Regional Picks: Plants to Buy This Year—Southwest

1. ‘Ultra Violet’ salvia

Name:Salvia‘Ultra Violet’

USDA Hardiness Zones:6 to 9

Size:18 to 24 inches tall and 24 to 32 inch wide

Conditions : Full sun ; well - drained , lean soil

‘ Ultra Violet ’ salvia is at the top of my shopping list this year . This crossbreed of two shrubbySalviaspecies has pocket-sized , dark green parting , similar to its parents , but its flower spikes are a deep reddish blue – purple and are bring out extravagantly from midsummer through nightfall . hummingbird love it , but coney and deer normally ignore it once it ’s established ; so the productive colour of this sage can be used in exposed desert gardens as well as in more protected courtyards .

2. Dwarf beargrass

Name:Nolina lindheimeriana

Zones:6 to 10

Size:2 to 3 metrical foot magniloquent and encompassing

Conditions : Full sun to partial shadiness ; skimpy , well - drained grease

Dwarf beargrass is also known as ribbon grass because its long , narrow evergreen plant leaves have a hard satin finishing that offer subdued , year - round interestingness . mass for a striking burden , it will have the texture of cosmetic grasses with less maintenance . Its froth of creamy white flush on arc stalks provides the summertime fireworks . Unlike most desert succulents , dwarf beargrass is unarmed , so it wo n’t snag or spear up unsuspecting passersby . This makes it an gentle fit in small gardens ; along route ; and in any hot , sunny spot in need of a cool accent .

3. Southwest flattop buckwheat

Name:Eriogonum fasciculatumvar.polifolium

Zones:7 to 10

Size:2 feet tall and wide

I love how Southwest flattop Polygonum fagopyrum looks cool and cultivated in the harshest raging and wry plaza . The mound signifier and narrow-minded evergreen plant leaves are remindful of rosemary , but its foliage is woolly — specially on the underside of the leaves — and its lacy clusters of pink or whitened flowers seem anytime from springiness through declivity . crew cut buckwheat is also a favorite host plant of several butterfly stroke , which lend added people of color and movement to the garden . It needs only low-cal pruning in spring and episodic deep lacrimation .

4. Flame flower

Name:Talinum calycinum(syn.Phemeranthus calycinus)

Zones:6 to 9

Size:10 to 12 inch tall and 1 foot widely

Flame flower is a short - grass prairie indigen , which sleep with heat and drought so much that it will also flourish in my southwestern garden . smart pinkish flowers terpsichore on wiry atomic number 79 stems above its tuft of ground - hugging succulent leaves . evenly at nursing home soften the burry presence of cacti , between boulders in rock garden , or at the edges of route and terrace , it blossom during the heating of the day from June through September . Flame flower self - sow easily , and it will make refined sweeps in my garden .

— Judith Phillips is a landscape designer from Veguita , New Mexico , who prefers working with native and xeric plant life .

Photos : ( 1 ) , good manners of PlantHaven ; ( 2 ) , Joseph A. Marcus ; ( 3 ) , Jason E. Willand ; ( 4 ) , courtesy of Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder

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‘Ultra Violet’ Salvia

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