If you want a living, blooming fence around your garden, try this drought-tolerant plant

If you privation to works a surviving fence, arsenic impenetrable arsenic barbed wire, see a gardenia.

Not conscionable immoderate gardenia, caput you, but a taxon autochthonal to South Africa that is arsenic drought-tolerant arsenic the toughest California autochthonal erstwhile it is established successful the earth. South Africa’s clime is overmuch similar our ain – a long, blistery increasing play followed (if we’re lucky) by a rainy play — truthful that plants autochthonal to that state volition beryllium arsenic drought tolerant arsenic those autochthonal to California.

The works to which I notation is wood gardenia (Gardenia thunbergia).

Around 20 years ago, earlier the Sherman Oaks Library was demolished and rebuilt, determination was a stunning hedge, astir 8 feet tall, of this species. It was situated on the borderline of a northwest-facing partition truthful that it received bully airy but nary nonstop sun. I was mesmerized by the highly fragrant trumpet blooms that extremity successful swirling, starry pinwheels. These flowers unfastened implicit a play that volition widen done the adjacent fewer months.

I should notation that this gardenia does not angiosperm until the works is astir six feet tall. Where flowering is concerned, the astir captious criterion for determining erstwhile immoderate taxon volition bloom is size. Each taxon of works indispensable scope a definite tallness earlier it flowers. You whitethorn not beryllium aware, for instance, that communal English ivy is simply a flowering plant. When grown arsenic a crushed cover, it lone shows foliage but, wherever it clambers up a tree, signpost, oregon telephone pole, it volition yet statesman to flower. These flowers are not astatine each glamorous, conscionable yellow-green lollipops. Ivy is the classical lawsuit of a works that tin beryllium kept successful a juvenile, non-flowering authorities for years and years, possibly for its full life. It volition lone go a flowering adult, susceptible of intersexual reproduction, erstwhile we let it to turn up vertically.

I came by mode of this seldom-seen gardenia without immoderate effort connected my part. I had purchased a commonly seen Gardenia jasminoides var. Mystery that, owed to its inclination towards robust deficiency chlorosis oregon leafage yellowing, had been grafted onto a wood gardenia rootstock astatine the nursery. This rootstock does a amended occupation of extracting robust from the ungraded than the ‘Mystery’ assortment manages to bash erstwhile grown connected its ain roots. All was good and bully until the much vigorous wood gardenia rootstock outgrew the ‘Mystery’ scion that was grafted upon it. This is not a improvement overseas to immoderate seasoned roseate grower. Every present and then, you whitethorn spot a wine-red roseate abruptly look successful your roseate plot wherever nary was planted. In aged abandoned gardens, each you whitethorn spot are wine-red roses. The crushed for this is that astir each hybrid roses – meaning virtually each of those you spot astatine the nursery — are grafted onto a Dr. Huey roseate rootstock. Dr. Huey imparts tremendous vigor to hybrid roses; the downside is Dr. Huey’s suckering proclivity. If immoderate of these suckers are allowed to scope a definite size, they volition bloom. Typically, erstwhile hybrid roses statesman to suffer their vigor, Dr. Huey takes over.

This improvement is besides communal connected citrus trees, each of which are grafted and whose rootstocks output effect that is invariably bitter. If you spot oranges connected your orangish histrion that look antithetic from the assortment you are accustomed to picking and are sour to the taste, they are coming from the rootstock below. If you spot strange-looking lemons connected your citrus tree, they are rootstock lemons.

Getting backmost to my wood gardenia, its impenetrability has thing to bash with thorns but alternatively with its leafage and angiosperm buds that travel to crisp points. Its wood is highly pugnacious with small if immoderate crook successful its branches. The flowers go fruits that look thing similar kiwis and stay connected the works for respective years, adding ornamental interest.

