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Stacked Stone Garden 4
Wall Germander
Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass
Moonshine Yarrow
Dragons Blood Sedum
Mullein Pink, Rose Campion
Wall Germander

Common name:Wall Germander
Botanical name:Teucrium chamaedrys

Wall germander is a shrubby, woody-based, clump-forming, broad leaf evergreen, grown for its attractive, aromatic, semi-evergreen foliage. Tiny, oval, scalloped, shiny dark green leaves densely cover numerous ascending and spreading stems which collectively form a mound of foliage about 12 to 15 inches tall and wide. Leaves resemble miniature oak leaves (chamaedrys means "ground oak" in reference to the leaf shape and ground cover habit). Whorls of two lipped, tubular, pink to purple (less frequently white) flowers (typical mint family) appear in terminal clusters in late spring to early summer. Use it to edge a sunny border, to line walks, or in a sunny place where you want something "boxwood-like." A very old plant, it has commonly been used in herb and knot gardens for hundreds of years.

Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass

Common name:Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass
Botanical name:Calamagrostis acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'

Karl Foerster feather reed grass is a garden favorite, and for good reason. Its green, fine-textured foliage is gently arching and grows to about 2 feet tall and wide. Oat-like plumes stand very erect over the foliage, growing as tall as 5 to 6 feet. Plumes open whiteish green, later turning a dusky rose, and then tawny colored by winter. Blooms early summer with the plumes lasting into autumn. Holds its presence well into winter. Excellent in mixed perennial or shrub borders, or massed.

Moonshine Yarrow

Common name:Moonshine Yarrow
Botanical name:Achillea 'Moonshine'

'Moonshine' is an upright, clump-forming, compact hybrid yarrow, with deeply-dissected, fern-like, aromatic, silvery to gray-green foliage. Flowers are long-lasting, bright lemon-yellow, and bloom throughout the summer on stiff, erect stems. This plant resembles A. 'Coronation Gold' except it is much smaller and the flowers are a lighter yellow. Grows about 18 inches tall and 24 inches wide, and seems to be slightly less invasive then other yarrow, keeping a more clumping habit. A great addition to a sunny perennial border.

Dragons Blood Sedum

Common name:Dragons Blood Sedum
Botanical name:Sedum spurium 'Coccinium'

Dragons Blood is an old sedum variety, but it still shows up in nurseries, and for good cause. Foliage first emerges a bright red, and mellows to a lovely green with red margins during the summer months. Leaves become brilliantly red with cool autumn temperatures. Deep rosy-red flowers contrast with the green leaves in early summer. Use in rockgardens, along paths, at the edges of summer borders, or in parkstrips. Grows about 3 inches tall and spreads up to 24 inches wide.

Mullein Pink, Rose Campion

Common name:Mullein Pink, Rose Campion
Botanical name:Lychnis coronaria

Rose campion is a charming garden addition. Leaves form a basal rosette of soft, slightly hairy grey-green to silver foliage. Then stems begin to emerge, forming tall spires that become populated with vivid magenta to hot pink flowers from late spring to early summer. It has a self sowing habit, and so may come up in cracks and gaps in walks and along paths. Grows about 24 to 30 inches tall, though the basal foliage remains about 8 or so inches.

Designer: Xeriscape Design

Stacked Stone Garden 4

Photographer: GardenSoft

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.