Re: flowers in hot season

Gunnar,

Yep. I can sympathize.  About this time every year, my garden looks more
like a withered dump than a thriving mediterannean garden.   There are a few
plants, however, that save the day for me in the late July and August blues.
My garden, like yours, is subjected to repeated blasts over 100 degrees,
starting in May.  I do not water that much, but most of the garden gets
irrigated a little from the drip irrigation once a week.
Not all of the following are medit specific, but they are the plants that
get me through this time of year.

  Limonium latifolium, Limonium minutum, Limonium bellidulifolia.  I LOVE
these plants!!!  Even after they are done blooming, the dried flowers remain
on the plant for a long long time, giving a hazy bluish purple "babys
breath" effect.  I cannot grow enough of them. L. latifolium is the largest,
with its hazy mass of flowers almost 2 ft tall.  The others are small rock
garden plants.
Origanum--many species.  The taller species almost all bloom a little
earlier in the year for me, but the following always cheer me up late
summer: O. dictamnus, O. pulchellum, O. "Barbara Tingey", and many others.

Crepe Myrtles.  Great flowering shrub that is at its peak now.  It does best
with at least weekly irrigation.
Agastache rupestris and many of its hybrids.  They are just now starting to
really rev up and will go till October. The hummingbirds love them, and so
do I.  They look great with the above oreganos and Limoniums.

Spharalcea ambigua--this is actually a Great Basin plant, but it is a
non-stop bloomer.  Don't water it too much though.

Spharalcea fendleri venustus.  This is a fantastic shrubby plant for me that
starts blooming end of July and just lifts off, blooming more the hotter it
gets.  It blooms till October.  And, yes, you guessed it, it looks fantastic
with the Crepe Myrtles, the Oreganos, and the Limoniums.

Some Penstemon hybrids will bloom almost all summer with a little dead
heading.

Salvia sinaloensis.  Interesting little salvia with burgendy tinged leaves
and small deep deep blue flowers.  It is happiest in my yard with the
protection of a large rock to insulate its roots from both heat and cold.
Prefers a little afternoon shade.

Zauschneria californica--California fuschia.  Starts blooming now and
continues till frost.

Those are the ones that come immediately to mind.

I like your question about when to cut back.  I struggle with this each
year, and with each new plant I grow.  There is such a HUGE difference in
gardening when the dormant season is in the summer.
I find that some plants are best left until fall to cut back.  This is
because they will not put out new growth to cover and disguise the typically
horrid haircut I give them.  The grossly obvious evidence of my lack of
talent just sits there looking withered until the fall rains perk it back
up.
You, however, might be better barber than I.

Rebecca Lance
Sonora California
Zone 8


----------
>From: mediterranean climate gardening e-mail forum for gardeners in these
climates throughout the world <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
>To: mediterranean climate gardening e-mail forum for gardeners in these
climates throughout the world <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
>Subject: MEDIT-PLANTS digest 2296
>Date: Tue, Aug 6, 2002, 12:20 AM
>

> Also: what are the best plants for the really hot season (I can water)? I
> want something that will flower in July and August when nearly everything
> else is withered. Apart from the very usual ones, I mean, like oleander,
> bougainvillea and such.
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