Darwinian Gardening -- Dealing with a Limited Plant Palette - Repeat What Works
Plant long-bloomers and plants with much seasonal interest: Nepeta racemosa 'Walker's Low', Euphorbia epithymoides (cushion spurge -- red fall color)
Use bulbs to stretch the season: Tulipa batalinii and Glaucium corniculatum; Crocus speciosus with California poppies, Dendranthema zawadskii 'Mary Stoker'
Plant tough shrubs with multi-seasonal interest: Cytisus purgans
Use grasses: Sporobolus heterolepis 'prairie dropseed'
Add self-sowing annuals and biennials: Eschscholzia californica California poppies with 'Walker's Low' nepeta, Yucca baccata, Onosma echioides, Achillea x 'Moonshine', Echium lusitanicum and Alyssum markgrafii with potted agaves and Crassula falcata
The hillside garden: facing east, very windy, erosion problems
Dwarf conifers, low-growing perennials and groundcovers, thousands of small bulbs
Spring: Iris bucharica; Picea pungens 'Mesa Verde', 'Hillside', Ribes odoratum 'Crandall', Euphorbia spp., Tulipa clusiana, T. vvedenskyii, T. 'Princes Irene'
Summer: Helictotrichon sempervirens, Picea pungens 'Globosa', Fragaria vesca 'Pink 'Panda', Geum triflorum, Euphorbia ephithymoides, dwarf bearded iris, Penstemon pinifolius 'Mersea Yellow', Scabiosa lucida, Alchemilla mollis, Allium sp.
Clematis integrifolia, Stachys byzantina, Potentilla fruticosa 'Katherine Dykes'
Eremurus stenophyllus, E. 'Cleopatra', Allium caeruleum, A. christophii,
Salvia forsskaohlei, Consolida ambigua larkspur
The importance of texture--plants as well as non-living elements...
Ballota pseudodictamnus, Sideritis scardica, Salvia argentea, Thymus vulgaris
'Argenteus', Scutellaria supina; plants, rocks, walls, path, pottery without color
Helianthemum nummularium, Yucca harrimaniae; Antennaria parvifolia, Sempervivum
Paeonia veitchii woodwardii, Tellima grandiflora
Allium christophii, Crambe cordifolia, Atriplex hortensis 'Rubra', Artemisia schmidtiana
'Silver Mound'; Artemisia versicolor, Limonium tataricum, Ephedra nevadensis
Marrubium spp., Festuca glauca, Tanacetum densum var. amani, Stipa comata, Santolina
rosmarinifolia; Sesleria glauca, Stachys byzantina, Allium caeruleum
Marrubium rotundifolium; Ephedra equisetina, Euphorbia myrsinites
The south side-- hot, no irrigation, slope
Aquilegia chrysantha, Nepeta spp., Salvia jurisicii, Centaurea dealbata, Dianthus spp.
Iris pallida 'Aureovariegata', Tulipa batalinii, Arctostaphylos nevadensis
various Opuntia spp., Hesperaloe parviflora, Yucca harrimaniae, Sedum reflexum
Salvia lavandulifolia, Alyssum markgrafii, Penstemon glaber, Festuca glauca, Onosma
echioides, Achillea x `Moonshine’, Allium caeruleum, California poppies
Path uphill to house
Papaver atlanticum 'Flore Pleno', Nepeta racemosa 'Walker`s Low', Alyssum montanum,
Eriogonum porteri, grapes, Wisteria macrostachya `Aunt Dee’, Lonicera spp. on trellis
Dianthus x allwoodii, Aethionema schistosum, Scutellaria supina, Sideritis
scardica, Nepeta mussinii, Festuca glauca, Salvia argentea, Penstemon linarioides
Verbascum olympicum, Nepeta 'Walker`s Low', Penstemon utahensis, Artemisia frigida,
Stipa comata, Salvia argentea, Allium caeruleum, Penstemon eatonii, Alyssum
markgrafii, Centranthus ruber, Papaver triniifolium
During the drought -- there's still beauty throughout the seasons...
Early spring: Tulipa clusiana var. chrysantha, T. linifolia, T. whittallii, Yucca baccata
Summer; winter: Cytisus purgans, Perovskia, Santolina chamaecyparissus, Stipa spp.