Get water wise

Water conservation is the right approach to take, whether it’s in a production setting or in the landscape. If you sell in a region experiencing drought or areas with abundant rainfall, saving Earth’s precious resource makes ecological sense.

And if you’re growing or selling plants in an area where drought is prevalent, that doesn’t mean the end of gardening. Quite the contrary! PlantHaven’s breeder clients offer several water-wise selections that play the role of fashionista in the garden.

 

Gaillardia ‘Celebration’ has a single row of elegant red petals carried on very strong stems. Its compact, mounding habit creates a carpet of flowers. It blooms from early spring through fall. Blooms are colorfast and age well. Drought tolerant once established, this sun-loving, floriferous variety is ideal for containers, beds and borders. It’s hardy in USDA Zones 5-9.

 

Berberis 'Orange Rocket' is a compact, upright growing deciduous shrub with small red leaves that turn a ruby red in autumn. Early summer, pale yellow flowers are followed by small, crimson red berries. Foliage hues intensify in fall, making 'Orange Rocket' light up the landscape in mass plantings, as a specimen plant, or in a container. It’s hardy to Zone 4. This selection performs very well with little irrigation.

 

In the spring, the foliage of Abelia Kaleidoscope emerges a cheerful green and yellow, turns to a rich gold in summer and has an incredible show of fiery reds and crimsons in the fall and winter. The variegation does not burn or scorch in the hottest of weather.

This versatile plant is frost, drought and heat tolerant, and a position in full sun brings out the most vibrant color changes in the leaves. It is eye-catching as a container specimen in a small garden, good for a formal or informal hedge, distinctive as an accent plant and spectacular in mass plantings. Hardy in Zones 6-9.

Kaleidoscope is also one of the longest flowering abelias with delicately fragrant white blooms that delight from spring through autumn.

 

Cistus Little Miss Sunshine is a splendid variegated selection of Cistus × hybridus (syn. C. corbariensis). It has bold butter-yellow margins to the leaves surrounding a deep green center. Masses of pure white saucer shaped blooms grace this selection. It features a long blooming period from early summer through fall.

Happy in hot and dry gardens, Little Miss Sunshine makes an excellent compact shrub for the front of the border or containers.

The selection exhibits greater vigor and is faster to finish than other variegated Cistus that are currently available. It’s hardy to Zone 9.