It looks like a difficult set of circumstances, Dlmill -

one very narrow bed
trees, and therefore, dry shade
sandy soil
hot afternoon sun

1 Are you thinking solely of perennial plants?
2 How many hours of afternoon sunlight?
3 How close and big are those trees?

It may be a "prefers full sun but tolerates some shade" situation. Amending your soil and using mulch would a very good idea since water retention will be a real issue with tree roots.

I grow roses here in the interior NW with mixed success. Where I pile snow on them throughout the Winter, they fair quite well but even special, cold-hardy varieties have a really tough time elsewhere in the gardens. My 7 plus years experience as a commercial rose grower in greenhouses serves me not-at-all. Perhaps if I was more passionate about growing and protecting them . . .

Steve

Hi dlmill,

I am a little concerned about adding my 2 cents worth because I see you are a zone 5 NW so I am worried about winter moisture (we don't get much and you may) and I also have loam to clay soi. But I know all about drought. We have had 1.5" since the first of the year! You didn't say if drought was always an issue or only this year.

For mail order plant sources, I would suggest checking out High Country Gardens and/or Bluestone Perennials. High Country Gardens are out of Santa Fe. THey have plenty of ideas for dry situations but they are expensive. And also, remember that most xeric plants do not like wet feet in winter. They rot out if they get too much winter moisture. I use their catalog and website as a starting spot but then do lots of research to make certain it will work for me. Sometimes I order and sometimes I can find the plant locally.

Bluestone Perennials is a big favorite of mine. Good catalog and great prices. It is a midwestern outfit (Ohio I think) so their xeric selection isn't as great but they still have loads of stuff. The plants are small (2" or 2.5" square) but since I have lots of space, I like the small plants. It is easier to plant drifts of plants and next year, they are big plants.

I would also suggest a trip to the library. There are lots of good xeric plant suggestion books. The Denver Water board put out a series of 3 books that had excellent pictures of the plants in various seasons, companion plants, etc. Lauren Springer's books have great lists of dry shade plants and bushes. THe one she wrote with Rob Proctor keeps me motivated every spring when I view my garden - a forever project.

Finally, here's a couple of my favorites. Definitely check out their requirements on the internet. Your sun bed is a little tough. 18" is a very narrow garden bed and I don't know your height requirements. Long blooming Perennials ideas: agastaches, penstemon pinifolius, the yellow perennial gazania (the orange is not hardy for me in Zone 5,) most of the ice plants, coneflowers, rubeckias, nepetas, achilleas (paprika is a favorite,) helianthus summer sun, the smaller russian sage, poppy mallow, some of the miscanthus grasses. I would probably add some annual zinnias to tied it over any no bloom periods.

For the shade, dry shade is hard but dry shade with a short blast of afternoon sun is worse in my opinion. Some of my favorite go-to plants for most any location are perennial geraniums, monarda, anchusa, meadow rue, feverfew aureum, fescue sea urchin, stella'd oro daylily, maltese cross and yellow columbine (all the columbines will be fine in sun or shade if given more water.)

Again, do carefully check my suggestions for your sandy soil and your winter moisture conditions.

Thank you for all the suggestions.

I am in the basic planning stages, so I am open to all types of plants and can change my plans. The narrow flowerbed could be made wider if needed. It gets sun from about noon onward. The trees that line our back lot (austrees that I dislike but were planted before we bought the house) are small and about 10 yards or so away from the bed, so they won't shade the bed. I would like the plants in that bed to be a max. height of three feet or so. Small bushes, perenials, annuals, decorative grasses are all possibilities.

As for the flower garden on the side of the house, it only gets sun from about three p.m. onward. However, because of its location and the shade, it retains more water than the rest of the lawn area.

Thank you for the book suggestions and I will check out those suppliers!

Hi Dlmill,

Nancy certainly has greater knowledge of flowers than I do and has provided some very useful information.

I can add just a little about annuals from my own experience.

First of all, impatiens are so popular elsewhere in the US but an arid environment just seems to stifle them. Only when it finally cools down at the end of August will they bloom nicely. Hardly worth the space.

Salpiglosis has beautiful flowers and are very neglected in our gardens. It grows well in a fair amount of shade. That means it can do very well in good shade or just okay where trees are robbing it of both sunlight and water. Pinching helps with their kind of viny nature.

Nicotiana tolerates sunnier shaded areas. The tall varieties have a wonderful fragrance when the white flowers are open. The shorter nicotianas are not as fragrant, but the colored flowers stay open all day.

And, snapdragons do almost as well in a mostly shady location as they do in the sun.

