Drought tolerance is increased by 25% or more, by adding 4 inches of wood chip mulch, which reduces evaporation and keeps the soil cooler, wood chips also supply all the fertilizing these roses will need, because they are closer to wild roses in their needs. Yellow Lady Banks rose is drought tolerant to some degree, and with mulch should do well with little supplemental water in your climate, see if your garden is warm enough in winter for them to survive. There is also a double white form that is my favorite. These are climbing roses that need support, if you could put a 4' tall fence around the plot, that would suffice. Their foliage is quite ornamental. summer blooming only. 'Harisons' Yellow' is a tough hybrid of two yellow rose species, and it survived along the Oregon trail with little care. summer blooming only. 'Seafoam' is a pretty white rose, that was bred from the wild rose named R. bracteata, and it has very good rebloom, it grows to be c. 4' tall by nearly 6 feet wide, here. In the Earthkind trials in Texas, for roses, 'Seafoam' was found to be quite drought tolerant,(as was Belindas' Dream) both survived 2 months with no rain or supplemental water, in a hot Texas summer. These were established plants when the supplemental water was stopped. Be sure these roses are grown on their own roots, and not budded or grafted onto rootstock. For all these roses, I suggest you grow them at home in a pot, until their root systems are well established, which will take about a year, but the wait will be worth it. Rose companion plants, that are drought tolerant in cool climates. Parma violets. I bought mine from Canyon Ranch.com these form very pretty clumps of heartshaped foliage with fragrant purple violets in spring. May need supplemental water 2-4 times a month, during the first year, if there is no rain. "snow in summer' would be my first choice, as a rose companion, because it is more drought tolerant. Each plant will cover c. a square yard, and grow to be c. 4 inches tall. Dainty white flowers carpet it in summer. Lavender, is another of my favorites for the drought tolerant garden, especially with pink and white roses. Old fashioned Pinks, such as Little Gem from Canyon Ranch Nursery, the older pinks, are wild species,or close relatives of wild pinks, which receive little summer water in their natural environment. The same is true for some of the wild geranium species. Luxrosa p.s. Incidentally, I found an old garden rose, named "Grandmothers Hat' rosebush in an abandoned garden in Oakland, Ca, where the neighbors said it hadn't been watered in years, yet survived Oaklands' summer drought, which typically lasts from June through September. It's a gorgeous pink rose, and very fragrant, and reblooms. vintage gardens.com sells it own-root. if there were room, this is how I would plant: Parma violet-Grandmothers Hat- or Harisons Yellow P. violet Pinks- 'Seafoam' -Pinks snow-in-summmer, snow-in-summmer

I am in Zone 5 but I have been researching the heck out of ground covering lately. It has become an additive behaviour to be honest. After much reserach I determined that one of the hardiest groundcovering is the VINCA MINOR/ Periwinkle. I bought some from the Home Depot that was already potted. But then I realized that even at a couple of $$$ it can get expensive fast. So guess what I did believe it or not..... I hit EBAY and plugged in Vinca Minor just for the heck of it. One of the many store advertised on Ebay had the best offer I had yet to see on line much less than Jackson & Perkins and other web stores).... Vinca Minor 250 roots for $12.49. YES you heard me 250 vinca roots grown in the field will be sealed, packaged safely and mailed to me for about $13 (gotta hold off on the Starbucks for the day..lol). As a matter of fact I ordered a total of 500 to split with mom. We plan to use them as LAWN SUBSTITUTES. I have a tree with outgrowing roots that will not allow grass to grow. So now I am forced to have a perrenial groundcovering. I say all this to say go for it! Try the vinca minor, get the best price (don't overlook ebay stores), and plant away. Other good websites were: classygroundcovers.com; wilsonbrosnursey.com; michiganbulbs.com, dutchgardens.com; blueskynursery.com, plantdelights.com, waltersgardens.com, northbranchnursery.com; gardenheights.com; jacksonandperkins.com; colorscapesgreenhouse.com Another way is just plug in the question and just see what pops up. Wish me luck with the vinca minor/periwinkle and keep me posted on your status.

We also live in Oakland. I didn't have any luck with agastache and Autumn Joy sedums. The agastache didn't like our cold wet winters, and the Autumn Joy looked horrible. I think it needs more heat than we get. The flowerheads barely turned pink for two weeks, then started going brown, then went black and the stems yellowed. They all looked awful. I yanked out all but two which are in out of the way corners. Osteospermums do well and should be on your list. Don't plant ANYTHING until you have spent sufficient time killing off the Bermudagrass. It took us 3 successive sprayings with Round-up over a period of 8 months, with watering in-between to make sure we got all of it. Bermudagrass is incredibly aggressive and will send underground runners 6' away under concrete to infest surrounding areas. No plant can compete with weeds; in our frost-free zone they must either be pulled or sprayed. Don't forget to mulch, it will make weeding in the future much easier. Trailing lantana is more rust-resistant than shrub lantanas, BTW. I have both, and the shrub lantanas look pretty bad from December-March. They'll do well with either exposure. Hellebores will do well with the eastern exposure. What is plecanthrus neochilus? Do you mean Plectranthus? I have Plectranthus argentatus but that certainly isn't drought-tolerant. Helichrysums are very drought resistant and pest-free. Give them plenty of room because they'll take off enthusiastically. But they're easy to cut back since the long stems don't root. Beautiful foliage, particularly the variety "Limelight". Aucuba, of course, for a eastern exposure. Gives fast verticality, never has any problems, and 'Gold Dust' or similar variegated types are eye-catching. New Zealand flax (phormiums) will do very well with a western exposure and varieties like "Yellow Wave" or "Dazzler" or "Maori Princess" are colorful and carefree. Keep them dry and avoid overhead watering, BTW. The trailing verbenas seem to need a lot more sun and warmth than they get from me. But there's a rare shrub verbena, V. lilacina 'De La Mina', which is a 2' tall, 2' wide, bloom powerhouse. Lacy foliage and spikes of little purple flowers -- it has never stopped blooming since I put it in over a year ago with a western exposure. And of course, the standard Erysimums -- 'Bowles Mauve' and the 'Variegata' are regularly available at the HDepot garden centers. They are short lived but dependable, fast growing, and although they look better with an annual deadheading, they don't really need it. Downside is that the flower spikes are pokey rather than soft, so site it where you're not brushing against it. They will lean towards the sun. 'Bowles' gets 3' tall and around, 'Variegata' is a 1' tall trailer. Both have lavendar blooms year round. Good luck! Kudos to you for being a concerned property owner, too.

you may want to think about some kind of cover crop that grows well in your area and start incorporating some organic matter into that sand you got. you can reforest a desert but you really need to start with the soil first. you can plant 500 trees and shrubs but without water holding capabilities your going to loose a lot of plants when you cut off the irrigation regardless of how old they are. if you can't find a cover crops that grows well in your area you can find native weeds that grow lush on the side of the road and get a few seeds and plant them in your yard. then till them in before it self seeds. This can be a bad thing for invasive spices but do a little research on the plants you find and you should be fine. even weeds produce organic matter and if your soil won't grow much of anything without irrigation I'd take what I can get just to get the soil built. after about 2 years of building your soil incorporate plants slowly and add plenty of compost to the holes you dig each time you plant something. also much deeply and try terracing you slop a little so the mulch don't wash away. I'd say at least 6 inches and use a layer or 2 of cardboard under the mulch so no light ever gets to the plants you don't want anymore.