perennial ideas for high-desert nevada

Nice looking pots, Lisabees.

Very nice, Lisabees, at least it was, (and will be again). My outdoor buckets, basins and tubs with succulents planted in them are just starting to show their rims as the snow melts. They really need to be redone but that is what I said last year too, and it didn't get done.

Kyla, why are your resisting?

Oh......... money? and being in a new environment and not sure what is going to work and already committed to a certain approach to creating a garden from scratch...... and I have involved myself with succulents before, in the past, and I know how much that would add to the whole picture so am kind of trying to pace myself, like. ;-)

They will have their time with me again I feel sure. There is actually one little area in my chosen new cultivation patch, that I have designated the rock garden, because it already has lots of lovely rocks piled up there....... and I intend once everything else is either going or not going depending on success rates, to investigate some succulents for there, but thought that was one bit that might well wait til warm weather. I want to see what if anything is on offer in the local nurseries -- and they do not even open til April.

thanks for askin'.

I think so dparsons for foliage colour alone. Foliage gets alot of weight when determining worthiness for my full sun beds. They are also good landing/lurking plants for good guy bugs. Another check on my 'worthiness list'. It's tough to compete with dahlias in my garden if you're a late summer/fall bloomer LOL. Does anyone else weigh plant worthiness if they have limited space or light conditions? Here is my checklist for perennials/self sowers in my full sun beds:
1) interesting foliage
2) long blooming period
3) feature during a boring time
4) twilight/evening appeal/scent
5) disease resistance/host for good guy bugs

You need to demonstrate at least 3 or you get the punt. I believe in tough luv.

I think everybody has a list, aware of it or not. Mine is a little different. I still have foliage at the top as that is primo. (I hate it when someone posts 8 pictures of JUST the flowers for a plant and I have no idea what the foliage looks like.) Evergreen foliage is a large plus, although a deciduous shade tree to the SW of the house is in. The ability to grow in the environment in my little square of earth with minimal modifications is important. Flowers and a good scent are there. Flowers is not just blooming length, but that I like the flower. Size & shape to fit a particular spot/area/purpose. NO THORNS! Minimal maintanence. My just plain liking the plant.

Not a rose fan dparons?

No thorns! I dug up the ones here and gave them away.

Lisabees:
I love the way you are growing those Semps. So natural. That is what I am considering this spring, and on. I want to redo my borders, one which will have Semps, Sedums, and Delospermas, with a few sprinklings of green-leaved rock garden plants.

I just bought molds on Ebay to cast with concrete. Want to add an owl, turtle, small butterflies, ladybug, and ladybug stepping stone to the rock garden. I have done sandcasting years ago so want to do more to create rocks in specific shapes for some of the Semps to snuggle up against, and Sedum to grow around. Rocks in Wy are hard to find. Did a lot of reseach on the web and found some great ideas regarding concrete casting without molds.

Semps and Sedums are my favorite plants, second is Irises. For those who wonder, Semps are hardy to zone 4. Many, but not all, Sedums are likewise. Right now they look terrible, but come spring, they will sparkle like gems in my garden. Can't wait!!!

Caption: Sempervivum 'Booth's Red' growing amid creeping Sedum in my rock garden in Nebraska in th 80's.

Dahlianut:

Here is my plant worthiness list---short and sweet

Sempervivum and Sedums, and more of the same.

I meant to upload this one since these are different varieties from my other photo in my collection. The copyright notice is the initial of my real name.

This message was edited Feb 19, 2009 1:05 AM

LOL! I read this: "Caption: Sempervivum 'Booth's Red' ..."

to read this: "Caution: Sempervivum 'Booth's Red' ..."

I WILL resist, I WILL! hahaha

but it is sure getting harder, that is really lovely.

blomma semps flourish here. One friend has so many taking over her paths, she actually composts them :O

No roses, Dparsons! What next? I love my roses but probably won't plant any more of them. No room. I like plants that bloom, smell good and don't use a lot of water. Roses, once established, are pretty tough. Mine would like more water, more food, etc. but if they can't make it then I'll let them go. I like grasses. I also like plants that are edible and attract bees. Obviously, herbs are great for that and native plants. I love dahlias in pots where I can give them the best soil. My yard is full of competitors, like clover and lavender, savory and thyme. I love iris, too. Their leaves are nice all summer even when they don't bloom. Plus, they are easy! I think my most important criteria for this year will be low water use. Sadly.