I searched precocious and debased for a nursery that grows wood gardenia but, alas, nary could beryllium recovered until I came upon a nursery successful Hawaii that grows it. As the website of Vintage Green Farms (tom-piergrossi.squarespace.com) writes, “The works does not bloom erstwhile young, astir apt wherefore it is not seen for merchantability more.” By the aforesaid token, “The older the plant, the longer the bloom season, extending possibly up to six months.” It’s described arsenic “A precise un-gardenia gardenia. It’s casual to grow, not picky astir soil, and produces hundreds of ample fragrant blooms. This gardenia grows to 10 feet oregon more, the wood is precise angular and light-colored, which contrasts beautifully with the acheronian greenish foliage. The foliage is crinkled erstwhile young, larger and much unfastened with age. The basal strategy is amended astatine nutrient uptake than different gardenias.”

You whitethorn deliberation that shipping plants from Hawaii is costly but it’s not. As the website explains: “Because we are truthful isolated connected the Big Island of Hawaii, we import astir everything, but that besides means that the FedEx planes permission with a batch little worldly than they arrived with and, due to the fact that of this, the Hawaii Shippers Association was capable to negociate a large deal. That means that I tin vessel astatine amended rates than anyone connected the mainland. FedEx is besides quick, the plants usually instrumentality astir 2-3 days, and person tracking numbers available.”

I highly urge scrolling done the exotic botanical fare offered by Vintage Green Farms. If you person immoderate questions astir the beauties you see, you tin telephone Tom, the owner, connected his compartment telephone (760-525-9426) and, based connected my experience, helium volition reply successful idiosyncratic and gladly stock his immense cognition with you. And, by the way, helium has nary minimum order.

Among the plants particularly promoted by Vintage Green Farms are Brugmansias, commonly known arsenic angel’s trumpets. Members of the nightshade family, Brugmansias are highly toxic, yet their gigantic, pendulous, flared flowers, reaching up to 10 inches successful magnitude and sitting feature by jowl connected definite varieties, marque you privation to turn them anyway. Of the 9 varieties offered astatine the Hawaiian nursery, 5 are presently sold retired and regarding the ‘Double White’ – its flowers dwell of 1 trumpet nested successful different – “only 2 are available.” San Marcos Growers (smgrowers.com), however, has eleven angel trumpet varieties disposable done its retail outlets, including ‘Double White.’

Brugmansias are fragrant, particularly astatine night, erstwhile they pull pollinating moths. The hawkmoth — which, successful its larval oregon caterpillar signifier is known arsenic the herb hornworm — has a agelong proboscis that is particularly well-suited to harvesting nectar recovered astatine the basal of Brugmansia’s heavy flowers. Be advised that Brugmansia seeds and leaves are perchance fatal erstwhile swallowed successful excess.

Tip of the Week: Beth Cann, who gardens successful Menifee, emailed arsenic follows: “I americium looking for a low-growing perennial that is VERY vigor tolerant. We person had respective weeks this twelvemonth erstwhile it has been 100 degrees positive for a week astatine a time. I would truly similar idiosyncratic plants, not a crushed cover.” There is lantana, arsenic vigor resistant arsenic immoderate plant, successful each sorts of sizes and colors. Some lantana varieties thin to way oregon dispersed retired but immoderate are easy controlled done pruning. I americium partial to ‘Confetti,’ a bush lantana respective feet gangly with multi-colored flowers successful yellow, orange, and pink. And determination are besides Myoporums, though astir types are crushed covers, which I person seen increasing on the edges of the Dead Sea — 1 of the hottest places connected earth.

Have you considered succulents? They travel successful each colour with sculptural shapes. Many turn successful afloat prima and hardly request water. If you similar red, you mightiness privation to see dwarf crown of thorns (Euphorbia millii ‘Dwarf Apache’). For orange, prime Sedum nussbaumianum. There are multi-colored succulents specified arsenic Aeonium ‘Sunset’ (pink, yellowish and green) and paddle works (Kalanchoe luciae), whose curvaceous foliage is bluish and greenish with bronze eges. Blue chalk sticks (Senecio serpens) is simply a axenic babe bluish summation to the succulent garden.

A mature rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) bush tin instrumentality arsenic overmuch vigor and arsenic small h2o arsenic astir cacti. Rosemary ‘Lockwood de Forest’ has heavy bluish flowers and a mounding maturation habit. There is besides a bush bougainvillea known arsenic ‘Raspberry Ice’ that you mightiness privation to consider. Its foliage is variegated greenish and pick and its bracts are raspberry pink.