#nowaterzone

[backyardbeehive]

I feel the need for purple so went to check on the #lavender and snapped this instead. #Halictus bee on a #Foxtail Lily. .. #desertcandles #eremurus #eremurusruiter-hybrid #hidcotelavender #nowaterzone #hellstrip #plantpairings #nativebees #bees

[backyardbeehive]

The red flower stems of Chinese Mountain Stonecrop are what make it work so well with Rock Soapwort (AKA #mediterraneanpinks), despite its bright yellow flowers. Like many #succulents, you can propagate from root-y stems. I usually find them wedging their way between the boulders that form the edge of my dry river bed. After 8 years #inmygarden, I got my first volunteer #fromseed last summer. I let it overwinter and will be moving it now that’s it proven to be a survivor. (Ha ha, I sound like a crazy #beekeeper.) A slow spreading evergreen ground cover, I wonder how long it’ll take for it, no wider than my hand, to reach it’s full width of 2 feet. #coloradogardener #nowaterzone #xeriscapegarden #droughttolerant #xeric #evergreen #groundcover #sedum #inmygarden #Sedummiddendorfianum #morebeesplease

[backyardbeehive]

It’s not named ‘Blue Reflection’ for nothing. Absolutely covered in little blue flowers through most of May, I purchased a flat of this ground cover #Veronica from @hcgplants in 2002. Best $100 I ever spent on the garden. When not in bloom, it gives our back yard a vibrancy that you can’t get with grass, staying green through relentless heat and drought. Evergreen, exceptionally dry winters will turn some of it black and crisp but it always fills back in within a season or two. It prefers a gravel mulch, which after a couple of years you won’t even see anymore. Don’t try planting this between pavers; they’ll soon disappear, too. Spring and Fall, I cut back the vigorous growth flowing into my dry river bed and reclaim the boulders that form its edges. My only complaint is the deadheading. I like a very neat garden but (aside from the “riparian” bed being impossible to mow) at a mere 6 or so inches tall, mowing and bagging the spent stems isn’t an option. I use grass clippers and trim all 300 square feet or so of Blue Reflection by hand. #coloradogardener #nowaterzone #xeriscapegarden #veronicabluereflection #CreepingSpeedwell #Speedwell

[backyardbeehive]

Iris x germanica in the #hellstripgarden . . #purpleflowers #xeriscape #nowaterzone #gardening #canoneos #flowerphotography