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Modern Home Ancient Plants 5
St. Catherine's Lace
Firebird Border Penstemon
Howard McMinn Manzanita
Arizona Flattop Buckwheat
Pacific Wax Myrtle
St. Catherine's Lace

Common name:St. Catherine's Lace
Botanical name:Eriogonum giganteum

St. Catherine's Lace is a large open shrub growing 4'-5' high and 3'-4' wide with woolly, gray leaves and flat clusters of cream flowers that turn rust with age. It is a CA native that is drought tolerant. It attracts butterflies and beneficial insects. - Cornflower Farms

Firebird Border Penstemon

Common name:Firebird Border Penstemon
Botanical name:Penstemon hybrids 'Firebird'

Penstemon gloxiniodes 'Firebird' is perennial, but sometimes treated as an annual. It has a compact, bushy, upright growth to 4' tall. Tubular summer flowers in loose spikes appear at the stem ends, in a rosy red color.

Howard McMinn Manzanita

Common name:Howard McMinn Manzanita
Botanical name:Arctostaphylos densiflora 'Howard McMinn

This shrub is highly appreciated for its decorative characteristics, which include a dense show of small, pale pink urn-shaped flowers. Above all, it is the mahogany-red to brown bark (which peels beautifully) that is the major attraction. Its fruit resembles the tike apple, and the flowers contrast perfectly to the light green leaf (which can get rather tough). It blooms from late winter to spring. - Cornflower Farms

Arizona Flattop Buckwheat

Common name:Arizona Flattop Buckwheat
Botanical name:Eriogonum fasciculatum polifolium

Flattop buckwheat is a clumping, grass-like plant that grows to 3' tall by 4' wide. White to pink flowers appear in dense, flattened clusters throughout the summer. Plants are tolerant of drought and heat. It is adaptable to most soil conditions but prefers a coarse, well drained site in full sun. It has a naturally low, rounded form. Leaves are dark and gray green with white woolly undersides. This is a highly combustible plant.

Pacific Wax Myrtle

Common name:Pacific Wax Myrtle
Botanical name:Myrica californica

This large shrub/tree can reach 30' tall and has glossy, dark green leaves with purple nutlets that attract birds. It is used very effectively as a screen.

Designer: David Shields

Modern Home Ancient Plants 5

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.

Integrated Pest Management:

Remove irrigation water and fertilizer from areas where you don't want weeds to grow.