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Recommended Plants for Sierra Foothills Rock Gardens

The following is a list of plants that we have successfully grown in our gardens. To browse through our database of recommended plants, click on the letter corresponding to the Genus. Use the Pager at the bottom of the page to move through all plants that begin with that letter.

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Plant ID Plant name Culture ht X width(in) Zone Description
456 Echium wildprettii 50X20 8 Large rosettes of hairy grey-green leaves send up huge towering spikes of salmon-rose flowers. Beloved by hummingbirds, and covetted by everyone who sees it during our garden tours. Mono-carpic, but self-seeds. DR
915 Edrianthus dinaricus 3X10 5 Tufts of grassy green leaves topped with beautiful violet bells.
315 Erigeron compositus 2X4 5 A tiny daisy with grey dissected leaves and flowers of various colors. Most typical color is white, but there are purple and pink forms. CA WN DR TNT
58 Erigeron elegantulus 6X12 6 Tufts of linear foliage graced with small daisies of lavender to pink. Native to foothills of Oregon and North California. CA WN DR
59 Erigeron glaucus 6X18 5 Species native to California coast. Loose mounds of green foliage with large daisies of white to lilac. CA WN DR TNT
60 Erigeron leiomerus 4X5 One of our favorite Erigeron. Compact dark green mounds and early blooms of deep purple flowers with green eyes. A Rocky Mountain native that has done well in our Sierra Foothill rock garden. WN DR TNT
61 Erigeron scopulinus 2X10 Adorable dense flat mats of tiny green leaves dotted with small white daisies in spring. Tolerates a broad range of conditions, from relatively moist shade to dry sun. We consider this a “must have” for any garden. Native to mountains of New Mexico and Arizona. WN DR TNT
442 Erigeron ‘Chameleon’ 4X10 An easy and nearly ever-blooming small daisy with thin silvery leaves. The flowers open a very soft pale yellow, turn white and then fade to a soft pink. The overall effect is very nice. Always commented upon by visitors. A chance garden hybrid of E. chrysopsidis. CA WN DR TNT
768 Eriogonum breedlovei breedlovei 2X6 Compact mats of very small elliptical leaves. Upper surgace is a fuzzy grey green. Lower surface is covered with white woolly felt. Unusually large bulging sphers of white aging to pink or red perianths, peppered with exserted purple anthers, cover the plants in late summer. WN DR
431 Eriogonum caespitosum 3X8 4 Dense cushions of tiny silver leaves. The flowers on this superb form from the Steens Mts are almost stemless—yellow, fading to red. A choice and relatively easy Eriogonum for the rock garden. Very slow growing WN DR TNT
240 Eriogonum caespitosum ‘Conway form’ 3X8 4 My all time favorite Eriogonum. Tight domes of small silver leaves. Flowers are yellow, fading to red, chrome. No dryland garden is complete without this. This is a very dense silvery form from the East side of the Sierras. CA WN DR TNT
65 Eriogonum gracilipes 2X6 3 Tight cushions of soft silver leaves hug the ground on the White Mountains of California. Pink and white inflorescences fade to a deep raspberry red. More reliable at higher elevations. CA WN DR TNT
936 Eriogonum heracleoides leucophaeum 6X12 The smallest form of E. heracleiodes. Soft grey green leaves on short rosettes. Large pale cream inflorescences. This form from Wenatchee Mtns in Chelan County Washington. Another Ratko collection. I grew these for myself, but I have a few extras I am willing to part with. WN DR
66 Eriogonum heracleoides minus 10X10 Lots of fluffy cream colored flower heads on this miniature version of a Great Basin favorite. An excellent eriogonum for the rock garden. Plant near a blue penstemon. WN DR TNT
1025 Eriogonum incanum 6X18 A very nice form of this California mountain native, collected in Tuolumne county. Dense silver cushions, much denser than usually found, and yellow poms. We are excited about trying this in our own gardens this year, as it looks very good. Grows to very high elevations, so should be cold hardy anywhere in the foothills. CA WN DR
469 Eriogonum kennedyi alpigenum 2X7 5 A very easy Eriogonum whose tiny silver leaves form hard dense mats. In this variety the rose and white flowers are almost stemless and imbedded into the silver mats. Highly recommended. CA WN DR TNT
67 Eriogonum kennedyi kennedyi 2X8 5 A very easy Eriogonum that forms wonderful dense mats of tiny silver leaves. Flowers are white to pink. In this particular form, the flowers are held away from the mat on stems up to 6 inches long. CA WN DR TNT
391 Eriogonum kingii 1X5 Cute little buns formed of thick silver leaves and fuzzy ball clusters of cream fowers which darken to a rich salmon pink. From the Ruby Mountains in Nevada. WN DR
923 Eriogonum meledonum A small Eriogonum much like E. ovalifolium with small dark yellow flower clusters. From Idaho. WN DR
924 Eriogonum ovalifolium 0X0 There are many forms of this Eriogonum. Gardeners in the lower elevations will do best with the larger yellow forms from Idaho. The exquisite pink forms from alpine areas fry in the lower elevations, but are well worth trying in higher elevation gardens. CA WN DR