West Wall

Lavandula 'Grosso' and Artemesia versicolor against west wall.


There is a wall in my somewhat protected courtyard that faces west. In the winter, the heat collected by the wall is rather nice, making the courtyard a bit warmer than the more exposed areas which in the late afternoon are still only slightly above freezing. In the summer, however, that same warmth collection can make the area a blazing inferno. It is a particularly challenging place to garden. Plants have to be particularly tough to withstand the heat and blisteringly bright sunlight. You’d think that this would be a good place to put the borderline hardy plants, but despite the warmer afternoons, the temperature plummets at night when icy winter winds suck the heat right out and it gets just about as cold as the rest of the garden.

Many of the first plants I planted here suffered miserably, being unable to tolerate the reflected summer heat and the pronounced winter temperature swings. The daily freeze/thaw that occurs is even more taxing on plant tissues than the more constant cold that keeps the plants dormant. Although the silvery foliage of Rosemary ‘Arp’ tolerated the summer heat, the winter temperature swings caused even this hardiest of rosemaries to suffer tip burn. Salvia officinalis purpurascens fried to a crisp. Echinacea wilted miserably and showed unhappy brown edges on leaves and flowers. Old rose ‘Madame Isaac Pereire’ grew well, but the heat arrived just as the first flowers opened, making crispy dried rose buds. Sedum ‘Vera Jameson’ turned from its renowned dusky purple to green, then to brown. Penstemon ‘Husker Red’ showed barely a hint of red during the summer, being burned out by the sun. Trachelospermum jasminoides (star jasmine) survived one winter, not the next.

It is through trial and error that I’ve discovered what will survive in this challenging climate. I could have chosen a garden of native plants, many which would have easily tolerated the climate, but instead I wanted to go with a historical idea of the courtyard, which is a place for exotic plants collected during one’s travels. I desired to have a mediterranean plants in the courtyard, and figured that the relative winter warmth would help them survive. I had also decided that my small courtyard would be where I used the most water, though certainly not thirsty by any means. Perhaps I was lucky in wishing for mediterranean plants, since most are naturally quite heat tolerant, though not particularly cold tolerant.



Salvia coahuilensis, Allium christophii, Rosmarinus 'Salem', Artemesia versicolor against west wall.


One of my first discoveries was that although the temperature drops in the winter were dramatic, the soil retained some of that heat through the night. This meant that although the above-ground parts of a plant suffered, the underground portions were provided for more moderate climate. The plants that could most take advantage of this circumstance are the borderline bulbs. The quality certainly wasn’t enough to push a climate zone, but it was enough for some. I quickly found that it wasn’t enough for winter-growing bulbs such as freesia and Scilla peruviana, but it was enough for Hymenocallis, calla lilies, and cannas (though cannas are not of a color that I desired for this blue and white garden). Agapanthus seems to desire a yet more moderate winter, and a cooler summer, so although they survive in shaded areas, they are never truly happy. I’m sure there are more if I really tried to find more, such as the crocosmias, maybe some gingers, dahlias, tulbaghia, crinum, gladiolus and even Hippeastrum (Amaryllis) which grows in sheltered nooks around the city.

But as pleasurable as they are, I didn’t want a garden based solely on bulbs. That would leave me with bare ground throughout the winter, and though I love the look of these secret gems bursting from the ground in the spring, I couldn’t tolerate the thought of the long months of bleakness.

One of my first successes, after my series of miserable failures, was the ‘Seafoam’ artemesia (Artemesia versicolor). The leaves are a delicate silvery filagree, growing to about 8-12 inches in height, not counting flower stems. Like the other artemesias, the flowers aren’t the thing, its the leaves. This delicate looking plant is instead a rugged toughie when it comes to heat and drought, unlike ‘Silver Mound’ artemesia which melts in the heat. It is also unlike the garden thugs of Artemesia ludoviciana varieties (‘Silver King’ and ‘Silver Queen’), or Artemesia ‘Silver Frost’ which in the pictures looks similar (as described by Lauren Springer, who describes them in her great book Passionate Gardening, and who introduced Artemesia versicolor from England). Artemesia versicolor behaves more like a diminutive ‘Powis Castle’, rooting from the creeping stems. Before I realized that it spread this way, I tried to grow Seafoam from cuttings - they failed each time. It’s easy from divisions, however. Soon I was planting it everywhere in my garden and now it’s my default plant for difficult places.

I tried several varieties of rosemary against the wall. After I grew tired of the way ‘Arp’ burned in the winter, had rather inconspicuous flowers (pale blue against grey), and required frequent pruning to keep it from flopping, I replaced it with ‘Tuscan Blue’ which despite the deliciously lemony foliage, also suffered from tip burn, and refused to bloom more than a few of its famously blue flowers. After a few seasons, this has been replaced with ‘Salem’ which despite this winter’s ferocious cold, did not show a bit of tip burn. Unfortunately, it also did not show a bit of bloom. We’ll see what this next year brings. In other parts of the courtyard, ‘Gorizia’ has survived the winter beautifully with textural, sculptural form and pinkish blue flowers. ‘Blue Spires’ has brighter blue flowers and similarly upright form, but of smaller texture. Pictures are in earlier posts.

