Summer-Dry

04/17/2025

An important new blog "Making the Most of Zone Zero" considers California's upcoming new landscaping ordinance prohibiting vegetation with in 5 feet (Zone 0) of homes.
https://summer-dry.com/making-the-most-of-zone-zero/

Now, in the midst of tumultuous climate change, we realize it’s all the more important that gardeners be stewards of the land, attuned to the local environment on behalf of all creatures. Every small act we do adds resiliency Garden Where You Are Garden Plants Fire and

11/21/2024

Our new blog post is about Leucospermums which should be more common in summer-dry climate gardens:

“Outside of South Africa, where almost all are endemic, leucospermums are best known for their otherworldly cut flowers. Gardeners in other mild-winter, summer-dry climates likely purchase the flowers without realizing that they might be able to grow them.”
https://summer-dry.com/leucospermums/

08/28/2024

Puya are surprisingly easy but require plenty of space. New blog post:
https://summer-dry.com/the-chilean-puyas/

08/09/2024

We hope you are seeing our page after reading the newsletter and will join in a discussion about seasons in the broad geographic range of summer-dry climates.

We photographed three of the photos seen here in Seattle in early June when gardens were still green and lush; and three photos in late August at UC Davis in the very hot and dry central valley of California.

Both are summer-dry climates and there is beauty in all seasons. Do you find beauty in your garden all year ?

06/29/2024

We include the Pacific Northwest in the summer-dry climate of the West Coast. As in all climates , native plants are always the best adapted, and it was exciting to photograph two award winning gardens recently for Pacific Horticulture's design awards:

From Jonathan Hallet’s Supernature firm:
- a front yard native meadow sloping to the street
- a view of the back yard meadow looking out from existing poplar trees
- kids at play in the meadow. Who says kid’s need lawns ?!
From GGN Landscape Architects:
- a small space with patio edged in a layered native border
- the side garden with shade tolerant ferns and shrubs
- a stumpery in an incredibly narrow front garden abutting a sidewalk.

06/29/2024

For better of worse I spend a lot of time indoors staring at the computer screen tweeking photos, making subtle and not so subtle adjustments. I have become particularly carried away as I go through the photos of GROWISER - a most inspiring, nearly mystical place I visited with my pal David Perry a couple weeks ago. I posted a few images that I created as banners a couple days ago here, and confess to getting lost in art filters today.

I will likely post more photos in a day or two but had extra fun with the images of the mountain lady slipper orchid (Cypripedium montanum) that can be found in the woods there. While 'working the scene', admiring the flowers, waiting for complete stillness, Dave took my photo. I had no idea he was even watching me - I was so absorbed in the bliss; but I am delighted he did - it tells this story better than my photos.

And Dave tells great stories on Substack. This link (if it works) is his own wonderful of the ladyslipper story he has called "The Yoda of Wildflowers"
https://davideperry.substack.com/p/the-yoda-of-wildflowers?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2

06/27/2024

Proud to be a sponsor of Pacific Horticulture's Design Futurist award. And we get to photograph the award winner as a prize for them - and new content for us. 🤫 If you know designers in the Pacific Region let them know. Great jury.
https://pacifichorticulture.org/design-futurist/

At Summer-Dry we celebrate resilient plants and gardens in summer-dry or mediterranean climates

05/16/2024

Reviewing my file of May photos in the Desert Garden at the Huntington for my summer-dry Instagram feed. (you are not following .gardens ?!)

That is one heck of a garden 😃

04/27/2024

The monkey-hand shrubs are flowering ! See the blog post to understand the science behind this intergeneric cross.
https://summer-dry.com/x-chiranthomontodendron-lenzii-whats-in-a-name/

01/25/2024

Sumacs are current or former members of the genus Rhus, notorious for those species that spread aggressively by suckers or by seed (e.g., staghorn sumac, African sumac) as well as for those that through mere touch can bring on a ferocious rash (poison ivy, poison oak). Yet there are well-behaved and beneficent sumacs too. Several of these are exceptionally fine shrubs native to mild-winter, summer-dry southern California, Mexico, and parts of the American southwest. Read more in new blog post:
https://summer-dry.com/some-mild-winter-summer-dry-sumacs/

11/14/2023

Every month Nora writes a new feature for The Summer-Dry website about a plant that deserves special recognition. This month features Correa or Australian Fuchsia.
https://summer-dry.com/australian-fuchsia/

"Plants native to southwestern Western Australia are well known to gardeners in other mild, winter-wet, summer-dry climates. Less widely known, perhaps, are plants endemic to southeastern Australia, where topography and climate are more diverse. The Australian fuchsias (Correa species) are native almost exclusively to this part of the world..."

08/23/2023

Garden Design Tip 002 - Grasses.
As the landscape dries up and we move from late summer into autumn, grasses start to take prominence in the garden. In this California native plant garden, Muhlenbergia rigens (Deer Grass) is beautifully framed by the manzanita placed by the path leading into the garden.
The Muhlenbergia is a large showy perennial bunch grass and becomes a focal point among the smaller meadow grasses.
Who needs lawn ?!
https://summer-dry.com

08/22/2023

Newest Blog post on Amaryllis begins:
"Just as daffodils are the classic heralds of spring, the large, usually pink, trumpet-shaped flowers of Amaryllis belladonna are a sure sign of impending fall."
https://summer-dry.com/amaryllis-belladonna/

07/26/2023

Garden Design Tip 001: This small Los Angeles back yard has a large wooden truss pergola set back from the house, past the native plant garden with its small bubbling fountain. This creates a garden room to look back to the house seemingly set in the wild. The red arrow points to the same post, seen from opposite views.

05/19/2023

Agave striata is featured in our newest blog post (link in bio) which begins: "There is a place in almost every garden for the calming effect of architectural or sculptural plants" photo in Craig Quist garden Portland OR
https://summer-dry.com/agave-striata/

04/27/2023

The new blog post, Is it Okay to Feed the Birds? begins: "Birds are what bring a garden to life and gardeners have always known this."
https://summer-dry.com/is-it-okay-to-feed-the-birds/