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Roses: the surprising drought-tolerant plant for your Southern California landscape!

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 29, 2007 at 2:29 pm

clwa-garden-small.jpgHere’s proof that drought-tolerant plants don’t always mean cacti and succulents.

A trip to the Castaic Lake Conservatory Garden in Santa Clarita found many varieties of roses blooming even in these hot days of summer. The garden featured many different varieties of both full-size and miniature roses which are bred for our hot and dry climate. (You can click on any of these pictures to see an enlarged version.)

Here are some pictures of the roses at the garden:

roses-_2-small.jpgOnce established, a rose needs very little water to survive. The key to making any plant more drought-tolerant is to get the roots to go down deep into the soil. This is done by watering the plant deeply but infrequently.

I particularly liked these “Orange Honey” miniature roses. roses-_3-small.jpg

roses-_1-small.jpgTo find out more about the drought-tolerant rose, click here to visit Learn2grow website, and read up on the “Good Old Rose”.

front-rose-bed-small.jpgWe have roses around our house which survive on very little water. Ideally, we should be watering them once a week, deeply, but in reality, they get far less than that – sometimes as little as once a month. We don’t water them at all in the winter. They bloom all year round, albeit more so in the spring and fall, especially after pruning.

Here is a link to the roses page at High Country Gardens – although there are many more varieties that will do well in Southern California then are listed on this page. I especially like the Waterwise Rose & Pernennial Garden – 25 flowering drought tolerant plants with a garden plan for $137.35. I may have to try out that package for myself.

So, if you’re looking for a drought-tolerant plant, think about a rose!!!

I’ll be sharing more pictures from my trip to the conservatory garden and information about drought-tolerant plants in the upcoming week.

Want to see for yourself? Visit a conservatory garden near you. Here’s a list from BeWaterwise.com.

For more information on Southern California drought tolerant landscapes, click here.

July 29, 2007 · Filed Under Drought Tolerant Landscaping

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