Lavender stoechas ‘Otto Quast’ did well against the wall until trampled by the stucco-istas, and I wasn’t delighted by the bracts which are red-purple rather than the blue/violet that I was looking for. This was replaced by a lavender sold to me as ‘Hidcote’ but is clearly not, having long stems and pale calyces rather than the compact stature and vibrant colors of calyx and corolla that Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ is famous for. ‘Hidcote Superior’ from High Country Gardens was planted last year, and seems to be surviving the heat as well as any of the lavenders. Other Lavandula stoechas cultivars have been tried, but have not survived the winter. Lavandula x intermedia ‘Provence’ did just fine, and has an exceptional scent, but I’ve had to admit that it grows too large for the space and paler flowers than I desire, the effect being more grey than purple. It will be with great sadness that I will remove it. Another famous intermedia hybrid ‘Grosso’ is slightly more compact, with much darker flowers, a more lax habit and a more camphorous scent than the sweet ‘Provence’.

Despite my failure with Salvia officinalis, other species in the genus have done well. I wish that ‘Indigo Spires’ didn’t wilt quite so dramatically in the afternoon sun, looking like steamed lettuce, but it does perk up once the sun is off the leaves. I’ve moved it to another part of the courtyard that is shaded in the afternoon. I tried replacing it with the newer hybrid ‘Mystic Spires’ which has similar floral color, but ‘Mystic Spires,’ despite, or because of, it’s compact nature, lacks the grace of the long (2 foot) twisted purple flower spikes of ‘Indigo Spires’, and I’ve put another ‘Indigo Spires’ in its place.

An early success was Salvia nemerosa ‘May Night’. Not only did it tolerate heat of the west wall, but nearly always had some bloom until the cold of late November. Salvia ‘Caradonna’ seems to have similar tolerance. Something to keep in mind is that Salvia nemerosa can be a tough plant to remove once it is established. You can dig it up easily enough, but it sprouts from root bits. Salvia coahuilensis has a similar quality in being stoloniferous, but I haven’t tried to remove it. It grows more like Salvia greggii, although with rather sparse but long-blooming rich purple flowers.

I planted Salvia daghestanica since I figured its silvery leaves would protect it from heat. This has in fact proven true, and it has bloomed magnificently this year. It is a plant that takes a few years to get up to speed however, so keep this in mind. Of course mine being trampled by the stucco-istas last year didn’t help either.

The grey leaves of Origanum dictamnus has also helped it survive the blazing sunlight. It is slightly sensitive to winter cold, and I would expect that it wouldn’t survive the winter cold in an exposed site. The leaves are silvery, round, and gorgeously fuzzy, and has the cute hop-like flowers in a reddish purple, which is unfortunately, the color I’m trying to avoid, but the plants are so delightful that I’ll never get rid of it. Origanum ‘Kent Beauty’ has matte spring green leaves which do not tolerate the double direct sun and reflected brilliance of the west wall. It does tolerate the heat and winter cold a few yards away from the wall. Similarly, the olive leaves of O. libanoticum do better away from the wall. O. sipleum although quite charming in its tiny leaves and purple tinged earring bracts suffers from winter cold no matter where I seem to put it. Supposedly it does fine in Santa Fe. Go figure.


Origanum 'Kent Beauty'

The silvery leafed Veronica tauricula does well in this location, having shockingly beautiful blue flowers in early spring. Ballota pseudodictamnus is less of a “pseudo dictamnus” and more of a “pseudo marrubium” in my eyes, but it does have similar nummular silvery leaves, and the benefit of satellite-dish bracts.

Mediterranean Cistus does surprisingly well in this location, shrugging off the heat, and tolerating reasonably well the winter cold, where in other parts of the garden it suffers severely from cold or dies outright. Another mediterranean, Euphorbia characias and its cultivars ‘Redwing’ and ‘Blackbird’ have done just fine in both heat and cold, ‘Blackbird’ even retaining some dark tone to its foliage when other red leaved plants fade to green or burn.

Last but not least, the super-hardy fan palm Trachycarpus fortunei has done well in the winter-protected nook against the house, and tolerates the sunlight and heat without burning. It would be happier with some winter protection.

Although this site was initially frustrating, I’ve discovered enough plants to make for a satisfying area. I’ve even been able to maintain my blue mediterranean theme. It just has taken some trial and error. In finding plants for this area, I’m not heat exhausted yet.


Allium christophii, Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote', Cistus 'Anne Palmer', Artemesia versicolor, Penstemon grandiflorus hanging out in the west wing.