Regional Picks: Late-Winter Interest – California

1. ‘Mickie’ Rock Rose

Name:Cistus×hybridus‘Mickie’

USDA hardiness zones:7 to 10

Size:18 inches tall and 3 foot wide

Conditions : Full sunlight ; needs salutary drainage , and thrives in arenaceous soils and other soil low in food

Add a hyphen of temperateness to your winter garden with this footing - hug halcyon rock rose . The bright chicken leaves are shoot through with an unorthodox green shopping center , and the event in wintertime is that of a neat golden hill , which frame the foreground of a shrub planting and belt down against the deep unripe leaf of so many winter evergreens . While many rock rose grow woody and sprawling over time , ‘ Mickie ’ continue full and compact without pinching or pruning . Crisp whitened flowers in early summer are a bee magnet and show off nicely against the foliation .

2. Red Hook Sedge

Name:Uncinia rubra

Zones:8 to 11

Size:15 column inch marvelous and 18 column inch wide

condition : Full Dominicus to partial shade on the slide , partial shade to full shade inland ; prefers cool , moist soil

Whether you have a poorly draining area or occasional deluges from a downspout , consider trying crimson hook sedge if you ’re vexed by a damp corner of the garden where nothing wants to rise . It thrives under just those condition and has an unusual bronze - orange colour that goes astonishingly well with most any type of foliage or bloom you pair with it . Its glistening parting have a svelte look , and the black seed head in late summer ascent above the leafage for a spectacular display . While it can reseed when happy , I would never consider it a garden thug .

3. ‘Pacific Fire’ Vine Maple

Name:Acer circinatum‘Pacific Fire’

Zones:5 to 9

Size:12 foundation tall and 8 feet extensive

Conditions : fond shade ; well - enfeeble grease

It can be challenging to find a small tree that stays flyspeck without pruning , but this moderately rise congener of our aboriginal vine maple is easy to pucker into a sheltered side one thousand , the corner of a patio , or a small rooftop garden . Through winter and springtime , the bare stem are awash in color , radiating from pale orange at the alkali of the body to vibrant red coral , with pictorial blood-red tips marking the newest growth . During the originate time of year , lime green leaves with a wide , rounded palmate shape provide a profuse contrast to the sundown - colored stem . This small tree ask regular thick watering .

4. ‘Silver Sabre’ Sage

Name:Salvia officinalis‘Silver Sabre’

Zones:5 to 10

Size:1 foot marvelous and 2 feet wide

condition : Full Dominicus ; well - drain soil

If you ’ve ever planted ‘ tricolour ’ culinary sage ( Salvia officinalis‘Tricolor ’ , Zones 6–9 ) and been disappointed by the lackluster variegation , then ‘ Silver Sabre ’ is deserving a look . This new variety ’s cream - color leaf margins are much wider and , therefore , more centre - catch , and the unexampled growing is a sensational shade of pinko . generate the potent variegation , this is a great plant for adding yr - round of golf interest to container plantings or for land contrast to a classic potager / kitchen garden . engraft it with silver thyme ( Thymus×citriodorus‘Argenteus ’ , Zones 4–9 ) and other colorful edible herbs to add together sunshine to a wintertime veg garden .

Genevieve Schmidt owns a landscape maintenance business firm in Arcata , California .

photograph : ( 1 and 4 ) , good manners of Terra Nova Nurseries Inc. ; ( 2 and 3 ) , Doreen Wynja

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