An ideal plant list for a new Sierra foothill garden

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Drought tolerant and colorful plants for any garden…

Sometimes you find an ideal list of plants suitable for your area to save and keep.  This time one of my customers at the nursery happened to bring in an especially nice one. We were able to impress each other,..they were because most of the plants they expected to order were right in the nursery and me, because they had the ideal plant list for our area.

Rockrose and Purple Euphorbia

Rockrose and Purple Euphorbia

When Tim and Barbara Fruehe, of Oakhurst, came into the True Value Garden Center they held a list of easy care drought tolerant and colorful plants they wanted for their garden. Each is perfect for a garden in the Sierra Foothills. Read about their garden renovation in the previous post here.

How did they know what to plant? Each plant was one they had planted before at Barbara’s former home during another project. They wanted plants that could take 100º heat and cold down to 10 degrees. They wanted to discourage deer and wanted to avoid pruning and fertilizing chores. Tim especially likes penstemons  and sage because of their long bloom time, from early spring to nearly December.

Take a look at the before and after:

The house started out pink

The house and garden before. There were large rockrose bushes the Fruehes kept.

 

A path leads down from the golf course where the couple play often.

The garden after…everything has changed! Paths were constructed and mulched garden beds were fomed inbetween.

Here is their list, tried and true:

Lavender, Spanish
Lavender, French
Lavender, English
Rosemary, upright and prostrate
Rockrose, Orchid and Sunset
Santolina, grey and green

Buddleia davidii Butterfly Bush

Buddleia davidii Butterfly Bush

Buddleia
Wallflower
Black-eyed Susan
Coreopsis
Gaura
Ceanothus(wild lilac)
Salvia, Autumn sage, Blue oak sage
Penstemon
Nepeta, Catmint
Artemisia
Iris
Day lilies
Agastache, Hummingbird mint
Thyme
Blue fescue
Russian sage

Penstemon campanulata and Penstemon X gloxinioides ‘Midnight’ behind

Penstemon campanulata and Penstemon X gloxinioides ‘Midnight’ behind

While at the garden center the couple looked over the plants just in and also chose Crape myrtles, Hardy hibiscus and Mimulus or monkey flower, and some grasses to add to their list.

 

I’ll be visiting after a year or so to update on what has worked the best for Tim and Barbara.

True and pure red Autumn sage

True and pure red Autumn sage

More about Tim and Barbara’s garden

Tim and Barbara’s carefree artist garden  The renovation

Tim and Barbara’s ‘ideal’ Foothill garden: One year later

 

More ideal plants:

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Related posts:

  1. Tim and Barbara’s ‘ideal’ Foothill garden: One year later
  2. Heat-proof your Sierra foothill garden
  3. Thinking plant combinations in a California foothill garden
  4. June Bloom in the Sierra foothill garden

4 comments

  1. Curbstone Valley Farm -

    A very nice transformation. The house color, the deck, and the new garden all go together beautifully. If our new garden is any indication, I expect you won’t recognize theirs by late spring once everything fills in. Much of what is on that list does well here too!

  2. Sue Langley -

    Thanks, Clare,..they really did a lot of hardscape, mostly gravel, and made it a true strolling garden. I asked Tim how he came up with the list and he said from experience planting at their former home. I’ll be interested in how each plant performs..

  4. Thirsty & Hungry -

    Which of the drought-tolerant plants on the list, if any, are deer-tolerant as well?

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