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Cool Blue Bench
Whirling Butterflies White Gaura
Mexican Bush Sage, Mexican Sage
Velvet Dusty Miller
Oriental Fountain Grass
Common Foxglove
California or Golden Poppy
Purple Showers Viola
Whirling Butterflies White Gaura

Common name:Whirling Butterflies White Gaura
Botanical name:Gaura lindheimeri 'Whirling Butterflies'

'Whirling Butterflies" is a profusely flowering perennial that grows 3' high. It has pink buds that open to showy white flowers (larger than other cultivars) in spring and summer. It needs full sun in most areas but afternoon shade in desert areas. It needs regular watering. This is a great plant for cut flowers and flower borders.

Mexican Bush Sage, Mexican Sage

Common name:Mexican Bush Sage, Mexican Sage
Botanical name:Salvia leucantha

The Mexican Sage is a bushy shrub that grows 3'-4' tall and wide. It has hairy white stems, grey-green leaves and velvet-like purple flower spikes that bloom summer through fall. This shrub tolerates sun, light shade, low to moderate water, and is cold hardy to 15 degrees F. The Mexican Sage attracts hummingbirds. Be careful not to overwater.

Velvet Dusty Miller

Common name:Velvet Dusty Miller
Botanical name:Centaurea cineraria

This perennial plant won't grow more than 1' tall and has large, silvery-white leaves with blue, purple, or yellow flowers that bloom in summer.

Oriental Fountain Grass

Common name:Oriental Fountain Grass
Botanical name:Pennisetum orientale

Oriental Fountain Grass is a clumping, warm-season grass with spectacular pinkish white flowers in summer and sometimes fall. Flower plumes change to light brown. Foliage is a bright green that changes to straw color as winter approaches. This grass is 1'-2.5' tall and wide. It usually does not reseed. This grass is striking if backlit to show off flower plumes.

Common Foxglove

Common name:Common Foxglove
Botanical name:Digitalis purpurea

This biennial Foxglove will reach 3'-4' tall when blooming in the early summer. The large spire of huge, bell-shaped flowers ranges from purple to pink to cream with purple specks. Large, textured leaves form an attractive rosette until bloom time. This plant likes a moist, filtered-sun area similar to the Lobelias and Columbines. -Holland Wildflower Farm

California or Golden Poppy

Common name:California or Golden Poppy
Botanical name:Eschscholzia californica

This small annual (sometimes acts as a perennial) plant will grow to less than 1' tall and has light, small blue-green leaves with gold and orange flowers that bloom in spring and summer.

Purple Showers Viola

Common name:Purple Showers Viola
Botanical name:Viola cornuta 'Purple Showers'

Purple Showers Viola is an attractive perennial with blue-violet flowers under 2' in height and blooming in winter through spring in mild winter areas and blooming in spring through summer in colder areas. Usually treated as an annual.

Designer: Cooperative Extension

Cool Blue Bench

Photographer: GardenSoft

Soils and Compost:

Practice grass-cycling by leaving short grass clippings on lawns after mowing, so that nutrients and organic matter are returned to the soil.

Water Saving Tip:

Change spray sprinklers to low-flow bubbler or drip systems. Shrubs and trees are ideal candidates for this type of irrigation because the water is applied directly to the root zones.

Integrated Pest Management:

Drip and other smart irrigation delivers water directly to roots, allowing no excess water for weeds.