Water-wise selections

Editor's note: This list refers to the "Soaking it up" article in the November issue of Garden Center magazine, about how IGCs are marketing eco-friendly, low-water landscape plants to their customers.

To read the full article, click here.

Photo: Keith Williamson

Sky's Edge scutellaria

Scutellaria scordiifolia 'Pat Hayward'

Type: Perennial

USDA Hardiness Zones 5-10

Recommended soil type: Well-drained soils

This stunning selection of scutellaria was selected in trials for its intense violet-blue flower color, hardiness, long period of bloom and season-long glossy green foliage. Sky's Edge is especially nice when used near garden edges in rock gardens or even as a container plant. It's easy to grow and very long-lived, adding beauty and habitat friendly features to a wide variety of gardens.

Golden-flowered prairie zinnia

Zinnia grandiflora ‘Gold on Blue’

Type: Groundcover

Zones 4-8

Recommended soil type: Clay, loam, sandy

Outstanding selection of native prairie zinnia chosen for its vigor, foliage color and large flowers. Excellent for hot, dry sites; thrives in all soil types, even dry clay. Recommended for slopes, along driveways and other places where it can spread as a large-scale groundcover. Developed by David Salman of High Country Gardens.

Photo: John Sedbrook

Furman’s Red sage

Salvia greggii ‘Furman's Red’

Type: Perennial

Zones 5b-10

Recommended soil type: Clay, loam, sandy

Hardy selection of a southwestern ever-blooming sage. Crimson to scarlet flowers are produced in repeated flushes through the summer and autumn. Best cut back in spring. Woody perennial. Xeriscape.

Photo: Ross Shrigley

Sungari redbead cotoneaster

Cotoneaster racemiflorus var. soongoricus

Type: Shrub

Zones 3-8

Recommended soil type: Clay, loam or sandy soil

A gracefully arching larger shrub with dark green leaves above and gray-white beneath. Abundant red fruit in early fall. From the Cheyenne High Plans Horticulture Research Station, where it has survived for 40+ years receiving only natural precipitation. Thought to be one of the hardiest of all the cotoneasters, this shrub is resistant to most pests and diseases. Xeriscape.