Drought Tolerant and Beautiful: Silver and Blue Shrubby Germander
Fall is finally here and it’s time to get busy in the garden. Did you know that fall is the best time of year to add new plants? It doesn’t matter where you live, planting in fall gives plants three seasons to grow a healthy root system before summer arrives.
Teucrium fruticans Azureum
Today, I’d like to share with you another drought tolerant and beautiful plant – shrubby germander(Teucrium fruiticans).
While it’s name may not be impressive, this shrub certainly has a lot to boast about.
Shrubby germander planted alongside Mexican honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera)
First, it has blue flowers that add welcome color that contrasts with other colors such as orange and red.
Young shrubby germander growing alongside red autumn sage (Salvia greggii)
The silvery foliage also adds great color contrast to the landscape when paired near plants with darker green foliage.
Shrubby germander can grow 5 – 6 ft. tall and wide, however, there is also a more compact variety ‘Azureum’ that only reaches 3 ft.
For more reasons why you’ll want to add this attractive shrub to your landscape, check out my latest plant profile for Houzz.com.
Drought Tolerant and Beautiful: Bear Grass
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
Do you periscope for those that want to see visuals of plants and what certain things look like? When questions are asked?
Hello Tanika,
I would be happy to answer your question, but I'm not sure what you are asking. Could you rephrase it?
Thank you 🙂
This is one I've only tried once, and in a pot…I like how its form is round, but some of the branches poke out of it. A likely candidate for shearing here, but worth taking the chance…
I agree that Fall is indeed the best time of the year to start planting those new specimens of greens. I often take the opportunity during this period to build my own DIY plant storage containers for any herbs or even flowers that I could think of. I get to save money by building my own compartments and I get to watch my beautiful plants grow in my own backyard.
Help! I planted4 Germander bushes last October. I’ve already had to replace one as I thought it was dead. Now two more are starting to look the same as the dead ones, but the other two are gorgeous green and silver with azure flowers. I thought the others were dead as they got brittle stems, turned a brownish, no flowers and you could snap them in half they were so dry feeling. Is this characteristic of this plant during winter months? Maybe they weren’t dead at all.
I forgot to say that I live in the Phoenix area. They are in a south and west exposure. Maybe too hot?
Hello Pat,
I recommend that they be planted in an area that receives morning sun and/or filtered sunlight for best results in the desert garden. I would also make sure that they aren’t being overwatered as that can cause yellowing and leaves to fall. In answer to your question about their winter appearance, mine flowered through the winter and didn’t suffer any frost damage. I hope that these tips help! They are really beautiful shrubs.
Too late, I’d have to move them and my whole yard is south and west. Thank you so much for your help. I have a clue now as to what is going on with them.