly, never invasively. Indeed, any little volunteers are welcome.

Common Name: Blue Grama Grass

Blue grama grass is a short, clumping warm season grass with thin blue green blades that is native throughout the Great Plains and Southwest. Able to grow in poor, dry soils, blue grama grass needs only about 12 inches of annual precipitation to survive. If seeded thick enough and with moderate irrigation, blue grama will form turf. Once establish, reduce to monthly supplemental irrigation, and mow not more frequently than monthly to a height of 4 inches. One advantage of blue grama over buffalograss is the speed of germination; it will germinate in 5-7 days.

Common Name: Grayleaf Cotoneaster

Grayleaf cotoneaster is a wonderful low growing shrub for the xeric garden. Evergreen or semi-evergreen in colder winters, it provides good winter interest, along with the other seasons. Small oval shaped silver/gray leaves cover the many arching branches. Tiny white flowers appear in late spring followed by red berries in late fall and winter. Low water use once established.

Common Name: Mersea Yellow Pineleaf Penstemon

‘Mersea Yellow’ is similar to the orange red pineleaf penstemon in culture, except for requiring a bit more water. Native perennial to the Southwest. Its leaves are lighter green, but still evergreen, without the tinge of mahogany in winter. ‘Mersea Yellow’ is an excellent selection for the medium water-use zones of your landscape. One of the few yellow flowering penstemons.

Common Name: Yellow Gaillardia

Another tough and pretty wildflower that populates a wide area from the plains of Oklahoma down to the Chihuahua Desert and over to Colorado and Utah. Leaves are lower near the base of the plant from which stems emerge and bloom in late spring to early summer. Yellow rays with a red to brownish center.

Common Name: Curl Leaf Mountain Mahogany

Curl leaf mountain mahogany is a medium height evergreen shrub native to elevations between 5000-10,000 feet throughout the Southwest. Small oval shaped dark green leaves lightly curl under at the margins are evergreen and aromatic. Small yellow flowers in spring time that develop into grain size fruits with a feathery tail attached to one end (similar to other mountain mahoganies). Slow growing and long lived, it can reach a height of 20 feet or more, but is more typically 6-12 feet. Densely branched. Cold hardy, drought and heat tolerant.

Common Name: Daffodils, Jonquils, Narcissus

Daffodils are the most notable of the spring bulbs. Reliable from year to year, daffodils can be depended upon to bloom even when faced with late season blizzards and are unpalatable to deer and squirrels. Daffodils aren't too particular about soil, but do better in amended soil, planted about 4 inches deep in October to December. Typical bloom times are February through April, depending on the variety, and there are thousands of varieties to choose from.

Common Name: Forever Gold Potentilla, Bush, or shrubby cinquefoil

This variety of cinquefoil has grown in my xeristrip for six years and flowers happily from late spring into fall, with moderate flowering during the heat of the summer. Will put on a new show of flowers after summer rain. It maintains a compact shape without pruning or any maintenance.

There are many other varieties of this wonderful North American native that grows throughout the Rocky Mountains. Other varieties require moderate watering. This variety was purchased from High Country Gardens; I have not seen this truly drought tolerant variety again.

 

Common Name: Texas Red Yucca

Texas red yucca is technically not a yucca, but has many of the same qualities as yuccas. Thick, succulent dark olive green leaves grow out of the base, as it is stemless. The coral red flowers appear at the top of a long raceme, often 4-6 feet tall. 'Yellow' and 'Red' blooming yuccas are also available. Although it's natural range is north eastern Mexico and West Texas, it is cold hardy throughout much of the Southwest. Allow for sharp drainage in moister climates to prevent root rot.

Common Name: Yaupon, Yaupon Holly

Yaupon holly is a tall shrub or a small tree growing typically to 8-12 feet in the Texas Panhandle. Cold hardy to Zone 7 (still best to plant in a protected location), it prefers partial shade, especially afternoon shade. Low (once established) to high water use. Small leathery, glossy, evergreen, dark green leaves (to 1.5” long) have toothed margins on dense branching. Insignificant greenish white flowers in springtime followed by red berries in the fall. Female plants require a male plant to pollinate and bear fruit (dioecious). Attractive tall, traditional looking shrub.

Common Name: Mat Daisy, Atlas Daisy

Mat daisy is a low growing spring blooming plant. Drought tolerant. Not exactly a groundcover, as the top growth disappears during summer and reemerges as a green basal rosette in fall, getting ready to bloom again in the spring. Blooms late March to May with small white daisy-like flowers that have pink undersides. Forms a compact ground-hugging mat. Will self seed some, but never invasively.

Common Name: New Mexican Agastache

Herbaceous perennial. Fragrant hummingbird plant belonging to the mint family (Lamiaceae). Limited reseeding. Does better in afternoon shade. Locate in a transition area between medium and low water use. Leave plant and flower stalks standing in the fall, the plant does better trimmed back at the beginning of March.

Common Name: Zephirin Drouhin Rose

Remarkable old Bourbon rose dating to 1868. Remarkable for fragrance and bright cerise pink flowers, and best of all, thornless canes -- it's people friendly!  Not strictly a climber, but a mannerly climber.

Zephirin Drouhin is planted in a low water-use location.

Common Name: Shadscale

Shadscale lives in alkaline caliche soil in most of its native range throughout the Southwest and has a high tolerance of saline or sodic soils. Given improved soil conditions, it will grow larger. Do not improve the soil to insure it keeps its neat, compact shape. Shadscale blooms yellow flowers in early summer which mature into seed heads. Its silver-gray leaves are semi-evergreen.

