RE: dry shade/clivia

My $0.02 opinion, if not too late, is that in order to flourish,
Clivia miniata will need a little more water than than you've got in mind.
I'm growing some from seed and they seem to like lots of water...
The testimonials of their care in wet places such as New
Zealand aren't very convincing. 

At the risk of being accused of promoting the growth of weeds,
I would seriously suggest Sansevieria trifasciata for your application,
this seems to be a very good plant for the gardens of non-gardeners.
It's not too hard to find this, though its usually sold as a house
plant for some strange reason.

For something more permanent, but which would need watering until
well established and would need a little trimming from time to time,
some dwarf form of Taxus baccata would seem ideal,
unfortunately I don't recall ever seeing any Taxus outside of my
garden anywhere in California, and certainly not in the Home Depot!

Also maybe consider Ochna serrulata, - a very tough and pretty plant, but
you'd have to mix a little peat into your soil up there.


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
[o*@ucdavis.edu]On Behalf Of LEE,ANGELA IUE-CHIH
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2000 1:39 PM
To: medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
Subject: dry shade/clivia


Hi folks,

I've got a two part question regarding dry shade plants and clivias.

I've been asked to suggest some plants for a very shady strip running
along the side of my parent's house in Berkeley (i.e. mid 20's C in the
summer and single digit temperatures in the winter) . My parents don't
particularly care what they put in there as long as they don't have to
put in much care once the plants are established.  I am trying to persuade
them to at least put
in something that will tolerate drought if (ok, when) another drought hits
california.  Any recommendations for dry shade plants from groundcover to
3ft tall would be most welcome.  The plants would also have to be readily
available at any nearby nursery or such supermarket type places like Home
Depot.  The garden is more a chore than pleasure for my parents and I
would like to convince them that drought tolerant non-invasive plants are
as easy to obtain and grow as a more weedy or more water needy plant.

I noticed on the medit-plant web site that clivia miniata is a suggested
plant for dry shade.  I have always associated this plant with rather
moist situations.  How shady and how dry? will they flower in heavy
shade?  Do they like water but can tolerate occasional drought or will
they do fine during a prolonged period of drought?  would this plant be a
good choice for the conditions I've described above?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions
Angela Lee
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