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California Gardening

Favorite full-sun, low-water shrubs, 3-4 feet tall

10 years ago

We are planning to replace some roses with plants that like hot sun and low water and tolerate occasional light frosts. This strip gets direct sun all day, from early morning to late afternoon. The soil hasn't been amended for quite some time, and we don't see a lot of worms, so it might be fine for some CA natives.

Plant size - about 3-4' tall, 4-5' wide at maturity. I envision a row of Salvia leucantha 'Santa Barbara' (the dwarf variety) but I'm open to suggestions.

What are your favorite low shrubs that thrive in hot sun and low water?

This post was edited by jenn on Sun, Jan 19, 14 at 13:00

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Comments (7)

paleogardener
10 years ago
You can't go wrong with salvias for the location you describe. There are many different varieties that will work.
Check out Las Pilitas nursery online or Flowers by the Sea, both are in California & are excellent resources for salvias of all description.
Hope that helps.
jenn
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you. I am looking at Las Pilitas nursery now, and have looked at Flowers by the Sea (I plan to order a Salvia regla from the latter in Spring).

Below this wall (actually, in front of it) is a row of other plants including Salvia, Verbena lilacae, a couple of roses, and Penstemon. I think I'd like a row of a single color above to border the mix of plants below, but I'm not sure.
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Yes, I think that Otto Luken CAN get all despite what the literature says. I had a couple and they definitely wanted to be over 5 feet! If you use it, be careful how much top pruning you do as that will stimulate growth. There are dwarf versions of many plants. I love the 'Elf' cultivar of mountain laurel and there are other dwarf versions. For Virginia sweetspire, try "Little Henry".
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Have you thought about Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica)? I planted 3 of these on the front border of my property last fall so they aren't very tall yet, but are supposed to grow fast. Here is the plant info from Lowes (where I bought the plants): Plant Type: Shrub Sun Exposure: Full Sun Growth Rate: Fast Growth Average Height: 6-8' Cold Hardiness: -10 F Graceful upright evergreen. Young leaves coppery to purple red. Mature foliage is leathery, blue green with red tinit after first hard frost. Clusters of tiny white flowers appear May and June. Red berries in winter. Spacing: 3-4' Water Usage: Semi-Moist Pruning: Prune to keep compact Successful growing requires excellent drainage.
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Thanks all for the wonderful recommendations -- I really appreciate it! I've called around to a few local garden centers and one has some David Austin roses in stock and will be getting more varieties within the coming weeks, so I plan on checking back frequently to see if they have something that will suit my needs. Otherwise, I might wait to order online later this year and delay planting by a year to get exactly what I want for the space. I'm definitely rethinking the arborvitaes too since it sounds like they'd crowd my roses too much, so may plant a hedge row of 4 or so rose shrubs instead to make sure they have enough space/light. Thanks again all for weighing in! I'm diving back into the rose research and reading up on the gorgeous types suggested here -- Cheers!
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gobluedjm 9/18 CA
10 years ago
Salvia leucantha kinda goes dormant in the winter and is best if cut to ground each spring. I'm a bit colder in winter than you and mine were sticks by Feb.
I took them all out and replaced with ceanothus and dwarf bottlebrush 'little john'.
Something else you might look into is bush germander teucrium fruticana. It is blooming now and the blue purple is very remarkable. I like the gray foliage something different other than green. I thin it every other year. Hummers and bees love it.
I also use a lot of sweet pea bush and other salvis.
CAManzanita
10 years ago
I have too many favorites, but most of them get relatively large. In your area, I'd likely use Coyote Bush 'Pozo Surf', which can reach that height. All the salvias aforementioned are wonderful and provide such intense chaparral fragrance. Manzanitas (like Ian Bush) would also work pretty well in that location too. Or perhaps Adenostoma fascicularis 'Black Diamond'. There's too many to choose from! >________
cetacea33
10 years ago
I am on a similar search and was looking at Indian Hawthorn. Love the looks of that bush germander and sweet pea too! Anyone know if the germander would be ok in zone 10? Monrovia says only to zone 9...?
gobluedjm 9/18 CA
10 years ago
cetacea33, on the zones pay more attention to the Sunset zones than the usda zones. If you really are here in Socal you should be fine. I get high temps to 113 and lows to 28 and its fine.
stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
10 years ago
Dwarf Oleander?

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