A charming little "bulb" for Mediterranean- and desert-climate gardens, Babiana tubulosa is grown for its late-winter and early-spring display of starry, long-tubed white flowers. It is native to sandy habitats in the South and West Cape regions of South Africa.

This member of the iris family produces low fans of narrow, hairy, pleated leaves. They arise in late fall or winter from rounded, deeply buried corms with fibrous "tunics." The 2-inch-wide (5-cm), unscented, snow-white to creamy-white...

A showy little "bulb" for Mediterranean- and desert-climate gardens, Babiana villosa is grown for its late-winter and early-spring display of pink or red, unscented blooms. It is native to clay-rich scrublands ("renosterveld") of the West Cape region of South Africa.

This member of the iris family produces low, sparse clumps of hairy, pleated, sword-shaped leaves. They arise in late fall or winter from rounded, deeply buried corms with fibrous "tunics." The 2-inch-wide (5-cm), cup-shaped,...

(Centennial Desert Broom, Desert Broom)

This desert-adapted hardy hybrid is a useful shrub for difficult, hot, dry sites. Its parents are the dwarf coyote brush Baccharis pilularis, a native of California and Oregon, and the little known desert broom, B. sarathroides, native to the southwestern United States. A spreading shrub, ‘Centennial’ produces a lush mound of bright green narrow leaves with serrated edges. This is a valuable color in desert regions where most plants bear leaves of muted color or gray. This shrub...

(Bush Groundsel, Cottonseed Tree, Sea Myrtle)

A puffy-seeded shrub that handles dry and wet soils as well as salty groung, bush groundsel is its prettiest in summer and autumn. Typically evergreen in milder climates, this billowy plant has upright to arching stems that is often lax and floppy, but more rounded shrubs are encountered. It is native to the United States from Massachusetts to Texas as well as in nearby Mexico and the West Indies.

Softly light green, the foliage is small oval leaves with irregular, jae\gged edges. Plants are...

(Coyotebrush, Coyotebush)

In spite of months without rain on the embankments of Los Angeles freeways, this drought-resistant shrub remains green year round. The plant grows as a spreading mound of small, rounded green leaves with serrated edges. It blooms in spring but the flowers are insignificant. They give way to tufted seed pods which mature in fall but many gardeners consider unsightly.

Also known as Dwarf Coyote Bush, this shrub is native to regions of California and Oregon where plants may go for over six months...

(Coyotebrush, Coyotebush, Twin Peaks Coyotebrush)

Counted among the very best of drought-resistant evergreen groundcovers, ‘Twin Peaks’ is a selection of Dwarf Coyote Bush, a native of coastal California and Oregon where plants can go for over six months without rainfall. Though it tolerates drought, ‘Twin Peaks’ can brown and lose leaves in extreme heat. The plants grows as a spreading mound of small, rounded green leaves with serrated edges. Plants bloom in spring but flowers are insignificant and give way to tufted seed pods which mature in fall...

(Brahmi, Herb-of-Grace, Water Hyssop)

This low-growing, spreading aquatic perennial is a common water weed found along stream margins, pond edges and wet sands of the southern United States and adjacent Mexico. Its small, succulent leaves create a mat of foliage that becomes dotted with small, pale flowers. It creates attractive cover for waterway margins and makes a fine container specimen.

The small leaves of water hyssop are oval, lustrous and fleshy. From spring to fall, lots of small, single flowers are produced along the...

(Desert Marigold)

Desert marigold is a tender, perennial wildflower that offers a brilliant show for a short time in spring. It is native to the low deserts of southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico. There it’s found in infertile, sandy or gravelly soils. It is visible in large populations for weeks in spring when new plants sprout from seeds. Only in the warmest regions do plants become perennial as they do not stand the slightest frost. Even there most fail to survive extreme summer heat and drought. However, in...

(Arrowleaf Balsamroot)

This cheerful golden-flowered perennial is a tough compact mountain dweller. It is native to most western states, and western Canada, where it inhabits forest clearings and sandy outcrops from 1000 feet (304.8 m) up to the timber line. Each plant produces a very large carrot-like root that affords excellent drought resistance where summer rainfall is rare.

The short wide-leaved plants produce individual clumps of emerald green, and put forth many leafless stems topped with golden daisies in...

(Carolina Moonlight False Indigo, Hybrid False Indigo)

Beautifully clumping with upright stems clothed in bluish green leaves, Carolina Moonlight false indigo has pretty spikes of light yellow flowers in mid-spring to early summer. A hybrid herbaceous perennial, it resulted from the cross of Baptisia alba with B. sphaerocarpa. It is slow growing with a deep taproot.

The blue-green to light green leaves have three oval leaflets. Depending on severity of the winter, the emergent stems and leaves will produce an upright flower spike...