EREMOPHILA GLABRA SSP CARNOSA RED FROST FULL

Be sure to add some color during the winter months here in the Southwest. Visit your local nursery, and get creative with your garden. Life doesn’t get much better than sitting outside on a beautiful day, smelling the sweet fragrance of flowers, and enjoying their vibrant colors. You will want to protect it with a frost cloth or take it indoors if it’s in a container. An established cape plumbago is drought tolerant, but be cautious if the temperatures dip below freezing. Many use it as a shrub, while others let it climb a trellis, sprawl as a ground cover, or trail over the edges of a container. This fast grower can take on different growing habits.

EREMOPHILA GLABRA SSP CARNOSA RED FROST FULL

Although it can take full sun, it prefers partial sun or shade. This hardy shrub features its flowers in large masses. One thing that makes cape plumbago quite unique in the desert are its flowers of light blue, a color that is quite hard to come by in the Southwest. Photo: brewbooks, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons Cape Plumbago The light baby blues of cape plumbago are a refreshing change from the hot colors of many other Southwestern flowers. Find a great location, because it’s a conversation starter. Beyond this shrub’s obvious visual interest, it also attracts pollinators, which is always a welcome addition to any garden. Orange shrimp plant is a small shrub that will bloom year-round in full sun or partial shade. These plants produce bracts that look similar to shrimp. Orange shrimp plant is a compact grower that stays around 24 inches high, unlike red shrimp plant ( Justicia brandegeeana, Zones 9–11), which tends to grow to 3 to 4 feet tall and wide. Photo: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons Orange Shrimp Plant Orange shrimp plant is a small shrub that explodes with color in the landscape. But like Winter Blaze™, it’s a year-round bloomer that loves full sun, has low water needs, and adds some serious impact to any garden or landscape. At 3 feet tall and wide, this variety is a bit smaller than Winter Blaze™. Another emu bush we love is Blue Bells™ ( Eremophila hygrophana cv., Zones 9–11), which has silver foliage and purple flowers. If yours is getting a bit too large for its space, you can cut it back in late spring. It prefers full sun and is a fast grower. This shrub can grow to 4 feet tall and wide. Hummingbirds in the neighborhood will flock to your yard to enjoy the nectar. This highly drought-tolerant, evergreen shrub has showy, red, tubular flowers that bloom year-round.

Photos: Laurel Startzel Winter Blaze™ Emu BushĮremophila glabra ssp. Winter Blaze™ emu bush is just starting to flower (left), while Blue Bells™ emu bush is flush with small purple blooms (right). Here are some of our favorite shrubs that bloom all year long, including in winter, and how you can incorporate them into your garden. There are many beautiful flowers that can bloom throughout the milder months in our region. The Southwest winter landscape doesn’t just have to be filled with various tones of brown and green.

Eremophila glabra ssp carnosa red frost