Planning for your garden

This summer, gardens will need to be very water thrifty. Not enough precipitation means less moisture - falling or collected - for garden plants. What to do? Well, selecting plants that can handle a hotter, drier climate than usual is a good place to start. An excellent place to locate plants that are up to the task is Plant Select. One of this year's winners is Narbonne Blue Flax, Linum narbonense.

This Mediterranean form of blue flax is much more long-lived and fuller than the western native species. Blooming for months on end, the deep sky blue flowers are larger and more flaring. This robust plant offers a dense mound of attractive, nearly evergreen foliage for garden borders, wildflower gardens and informal plantings.

Another selection blooms for most of the growing season. The lustrous, fuchsia-colored flowers are an improvement on Delosperma cooperi. During the winter the leaves remain turgid and green, often tinged with purple. This image is by Libby Kyer, in graphite and colored pencil, and was used in the publication which celebrated the Plant Select project.

Click here  Durable Plants for the Garden to take a look at the book produced locally, which includes lots of great tips for designing and selecting plants for your garden.