I don't care much for wax begonias and cleome but they would probably also work in your locations. (Well, wax begionias are so small and they're PINK . . . cleome is pretty but it smells funny . . . ;o)

I'm not in Colorado but the link below is from your state extension office.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Shade Gardening - Colorado

OK, I think I have my two flower areas planned out.

The first area is a flower bed along a rock retaining wall. It will be about 2-2 1/2 feet wide by 25 (I think) feet long. It gets full afternoon and evening sun. For this, I'm thinking about just getting High Country Garden's Inferno Strip perennial garden and seeing how that does there.

The second area is an 18 foot by 18 foot square on the side of my house. About 2/3 of it gets afternoon and evening sun while the remaining portions go from partly shady to full shade. Through my extension office, research, etc. I've complied a list of plants so big I'm having trouble narrowing it down!

Here are my questions:
1. I'd like to have a flagstone pathway through the flower garden and plant some ground cover between and around the stones as well as perhaps under a bench. I'm thinking of Pink chintz creeping thyme, thyme lead speewell and Veronica X Blue reflection speedwell. Anyone have any experience with these or have other recommendations?

2. Do all clematis need lots of water? I'd love a couple to climb along the fence, but am selecting xeric plants.

3. One of the flowers I read about on highcountrygardens was Gladiolus saundersii. Can you really grow glads easily or successfully in a high-altitude, sandy soil garden that gets some winds? How about Peony or hollyhock? Will these kind of flowers look out of place in a garden of more "wildflower" type plants?

Thank you all for your help!

I'd recommend one of the creeping thymes--they're one of the best foot traffic tolerant plants there is. Pink Chintz is a good one with light pink flowers, but you might also want to consider red mother of thyme which has a much deeper pink rose-red flower. Or possibly mix the different colors. There's a white flowered one too. The other advantage of the creeping thymes is that you get the wonderful thyme scent when you walk on them. They'll do well in full to part sun but wouldn't be too happy in mostly shade.

Clematis like lots of sun but need to have their feet kept cool, so if you mulch a good size area around the base of the vines with a very thick layer of bark mulch or some other wood mulch, that would help conserve water and also keep the roots cool. With only a couple plants you could easily hand water by laying a hose on just barely a trickle at the base of each one and letting it run for 30-45 minutes if they seem to need extra water.

I've never heard of Gladiolus saundersii and don't have time right now to check their catalog, but I've never heard of a hardy glad so I think you might need to dig them and store them overwinter like you do with regular glads. How well they would work I think would depend on just how much wind you actually get. If there are just a few you could always stake them when they're blooming. Unless your soil is very sandy, I don't think that would make too much difference. I recommend that you keep improving you soil everytime you plant anything by keeping a bucket of a good quality moist compost or moist Canadian peat with you and mixing a few handfuls into the soil in the hole and the soil you're going to backfill with before you do.

I think of peonies as a more formal type of plant, but also, peonies really aren't at all xeric. I'm curious, if somebody is saying they are, who is it? Hollyhocks seem like they might fit into your plan better--especially the single ones--but they're not particularly xeric either. Mine are a little bit bettter now that they've been in almost 2 years, but I still water them pretty often to keep them looking good. Is High Country calling them xeric? Since hollyhocks get so tall, you may need to stake them too if you really do get a lot of wind.

One thing to keep in mind, no plant (except cacti and succulents) is drought tolerant until it's well established. Usually this means at least a year of proper watering---watering slowly and very deeply and gradually waiting longer and longer between waterings. This establishes a good, deep root system (which is what makes most plants xeric) so they can draw on moisture deep in the soil even when the surface is dry.

Where are you located?

Skybird

I'm with Skybird, thyme would be a great groundcover for your purposes. I'd be careful putting a peony in with, say, agastache - if you overwater the agastache in caring for the peony it will DEFINITELY complain! My favorite xerics that do well anywhere, sun or shade, are centranthus ruber, nepeta x faasenii (walker's low) and aquilegia (columbine). For your "small tree" requirement I'd definitely consider a serviceberry. I don't think roses will work in that area, they need lots of sun to be happy.
Let us know what you "narrow down" to!

I will look into some additional varieties of thyme. I've also read that creeping phlox is great.

I want to go xeric because I'd like to conserve water but still have a nice garden area. Plus as a newbie living in the somewhat inhospitable area of Colorado Springs, I figured having easy-to-grow species and native species might help me be more successful.

