Hillside tapestry - includes related article on cultivars

Sunset, Sept, 1997 by Jim McCausland

The tapestry of plants cloaking this hillside grows on a site that many gardeners would never touch. The heavy clay soil was bad enough, but the former property owners made matters worse by covering it with a foot-deep layer of crushed rock to control weeds. The only vegetation growing here was a thin line of junipers and a scattering of aspen seedlings. But Mary Ellen Keskimaki of Golden, Colorado, wouldn't be deterred: she wanted a landscape that would be attractive, drought-tolerant, and tough enough to stand up to harsh winters.

Keskimaki arranged to have the crushed rock hauled away. Then she set a few well-chosen rocks in place and covered the clay with a 12-inch layer of sand - 15 tons spread over the 4,800-square-foot site. She spent a whole summer hand-digging the sand, plus 14 truckloads of manure, into the top 6 inches of clay. By the time Keskimaki was done, "I was in really great shape," she says. The ground was in great shape, too: 18 inches of loose soil with perfect drainage.

Then she started planting - unthirsty natives such as yuccas and lots of perennials for color. In the foreground of this photo, yellow ice plant (Delosperma nubigenum) surrounds a pair of yuccas; to its right, a clump of 'Professor Blaauw' Dutch iris rises above an island of pink Saponaria ocymoides. Pink Armeria maritima is growing in the center of the scene, with 'Munstead' lavender spreading behind it and tall bearded iris standing to the right and rear.

During summer hot spells, Keskimaki irrigates the garden every 10 days or so until either the weather cools down or it rains.