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Tour: Water Agency Demonstration Gardens

Carpinteria Demo Garden Bed
Licorice Plant
Compact Karo
Century Plant, Maguey
Jerusalem Sage
Dara's Choice Creeping Sage
Provence Lavender
Radiance Flax
Licorice Plant

Common name:Licorice Plant
Botanical name:Helichrysum petiolare

This groundcover will grow 1'-3' high and has clumped light green leaves. It does well in full sun and dry soil.

Compact Karo

Common name:Compact Karo
Botanical name:Pittosporum crassifolium 'Compactum'

Pittosporum crassifolium 'Nana' is an evergreen shrub or tree. It can reach 25' tall and 20' wide in 8-10 years. Branches are densely clothed in gray green, with 1"-2" long leaves that have rounded ends. It produces maroon flowers in late spring.

Century Plant, Maguey

Common name:Century Plant, Maguey
Botanical name:Agave americana

This plant is fast growing to about 6'-10' tall and 8'-13' wide. Wide gray leaves have stiff terminal spines and recurved teeth on margins. It prefers full sun and well-drained situations. After blooming, which could take several years, it will die but will send up new pups from around the base. Some people are allergic to the sap. Removal is difficult if unwanted.

Jerusalem Sage

Common name:Jerusalem Sage
Botanical name:Phlomis fruticosa

This hardy perennial is a useful, old-time garden plant with coarse, woolly gray green, wrinkled leaves and yellow, 1" flowers in ball-shaped whorls. It handles drought and poor soils but needs full sun.

Dara's Choice Creeping Sage

Common name:Dara's Choice Creeping Sage
Botanical name:Salvia sonomensis 'Dara's Choice'

This California native prostrate plant is 6"-12" high and 2'-3' wide, with bluish purple flowers held above rough, dark green leaves.

Provence Lavender

Common name:Provence Lavender
Botanical name:Lavandula X intermedia 'Provence'

With tall 24"-30" stems, 'Provence' has true, lavender colored flowers that are fragrant and excellent for cutting. It flowers in early June and has large, gray green leaves.

Radiance Flax

Common name:Radiance Flax
Botanical name:Phormium 'Radiance'

Phormium 'Radiance' is an evergreen perennial. It is a 6'-8' tall, dramatic plant composed of many swordlike, stiffly vertical leaves in a fan pattern. The leaves are variegated yellow and green.

Designer:

Carpinteria Demo Garden Bed
Image: 2 of 12

Photographer: GardenSoft

Soils and Compost:

Maintain a two to four inch layer of mulch on the soil surface to reduce weeds, infiltrate rain water, and reduce compaction.

Integrated Pest Management:

Develop healthy soil for plants that are vigorous and naturally pest-resistant.