Common name:Amazing Red Flax
Botanical name:Phormium 'Amazing Red'
Phormium 'Amazing Red' is an evergreen perennial. Big, dramatic plant composed of many swordlike, stiffly vertical leaves in a fan pattern. Flowers stems reach high above leaves, bearing clusters of 1-2 in. blossoms in red.
Common name:Berkeley Sedge
Botanical name:Carex divulsa
Berkeley Sedge is a fast growing, vibrant green clumping sedge to 2' tall and wide. Widely adaptable, it can be planted in wet soil or arid soil, tolerates sun to partial shade and can be drought tolerant. Tan to brown flowers show in spring.
Common name:Blue Glow Agave
Botanical name:Agave 'Blue Glow'
This beautiful succulent slowly reaches 2' tall and 3' wide. Leaves are thick, blue green, 18" long, 2.5" wide, with red and yellow margins. The tip of the leaf has a red spine. It tolerates full sun although it needs shade in low desert areas. It needs well draining soil. Sap from plant irritates some people's skin. It is drought tolerant once it's established.
Photographer: Vicki Anderson
Practice grass-cycling by leaving short grass clippings on lawns after mowing, so that nutrients and organic matter are returned to the soil.
Check your irrigation controller once a month, and adjust as necessary.
Most plants require only one-third as much water in winter as they do in summer.
Attract, or buy beneficial insects such as ladybugs and lacewings to control pest outbreaks in your garden.
