Salvia “May Nightâ€
Lightning Landscaping & Irrigation, our neighborhood landscaping contractor, is working on revamping the plantings in our neighborhood common areas. One of Lightning’s goals for these areas is to use drought- resistant plants so that less-frequent watering will be required this summer. Charlie Jobe with Lightning has some recommendations for attractive, drought-resistant (and low-maintenance) plants that are likely to do well in the yards of our neighborhood.
The first plant he recommends is Wine & Roses weigela, which is a flowering shrub that blooms through the summer. The weigela requires a good bit of sun; for shadier yards, he likes azaleas or rhododendrons. Azalea blooms last longer than rhododendron blooms, but rhododendrons have large, glossy foliage. He also recommends knockout roses: they are hardy and bloom throughout the season; Home Run roses would also work well in Greenway Fields yards. Finally, Charlie recommends May Night salvia, which is a pretty perennial that requires very little maintenance, other than pruning spent blooms. Keep these plants in mind as you hit the nursery and get your yard ready for the growing season ahead.