However, I keep getting drawn into the idea that these beauiful flowers - like the glads and peonies - can grow in this area. I grew up in Montana and knew several people who had beautiful gardens full of roses and glads and dahlias, etc., all great for flower designs, etc. I always wanted a garden like that and am still having trouble letting go of the idea, even though I know even if it was possible, it would take more time, water, etc. than I'm willing to give. After more throught and review, the glads probably are not hardy here and both are probably not right for this garden.

There are a couple of hollyhock listed on HCG that have low-moisture requirements. Other hollyhock I have researched would take more water.

I like both walker's low and columbine (several neighbors are growing them, so I would love to try multiple varieties). There also seems to be great success in my neighborhood with dianthus and may night sage, both of which I like.

I also have neighbors who have success with iris, lilies, daylilies, tulip and daffodil. I love all of these, but again am having trouble picturing what they would look like in the same garden as may night sage and penestemons.

The more time I spend in the area, the more I realise just how much sun and heat it gets. I actually think I will do best mostly with full sun plants and some semi-shade ones nearer the house. The area I thought was mostly shade does indeed get sun in the morning more than I thought.

Thanks for the planting and water tips. The beds will have a drip system, but I don't know how much I'll rely on that. I've also read about putting milk jugs in the grouns (with a small hole in them) and filling the jugs - to get deep-root watering for some of the plants that might like a little extra water.
Please keep ideas and advice coming! I really appreciate all the help!

I bought Gladiolus saundersii from HCG this spring. I would trust them to know what they're talking about, as they are very knowledgable--experts on plants for this region. For this plant, they say, "This cold hardy perennial wildflower bulb multiplies to form large showy clumps over the years." It's listed for zones 5-8. We'll see!

I just had time to check out your "Inferno Strip Garden," and I think you're going to like what you get! I absolutely LOVE Artemisia versicolor 'Seafoam'--it's the only Artemisia I grow right now. I've never seen mine bloom since I keep pinching it to keep it round and bushy, but Artemisia flowers are usually pretty ugly, so you may want to cut it back when it starts to bloom. And I'm absolutely certain you'll love the Callirhoe. Give it as much room as you can. It dies back to the center of the plant over winter, but it will spread out 3 or 4 feet in every direction over the growing season. It's great next to a wall or anywhere you may have for it to drape down over---or just spread out on the ground if not. I'd add some Russian sage (Perovskia) to the area--P. 'Longin' is the most upright one, and my favorite. It would go well with the others and blooms pretty long in mid-late summer. Also, to add a couple bright spots of yellow, consider some Achillea 'Moonshine' (bright yellow), or A. 'Anthea' (soft yellow). They, too, bloom for quite a while and you can leave the flowers dry on the plants for winter interest for as long as they look good.

I checked out G. saundersii too, and it looks great. They're kind of pricey, but I just might have to try one!

If Alcea rosea 'Nigra' is the hollyhock you're looking at, I'd be glad to send you some seed for a SASE. They're a beautiful dark, dark, dark red, and they're real pretty up close, but since they're so-o-o dark, they really don't show up much from a distance. Last fall I planted some other mixed colors near them for more of a display from the distance. They're getting close to blooming and I am anxiously waiting to see what colors they'll be. (The black ones are blooming already!) Still, in my opinion, they are not especially xeric---certainly not as much as perovskia, agastache, some of the penstemons, and artemisia. I could also send some Aquilegia chrysantha seed (a Colorado native). It's a VERY fragrant yellow columbine that comes true from seed. It will reseed easily in the garden and if you have room to let a large patch grow it will actually scent the whole area. Again, it's not considered especially xeric, but once it's well established I don't think it would need a lot of water.

I don't think you'd be happy at all with creeping phlox planted in the cracks in your walk, and I think it would be far more difficult to try to grow in such a situation. If you decide to try some, I recommend putting it out in one of the main garden areas. Also, while it doesn't like to stay wet all the time, I've never know it to be considered xeric. If you do decide to grow some, I recommend you look for Phlox douglasii rather than the more standard P. subulata. It's a much more compact growing plant that requires less care. If you do get P. s., to stay looking good over the years it will need to be cut back severely--1/2 or more--after it blooms each year. Otherwise the individual stems can get long and really ratty looking after a couple years. If you let it grow without cutting it back until it gets ratty, it's very hard to cut it back far enough to get it looking good again without killing it.

Salvia 'May Night' ('Mainacht') is a really good choice and I bet you'd love it. If you cut it back promptly when the first flowers start looking "tired," it will easily bloom a second time, and, depending on the summer, might bloom a third time if cut back promptly after the second bloom.

