Drought-Tolerant Color

“Unthirsty” plants are in style now that the five-year drought is forcing Southern Californians to conserve water. Kathryn Rue, a landscape designer of Rue Group Inc. in Fullerton, says customers often call up and ask, “Do you know about xeriscape?”

“We’ve known about it for years, but no one wanted to hear about it until recently,” Rue says.

Xeriscaping, or the use of native plants to reduce watering and maintenance, doesn’t have to mean drab gardens. Here are five of the most popular flowering drought-resistant plants, according to Rue and other local landscape architects and designers.

More drought-tolerant plants can be found in the booklet “The Unthirsty 100,” available from the Metropolitan Water District, P.O. Box 54153 Terminal Annex, Los Angeles, CA 90054.

Ceanothus (California Lilac) is a dark green shrub with frothy bunches of flowers that range from white to blue. Most varieties are California natives and need no water once they are established. Different varieties can be used as tall shrubs or a ground cover only a few inches high. It grows very fast, should not be pruned, and lives about 10 years.

Cistus (Rockrose) is a bush that grows from two to six feet tall, with pink or white flowers with yellow centers. It needs very little water--in fact, too much can kill it. Itflourishes in hot sun and poor soil. A California native variety with yellow flowers often appears after fires.

Limonium (Sea Lavender) is a perennial with pale purple or yellow flowers. One native and two naturalized species grow wild along the coast and in salt marshes. It, too needs next to no water.

Lantana can also grow rapidly to as high as six feet. It has multi-colored flower clusters in yellow, red, white and lavender. It needs deep but infrequent watering.