Common Name: Creeping Juniper

Junipers are native to much of the U.S. and come in many sizes and shapes. Juniperus horizontalis is the low growing and spreading juniper, used mainly as an evergreen groundcover. There are many varieties available, one or more to suit every purpose and location. Colors and heights vary from the common dark green evergreen to blue green, blue and even lime or chartruese. Their hallmark is their fine texture, many of the newer varieties have a pleasant soft touch. Water use can vary as well, but typically, once established many will thrive on once a month deep watering.

Common Name: Buckwheat, Golden Sulfur-flower

Golden sulfur buckwheat is one of those plants you'll come across while hiking in the West and wonder why it isn't in your garden, its so adorable!
The leaves are gray-green, spatula shaped and woolly underneath, to about 2-3 inches. They form a rosette at the base. In early spring, tall, stout stems extend upward up to 2-3 feet. The bright golden flowers are nearly luminescent, appearing first as ball-like umbels (clusters), then each ball opening up to a circle of golden flowers. As the flowers age, then turn orange.

Common Name: Sea Foam Curlicue Sage

Artemisia versicolor 'Sea Foam' is mostly grown for its gray foliage. To keep it's desired compact shape, cut off flower stalks after blooming, which is its only maintenance. Soft, rubber-like feel to its short, clustered, needle-like appearance on short 1 inch wide columns. It gives the impression of a coral bed in your rock garden. Not invasive. 2004 Plant Select Plant.

Common Name: May Night Meadow Sage

1997 Perennial Plant of the Year was chosen for it versatility in growing in many different regions of the US. And it will grow in our Panhandle gardens as well. Although reported to be drought tolerant once established, it does much better in a medium water-use environment with afternoon shade. When it is excessively hot and dry, it suffers from stress, but usually survive. Just give it a little more water when this happens.

Attractive to bees and butterflies. Seedlings may happily  appear in springtime. Native to Europe and Central Asia.

Common Name: Big Bend Silverleaf

Big Bend silverleaf is the most cold hardy of the Leucophyllums and has wintered over in Amarillo, Zone 7, for 5 years so far. Possibly cold hardy to Zone 6. It is hard to beat a more attractive summer blooming shrub for small xeric spaces. After summer rainfalls, Big Bend silverleaf, native to the Big Bend National Park area, becomes covered in silver blue flowers that twinkle like jewels among its silvery gray leaves. Hard to find, it's worth searching for.

Common Name: Creeping Oregon Grape Holly

Mahonia repans is one of my favorite plants with four seasons of interest. Low growing and spreading evergreen shrub is native throughout the Rocky Mountains. Bright yellow berries in spring are followed by black berries in summer and reddish winter foliage. The leaves are thick, glossy and holly shaped. Creeping Oregon grape holly prefers amended, humusy soil that replicates its native habitat as an understory plant in woodlands, but is low water-use once established. It will spread to cover an area, but not invasive. Very attractive!

Common Name: Texas Sacahuista, Texas Beargrass

Texas beargrass is a grass-like perennial evergreen plant native in rocky and limestone soils from central Texas to the upper Rio Grande Plains and west to the Trans-Pecos and into S.E. Arizona. Not a true grass, Texas sacahuista is a member of the lily (Liliaceae ) family. It flowers in Amarillo in early April. A short flowering stem barely rises above the many thin leaves. The flowers appear rose or reddish on the outside before opening,  are numerous, white to cream colored forming dense vertical clusters.

Common Name: Blue False Indigo

Native herbaceous perennial to the central and eastern U.S.; will grow in a variety of soils, including poor soils. False blue indigo did not flower the first year. Flowering improves as the plant matures. The foliage may go dormant and disappear towards the end of summer. Baptisias belong to the pea family (Fabaceae), a legume. Flowers are similar to a lupine. Other species colors are white (B. alba) yellow (B. sphaerocarpa), and other variations and cultivars, including 'Chocolate Chip', which features a light reddish brown flower, similar to milk chocolate.

Common Name: Butterfly Blue Pincushion Flower

Scabiosa columbaria ‘Butterfly Blue’, though first discovered in Ireland, will thrive very nicely in your transition zone as a border plant along turf, where it’ll receive medium to medium high water. Amend the soil well with organic matter for rich blooms and keep it deadheaded to prolong blooms. Afternoon shade is recommended. A little more trouble than usual, but well worth the softening effect this compact, mounded and cheery plant brings to the border; a Perennial Plant of the Year for 2000.

Common Name: Bee Balm

An American native requiring medium to high water, it is a prolific grower, an old fashion pass-along plant. Perfect for a mixed border or at the edge of the vegetable garden to attract bees. The variety shown is most likely 'Violet Queen', although I'm unsure. However, it is not the common scarlet bee balm or red bergamot, that also grows well here. Blooms throught the summer and is an attractive addition.

Common Name: Oregon Grape Holly

Oregon grape holly is an evergreen holly-like shrub native to the Pacific Northwest Rockies down into California. Upright, it is slow growing but can reach a height of 8 feet. Best when grown in shade, especially out of afternoon sun. Prefers a more humusy soil but will only required once a month watering when established, however, can also be placed in medium and high water-use areas. Bright yellow flowers in spring, followed by dark blue berries in summer. The thick, glossy, holly-like leaves have spines at the points. Leaves turn from green to red in winter.

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