Don't worry too much about what's going to look good with what when you're planning your garden! Remember that perennials bloom at different times, so they won't all be blooming at the same time. That's one of the wonderful things about a perennial garden---it's constantly changing. Pick whatever you like best. If you decide you don't like it next to something, you can always move it. That's also part of perennial gardening! Tulips and daffodils (and crocus, hyacinths and any of the other spring blooming bulbs) will be blooming when your perennials are just starting to come up.

Also check out the ornamental grasses. They're wonderful for adding movement to the garden and the foliage and seedheads are usually left on all winter for winter interest. One of my favorites is Panicum 'Heavy Metal' (switch grass). It has steel blue foliage with delicate, airy seed heads. I also love the miscanthuses (sp???) (maiden grass) which come in heights from 3' to 6' or more and have beautiful arching foliage with tassel-like seedheads that look Egyptian to me! Just one more thing for you to consider!

Happy gardening,
Skybird

P.S. If you'd like the seed, email me privately via GW and I'll send you my address.

Thanks for the help Skybird. I've gotten so excited about it, I want to order everything RIGHT NOW. But, my more intelligent side has intervened. I still have to get some prep work done before anything can be planted, plus it'd probably be silly to try to do much of anything before our sprinkler system gets installed in July and we're going to have to sod or seed the backyard in August or Sept. I keep telling myself it will be better for the plants any way to be planted in the fall or next spring. I guess I need more patience - one more thing I hope gardening teaches me!

I will take a look at ornamental grasses. I am hoping to tour a couple of xeric gardens in the area in the next week or so to get some more ideas.

One more question - a friend gave me a hibiscus (rose of sharon, I believe). I didn't plant it anywhere since we're doing all this work and it's just in a planter on my back patio. The leaves don't look great, but it is blooming. Is this a plant that does well here? It looks too exotic to be grown in Colorado, but the little bit of research I've done said it likes dry soils, etc. Again, not sure what it'd look like next to sage or something, but they're awfully pretty to not try!

I have glads and peonies and dahlias and the before-mentioned roses. And, yes, they are primarily there for cutting and arrangements. Canterbury bells and sweet Williams have just run their course. The zinnias are beginning to bloom and very soon the snaps will come on strong. Later, China asters will make an important contribution. Throughout the season there are other additions to the selection including daisies like Shasta, Gallardia, and Rudbeckia.

I dont know if these plants are suitable for your yard and location but they provide a wealth of bright flowers for cutting. I prefer annuals (and corms/tubers that I need to lift every year) because weeding the perennials is just such a TASK.

Phlox, columbines and hollyhocks don't make very good cut flowers. Neither does the yellow Achillea (not because they don't last but because they smell funny - yeah, same with the cleome.) The penstemon variety I grew once was absolutely gorgeous but it couldn't survive its first Winter.

Amongst those beautiful flowers in the yard but not very good in the vase - - a neighbor has a couple of varieties of hibiscus. I donÂt know if theyÂd do well in Colorado Springs or not but they really donÂt seem to be all that exotic  rather stunning, thoÂ.

Steve

There are lots of different kinds of hibiscus--some are tropicals and can only be grown as house plants around here, and some will do very well outside. If what you have is a Rose of Sharon, it's a bush and will eventually get as big as a lilac bush. How big are the flowers? Rose of Sharon has smaller flowers about 3-4" in diameter---but so do some of the tropicals. You probably should ask your friend to be sure what you have. If it's Rose of Sharon, it should do very well for you in Colorado Springs. They're fairly common in Denver.

If you're interested in something even more exotic, look for (hardy perennial) Hibiscus moscheutos. H.m. 'Lady Baltimore' (pink w/red eye) and 'Lord Baltimore' (red) have "dinnerplate" size flowers (there are other varieties too), and H.m. 'Disco Belle' (white, pink, or red) has smaller, 5-6" flowers. Both are around 5' tall, and 'Disco Belle' grows into a large "bush" every year--but they all die back to the ground overwinter. They come up very, very late in spring---but grow incredibly fast once they do come up. I'm not sure about Rose of Sharon, but H.m. is not considered xeric and generally requires a good watering about once a week when established.

Do wait until you have somewhere to put the plants into the ground before you buy too much. It's much more difficult to maintain them in pots and they'll do much better in the ground. If you've decided you want to use thyme for your walk, and if you have a spot where you can do it, I recommend you buy a couple plants and put them in where they can start to grow and spread out. Then, when you're ready to plant in the cracks in your walk, you can just dig up little plugs from your own supply and transplant them. This should save you some money if it's spread enough by the time you need it for the walk.

Also, fall is an excellent time to plant perennials---and you can often find lots of stuff on sale since garden centers don't want to have to overwinter it.

Happy planning,
Skybird