I love all of the canna posts and pics. So nice! I see so many around the Valley with browned leaf edges--it's nice to see some that look so perfect! You're giving me a craving, hah! Beautiful echinopsis bloom, dusti, thanks for posting it. So nice! I'm getting an occasional off-season flower these days and hope for some more this autumn. Just for fun here's a passionflower I grew from seed (sown indoors in January), Passiflora foetida 'Belem' making its very first bloom this morning. Pretty little flower with a nice floral scent. Full hot sun and water 3x a week this time of year. Enjoy these gorgeous mornings! Happy gardening, Grant

> huge bare spots that are ugly and I want to try to unify it and make it look attractive. I wonder why the pine needles aren't forming a (thin) cover. > I think the orange flowers are gazanias?? the clumping type. They'll (continue) dying out. > There is also some rosemary mixed in there. do they appear to be spreading (wriggly branches rooting)? what are the pale scattered things that look about 2-3"? If sandstone, then you could spread a thin layer of more sandstone to help the rosemary spread. _________ For covering purposes, I would mix the species. I don't know socal, but some of these might at least spur better suggestions... Asparagus 'Sprengeri' is pretty good for long seasons and bright shade. Has short sharp prickly hooks on stems. http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Asparagaceae/Asparagus_densiflorus.html Mahonias would probably settle at the top of the wall. I don't think the drier Mahonias will fill, but could be part of a mix. Dry coastal Salvias or hybrids (S mellifera, etc). They will probably try "running from" shade. Myoporum parvifolium. plain green cover (low shub) Coprosma x kirkii is another plain green cover, but I'm now looking in Sunset.. where they say it's not so dry growing as what i've seen. Maybe the one (or two?) i saw dry were just lucky. They had no competition and were well mulched, so... Erigeron karvinskianus, sort of weedy looking, but dense. they seem to live a long time for a herbaceous-looking plant. Geranium macrorrhizum. whiter foliage, else similar form. i've never grown it. Tough reputation. (but read the sunset description!) Malvastrum, but it will smother anything (such as slow children) in adjoining moist areas. (top of retaining wall is good barrier) Also I don't know how well it hangs on steeper slopes. It likes water but will survive with little water once it's large (which is soon, if watered). Will lose a lot of leaves if dry, showing a lot of stems (it seems to try to smother itself :-) ) Oenothera berlandieri. nice flowers. is a strong spreader (underground), but tends to die out completely. will not stay on a slope. goes to flat ground and swales. will likely go thru that "railroad tie" part of the retaining wall, so don't plant it near there. "Dusty Miller" Senecio(s) or Centaurea gymnocarpa. Won't live very long (on flat ground, but on a slope??), but will grow fast. Senecio wants full sun. Centaurea might grow well under high overhanging pine branches. (still wants sun) spreads/runs irregularly, good in the mix. Lavandula x 'Goodwin Creek' is pretty tough for mostly full sun (mixes ok with similar sized neighbors). Teucrium fruticans. "subtly" charming (bright overall color). won't cover anything densely (is a weak shrub) Mixes well with other shrubs. try Eremophila. Where you can see the flowers. Ballota is tough, though small. I'd pop a few in along top of wall. Socal warm season might be longer than it likes, though. Euryops, though often sheared (!gak!), are very good naturalistic shrubs. Essentially full sun. Acacia redolens. Caltrans tough. Not so great looking close up, imo. More like a thick haze than dense cover. Don't know how well it mixes. There are some larger tough plants. Plumbago. Cissus (vines). Eleaegnus. Tecomaria (you might want to keep the center pushed down.) Large fast Ceanothus (griseus) covers, will do ok in bright woodsy edge. Good in the mix. Research Junipers. Still very tough. I see this sometimes http://images.google.com/images?q=Kabatina+blight Not sure about that in Socal. http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i199/kates_mommy/BackyardHillside-1-1.jpg What's that thin multi branched treelet? http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i199/kates_mommy/BackyardHillside-3.jpg And try some "nice stuff" at the top of wall in this area...

Is there another weedy plant that looks just like Oenothera biennis, once its blooms are spent? After the power company cut a swath of destruction at the back of our property, weeds and vines if all kinds quickly filled the void. Poison ivy and ticks kept me away from the area for months, and as it is below a hedge of Rose of Sharon, we couldn't see what was happening. Recently I found many huge plants that are structured exactly like Oenothera biennis; although I never saw them in flower, I was sure that's what they were. Now about three weeks later, I am seeing alarmingly great clouds of chaff arising from that area. I discovered it all floats up from these plants, which are exploding with fluff. None of you have mentioned chaff, so I must have misidentified it. Any ideas what mine could be?

I don't know about aggressive, but ornamental thyme is fairly fast growing with the advantage of Spring/ Summer flowering, depending on the species. It looks good all year and tolerates your zone in Cottonwood quite well. Go to www.highcountrygardens.com to see their use of ornamental thyme as a ground cover. It is fabulous.