ww
TOP LEFT: Aeonium arboreum, with white-
flowering moon carrot, Seseli gummiferum.
The tender, succulent Aeonium is planted out
in spring for seasonal interest and brought
back indoors for winter. (Photo by Riz Reyes)
TOP RIGHT: A winter scene, with hardy
agave and prickly pear. Ice and snow can
cause occasional cosmetic damage to these
plants, but freezing temperatures rarely
cause further harm. (Photo by Riz Reyes)
BOTTOM: Yucca gloriosa ‘Variegata’ and
Spanish fir (Abies pinsapo) provide an archi-
tectural backbone to assorted succulents
such as prickly pear (Opuntia cyclodes)
and hardy cholla (Cylindropuntia species).
(Photo by Niall Dunne)
damage, even after this year’s Snowmageddon. The iconic,
tree-like Yucca rostrata (beaked yucca)—from the deserts
of Texas and northern Mexico—has proved reliable and looks
fabulous, especially if you can afford a large specimen that
already has a trunk. Native to New Mexico, Opuntia cyclodes
(hardy prickly pear) is another iconic desert plant that’s hardy
here and can form large, imposing clumps best situated away
from paths and trails.
Muhlenbergia reverchonii (ruby muhly), from Texas and
Oklahoma, is also a reliable muhly grass for the Pacific
Northwest, sporting clouds of pale pink in early autumn. Seseli
gummiferum (moon carrot) is an intriguing biennial or short-
lived perennial native to the Crimea, with dramatic umbels of
white flowers on top of ferny, silvery foliage.
Penstemon kunthii from Mexico offers brightly colored,
continuously blooming, coral-pink flowers, and it politely
reseeds. The California native Monardella odoratissima
(mountain coyote mint) is like a dwarf bee balm that stays
under one foot tall and produces heads of pink-clustered
flowers atop very aromatic foliage.
Colletia hystrix (crucifixion thorn) is a spiny, almost leafless,
bushy shrub from Chile that grows up to nine feet tall and wide
and bears tiny, fragrant white flowers in late summer.
Phil: Is everything in the garden hardy?
Riz: Not everything. I plant Aeonium, Echeveria and a
few other non-hardy species each year for summer interest
Summer 2019 v 11