Regional Picks: Plant This With That – Northern California

PLANT THIS:

‘Sea Jade’ phormium

Name:Phormium‘Sea Jade’

USDA Hardiness Zones:9 to 11

Size:3 to 5 foot tall and 2 to 3 feet wide-cut

shape : Full sun to fond tone ; well - drain soil

Phormiums are often the star of my favorite drought - broad , deer - resistant , evergreen , showstopping - every - mean solar day - of - the - twelvemonth combination . ‘ Sea Jade ’ , however , holds a special place in my marrow , with its politic and polished leaves , hit upright form , restrained size , and sophisticated colors . Its serene , olive green foliage punctuated with twilit plum stripes extend an understated yet elegant choice to the promising and often garish colors of summertime . Plus , hummingbirds adore the annual show of its otherworldly spires of garnet cerise flowers , which last for weeks at a time .

WITH THAT:

Jerusalem sage

Name:Phlomis russeliana

Zones:3 to 9

Size:2 to 3 feet magniloquent and 3 to 4 feet wide

Jerusalem salvia ’s bold , velvety , core - shaped leaves are a welcome contrast — in both grain and shape — to those of the phormium . The flowers echo the phormium ’s just anatomy , blooming on 2 - foot - tall spire , insure with whorls of tight balls of yellow that last for calendar month . To keep this beauty await good year - round , keep rapacious snails and slugs by from immature plants and occasionally remove spent flower .

Purple wood spurge

Name:Euphorbia amygdaloides‘Purpurea’

Zones:6 to 9

Size:30 in tall and broad

Conditions : Full sun ; well - enfeeble filth

Purple forest spurge ’s slender leaves and stem are tinged with a deep burgundy that echoes the phormium ’s stripes . The ticklish blossom provide a soft contrast to the nearby spiky , structural shapes . Both the flower and foliation put on a colored show , emerge chartreuse in leaping , transforming into deep tones of maroon through summertime , then reverting to European olive tree green in fall .

Orange sedge

Name:Carex testacea

Zones:7 to 9

Size:1 to 2 substructure grandiloquent and wide

While many gardeners flora this sizeable grass in full sun to bring out its vibrant orange chromaticity , I prefer the softer shade of olive putting green and copper that it prepare in partial specter . The orange highlights counterpoint nicely with the purple Ellen Price Wood spurge ’s burgundy foliage and complement the icteric bloom of the Jerusalem sage . With a gentle summertime breeze , the wispy blades of orange sedge add together movement to the garden .

Rebecca Sweetis a garden room decorator in Los Altos , California , and the generator of the forthcoming bookRefresh Your Garden Design with Color , Texture , and Form .

Photos : Michelle Gervais ; Rebecca Sweet ; Jennifer Benner ; Joshua McCullough / phytophoto.com ; and Doreen Wynja . Illustration : Elara Tanguy , colorized by Bill Godfrey

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