Common name:Mediterranean Tree Mallow
Botanical name:Lavatera maritima

This large, shrubby perennial grows up to 6' and has profuse lavender pink flowers with maroon highlights. From the Mallow family, the flowers are produced year round and are especially showy in the fall.

Common name:Morning Light Silver Grass
Botanical name:Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light'

The 'Morning Light' is also a taller variety, growing to 6'-8' tall with delicate feathery plumes and very thin graceful leaves. This is a variegated form. It should receive sun to part shade, and average to little summer watering. Tall grasses are highly combustible.

Common name:Jerusalem Sage
Botanical name:Phlomis fruticosa

This hardy perennial is a useful, old-time garden plant with coarse, woolly gray green, wrinkled leaves and yellow, 1" flowers in ball-shaped whorls. It handles drought and poor soils but needs full sun.

Common name:Pride Of Madeira
Botanical name:Echium candicans

Mature specimens of this evergreen shrub can grow to a size of 6'-8' tall and 8'-10' wide. In the spring, spikes of rosy-violet to blue-purple flowers appear. It should receive sun to part shade, with little or no summer watering when established. This plant can be severely damaged by frost below 25 degrees F.

Common name:Pride Of Madeira
Botanical name:Echium candicans

Mature specimens of this evergreen shrub can grow to a size of 6'-8' tall and 8'-10' wide. In the spring, spikes of rosy-violet to blue-purple flowers appear. It should receive sun to part shade, with little or no summer watering when established. This plant can be severely damaged by frost below 25 degrees F.

Common name:Incana Cranesbill
Botanical name:Geranium incanum

Geranium incanum is grown as a trailing or mounding perennial to a size of 1' tall, spreading by underground runners to cover relatively large areas if healthy. Its foliage has a wispy, ferny texture. The dark, rosy violet flowers can appear almost all year in areas of mild climates. The plant needs good drainage, and most suffer die back in cold winters. Proper growth conditions include sun with little or no summer watering.

Common name:Striped Society Garlic
Botanical name:Tulbaghia violacea 'Variegata'

The Striped Society Garlic is a garlic-scented perennial with green narrow leaves that have white margins to 1' tall. The flowers are lavender clusters on a 1'-2' stem that bloom in the spring and summer. This perennial is drought tolerant.

Common name:Yellow Bush Lantana
Botanical name:Lantana 'Yellow Bush'

This Lantana variety intermittently blooms all year. This variety has cheerful yellow flowers, and prospers from deep, infrequent watering and some pruning.

Dealing With Drought

More than half of the water used at your home is for outside purposes. Studies show that on average, half of the water used outdoors is wasted. The leading cause of waste is incorrectly set and poorly managed irrigation controllers. The second biggest cause of wastage is broken irrigation equipment that goes undetected. There are a few basic things you can do to make a big difference in your water use.

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