Wow blomma, I had no idea there were so many varieties of semperviviums out there. We have some plain green ones and a cute little cobweb one that may not survive (the sprinklers from the lawn were hitting it this summer and I didn't notice until it looked really bad.)

I'm getting big into minis roybird. They are tough as nails, bloom all summer and don't take alot of space.

I don't think so. Your Sempervivums are wonderful colors blomma. My Sedums are wonderful shades of red, purple, blue, orange, yellow, and even green. Its one of their positive features. A couple months and many of them will be back to boring green. ;)


No Roses roybird. They were planted in the vegetable planter anyway. When I was a small child Roses popped my plastic ball. I've never gotten past the loss. ;(

I do have Chamaebatiaria millifolium (Fernbush) seeds in pots right now and intend to put several of them in the ground. Its in the Rose family and they beat Roses on foliage - both for being nice to look at and for not having thorns. I also have SunRoses (Cistus and Helianthemum). Nice flowers, no thorns.

I'm with you dparsons, no roses around here. The only thing that's allowed to have thorns are the raspberries because they're not as big as rose thorns and the berries are just too tasty to pass up.

I love fernbush in June, it smells wonderful. There are several places I know where it grows wild in the eastern part of the state.

Thanks Katlian. I can't recall having smelled Fernbush although its likely.

I agree with you on the berries. I would endure small thorns for fresh berries. I do get tempted by blueberries more though.

I also grew Mesemb but in a dishgarden in the 80's when I lived in a large house with plenty of sunlight.

Here is a photo of my long past dishgarden. It is planted with baby toes, split rock, and the others I don't remember. Photo taken Feb 1984. The baby toes have just finished blooming.

This message was edited Feb 19, 2009 10:40 PM

Lovely! I used to collect and grow cacti -- but moved to Louisiana where they all died from too much rain. I could have moved them indoors, but didn't have a good place for them at the time -- I had moved them from the Southwest and didn't have the indoor sun in the South that they need. I love those Mesemb. Would do it again in a heartbeat if I didn' t have such a large landscaping problem on my hands.

Nice dish garden, Blomma!

I love all sorts of succulents. Here's a view of the corner where I keep most of mine in the winter. They have windows on both the South & West sides, but they'll be MUCH happier when they can go back outside.

Nice!

Very nice. You have quite a collection.

Nice neat looking collection and some very attractive pots as well.

Bumping this thread. Now that I've been in the high desert for a bit, I've discovered some things that will survive - and a few that are thriving. All of these survived little snow and negative 10 *F last winter

Bearded Irises
Day Lillies
Oregano
Sweet Marjoram
Lemon Balm (although it looks raggy in the summer heat)
thym
apple trees (lost the peach and cherry)
rosemary (I keep reading that it won't do well here, but my 97 cent Walmart "disposable" has been here 4 years now)

other people's things that I've seen
roses (I wonder how much they are pampered?)

many people's cypresses that had survived for years here all perished with our unusually harsh winter last year.

Might have to grow some hens and chicks this year after seeing all the semper posts!

Hi kmom. The Explorer roses should survive with no pampering for you. They do here.

Hi kmom. I second dahlianut's recommendation of Explorer roses. You could also try nepeta (catmint) - Walker's Low and Six Hills Giant do especially well here in the high desert, despite cold dry winters (we had -15*F with no snow cover here last winter).

If you have some time for exploring next time you're down near Tonopah, check out the Crescent Dunes in Big Smokey Valley just NW of Tonopah (off Pole Line Road.) There are some really usual plants growing in the dune margins that would be fun for a garden. I am rather enchanted with the Psorothamnus that grows there but it will not survive by horrid clay soil. Another good place to look for species that grow well in sandy soils is the back side of Sand Mountain (where the ATVs are not supposed to go so there are actually a few plants left.) I wouldn't suggest digging them up but you would at least know what grow there.

Also, try the advanced search at plants.usda.gov. I the 3rd section you can put in characteristics like soil texture and moisture.