A Good Day's Haul

Below is the haul from the most recent nursery visit.  Due to the rainy weather we've been having, we decided to visit the local home improvement center, rather then drive to our favorite nursery.  It being California, they sometimes close when it rains.  Go figure.

Starting from the right, as we have to start somewhere, we picked up two Cape Magenta Kangaroo Paw's (Anigozanthos 'Cape Magenta').  In the center we have a Lantana (Lantan camara) and the smallest addition to the left is Gaura.

The Gaura is native to Texas and Louisiana.  It gets about three to four feet high, and about two to three feet across.  It shoots off a plethora of pink blooms all summer.  From what I've read, we need to be steadfast in our deadheading as this plant can propagate rather quickly.

The lantana grows everywhere in our area in Southern California.  Unfortunately, I may be moving it this weekend, as I didn't realize how much it may spread.  It can get six feet high and the same across.  This is where I placed it to start.

I'm afraid it will quickly snuff out the three boxwoods, so I'll be moving it this weekend a little further in.  My mother has Lantana in Arizona, and only the yellow and orange varieties seem to survive the heat for some reason, so we went with the yellow.  Hers are kept in check, but the gardeners are there often, and I'm not sure I have the discipline to constantly maintain the plant as they do.  We'll see.

Next is the Kangaroo Paw, which I have never grown before.  It can get to be about 30 inches tall and 15 inches wide.  They are quite drought tolerant, as are all the plants we picked up.

Here are the two Kangaroo Paw's with the Gaura in the foreground.  Our hope is to eventually have the plants so tightly packed, as to drown out the sun to the ground.  Also, the angle makes them appear to be closer together then they really are.

The last plant we picked up was from the $5 pallet.  It's a Hollywood Juniper (Juniperus chinensis 'Kaizuka').

It's native to Southeast Asia and can get about 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide.  I have no idea where I'm going to put it, but it was $5.  From what I've read, it can be pruned and kept at a smaller size.  It's fairly slow growing, so I'm thinking it should not be too much work.  It, obviously, hasn't gone into the ground yet, but I will be sure to let all of my readers (both of you) know where it finally ends up.