Perennials for the Southwest : Plants That Flourish in Arid Gardens

by Irish, Mary

• ISBN13: 9780881927610
• ISBN10: 0881927619
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-03-06
• Publisher: Workman Pub Co

Summary

"Mary Irish has produced the definitive guide for gardeners who want to create lush, colorful gardens while keeping artificial irrigation to a minimum. Because the climate is not uniform throughout the entire Southwest, Irish defines three distinct zones in terms of their hospitableness to plant life. Perennials for the Southwest provides information on how to design dry-climate gardens as well as everything you need to know about soil, planting, watering, feeding, propagating, and pests and diseases." "Fully one-half of the book is devoted to detailed descriptions of individual plants. In this section, you'll find the cream of southwestern perennials, from the long-blooming, sunset-hued agastaches to the popular selections of Gura lindheimeri to indispensables like the salvias and penstemons. Each entry gives the plant's scientific and common names, botanical family, distribution, manure size, blooming period, preferred exposure, and hardiness zones, along with the author's first-hand observations about the plant's performance in the garden and ornamental value."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	8	(1)
Introduction	9	(10)
Purpose of the Book	10	(1)
Just What Is a Perennial?	11	(1)
The Region	12	(4)
Taxonomic Note	16	(3)
Designing With Perennials	19	(28)
Design Principles	22	(15)
Planning for Year-round Color	37	(2)
Blending Perennials and Succulents	39	(2)
Using Perennials to Attract Birds and Butterflies	41	(4)
Perennial Gardens Near a Natural Area	45	(2)
Care of Perennials	47	(39)
Soil	47	(10)
Timing of Planting	57	(1)
Exposure	58	(1)
Water	59	(3)
Fertilizer	62	(1)
Perennials in Containers	63	(2)
Pruning	65	(5)
Insects, Pests, and Diseases	70	(11)
Propagation	81	(5)
Plant Descriptions	86	(182)
Uncommon Perennials	268	(25)
Glossary	293	(2)
Bibliography	295	(5)
Index	300

Excerpts

I get immensely frustrated with the notion in the Phoenix area that a garden that uses a healthy dose of native and/or desert-adapted species must be planted in a naturalistic style. It certainly does not, and although that is a fashionable and certainly pleasing style, it is only that one style. Style is a personal statement in your garden with a nod to the peculiarities of the local area, the house or surrounding buildings, and occasionally even the neighborhood. Gorgeous gardens can be created with desert and arid-adapted perennials in a wide range of styles, perhaps in styles yet to be thought of. Without a doubt, the most widely used style of planting perennials is in a bed that borders a lawn. Usually it is conceived with species that bloom over a long season and not all at once, but occasionally it is put together to form a living prism of plants on either end of the spectrum, with hot shades of red, orange, peach, and yellow giving way to cooler pinks, mauve, blue, lavender, and purple. Nothing prevents the planning of a great perennial border using the type of plants in this book its just that such a border has never been done to my knowledge. And why must it border a lawn? Why not a graveled path or a beautifully laid stone walkway? A long sweep of perennials can look wonderful against a long wall or as an invitation along a walkway, but is probably disastrous when the background is a native preserve or unaltered natural area. Formal, even austere, houses may be most congenial to gardens that glean their interest and excitement from minimalist plantings, using texture and form more than color. Vivid color can light up a monochrome landscape where a judicious use of a few colors creates drama. With a cozy cottage of a house, a riot might look sensational, providing a rumpled, frumpy mass of varying perennials that is comforting in its randomness. Finally, as you are ready to plunge in and begin selecting plants, making decisions, and setting your choices in the ground, dont forget about time. You must give your perennials and the garden that they inhabit time to grow and develop. Particularly in the deserts, perennials do not spring forth in a giddy burst of growth to make a perfect garden in one season. It routinely takes two or even three seasons before perennials native to deserts and other arid regions are at their peak. Accept the fact that time is required and savor the time it will take to have your perennials fill in and become the garden in your mind. Never forget that you are tending living things that will grow, change, and die. Static gardens are hideous and boring, dull and pitiful in their sameness and small expectations. Gardens that mutate, shift, and adjust are glorious creations, changing with the seasons, enticing us always to come back and find out what is going on. I hear the plea all the time "I just want a nice-looking garden with color year-round." It sounds so simple and certainly a gene

---

Excerpted from Perennials for the Southwest: Plants That Flourish in Arid Gardens by Mary Irish
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.