(White Mulberry)

This white mulberry, 'Striblingii,' differs from its parent species in two ways: the leaves are deeply lobed and the tree is fruitless. Like all white mulberries, it is a medium-large deciduous tree with a broad canopy renowned as a shade maker in hot climates. The species is a native of China where its leaves are used to feed worms used in the ancient process of silk making. The strong trunk and branches bear a pleasing grayish-white smooth bark from which it received its common name. Leaves are...

(Pink Muhly Grass)

The fluffy pink plumes of pink muhly grass are garden cotton candy for the eye. This clump-forming, warm season grass is native to the eastern United States, Mexico, and West Indies. In the wild, it can be found in open sites with sharply drained, sandy or gravelly soils. It is also common to prairies and coastal plains.

Through summer, this tidy grass produces clumps of fine-textured, deep green blades. Panicles of wispy pink, grassy flowers are produced in late summer to early fall. These...

(Pink Muhly Grass, Texas Muhly Grass)

Pink muhly grass is a clumping, warm season perennial native to the eastern United States, Mexico, and the West Indies. This selection, ‘Regal Mist,’ has long, narrow blades and tall, stiff flower stems that produce a cloud of deep, rosy-pink bloom in the late summer.

Muhly grass needs very little care, and tolerates a wide range of conditions, from wet to dry sites, acidic to alkaline soil, salt spray, and poor soil conditions. It is drought tolerant, but limiting water can also limit the mature...

(Muhly Grass, White Muhly Grass)

White muhly grass is a clumping, warm-season perennial native to the eastern United States, Mexico, and the West Indies. This fine-textured grass blooms in late summer with a cloud of ivory flowers on upright flower stems.

Muhly grass needs very little care, and tolerates a wide range of conditions, from wet to dry sites, acidic to alkaline soil, salt spray, and poor soil conditions. It is drought tolerant, but limiting water can also limit the mature vigor and size of the plant. The spectacular...

(Bull Grass)

Very drought tolerant, bull grass has fine, bluish, gray-green leaf blades that arch into a mound and wispy purple flowers in autumn. A clump-forming perennial grass, it is native to the oak woodlands of the extreme southwestern United States and adjacent northern Mexico.

As the fresh foliage emerges in spring it is long and narrowly linear, colored a lush blue-green. As summer progresses, the leaves can become more gray-green. In early fall, flower stems rise high above the foliage and at their...

(Muhly Grass)

Bringing a graceful, mounding mass of fine, blue-green foliage to the garden, blue muhly grass is a resilient and beautiful perennial. Native to the dry prairies and rocky hillsides of Texas and northern Mexico, it is semi-evergreen, becoming fully dried only in the coldest reaches of its hardiness range in winter. The long, fine leaf blades of blue muhly grass are grayish blue-green and form a tight clump, weeping downward at their tips. In early fall tall, lavender-blue stems rise high above the...

(Deer Grass)

In dry, hot climates where exotic ornamental grasses present an invasiveness problem, this is a rare safe and outstanding variety for beds and borders. Native to the Southwest U.S. from California to Texas and into Mexico, this large perennial species is found on hillsides, canyons, open forests, and high elevations. The fine, light green leaves are narrow and densely gathered into a beautiful, symmetrical clump. They dry to a wheat-straw color in fall and hold up well under winter snow.

Deer...

(Slender Myoporum)

This heat-loving evergreen shrub is highly valuable to landscapes in arid inland climates where extreme temperatures are common. It is native to the hot interior plains of Australia where droughts can be lengthy. This is a low-growing shrub, usually wider than tall. The leaves are the size of a fingernail, toothy-edged and medium-green. This species can be short-lived and declines at an average age of 5 to 6 years, but this is variable depending on location.

This shrub blooms heavily in early...

(Davis Slender Myoporum, Slender Myoporum)

Selected for its natural vigor and low profile, 'Davis' is an excellent evergreen groundcover for erosion control. It is highly recommended for arid climates where extreme temperatures are common. Its parent species is native to the hot, interior plains of Australia where periods of extended drought are common. This variety was selected at the University of California at Davis and introduced in 1989. It is a low-growing shrub and can grow much wider than tall. The narrow, lance-shaped leaves are...

(Putah Creek Myoporum, Slender Myoporum)

This vigorous, heat-loving evergreen shrub is more lush than its parent species, making it a better choice for landscapes in arid inland climates where extreme temperatures are common. The species is native to the hot, interior plains of Australia where periods of extended drought are common. This is a low-growing shrub and much wider than tall. The leaves of 'Putah Creek' are two thirds larger than those of the species but have the same toothy edges. These plants can occasionally be short-lived,...