A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Californian Prairie planting in the UK.

Hello all,

I'm just starting to develop my Prairie planting scheme for my sunny and well-drained border.

I currently have lots of grasses for this area (small carex's and large Switch Grasses), plus Rudbeckia Goldstrum, and some sedum's. I'll also be adding some Achillea (Yarrow) for some height, probably in yellow or orange.

However, most of this planting is herbaceous, so I have no evergreen or winter interest. is there something typically Prairie styled that I could use to fill this void?

Either a small bush (1 meter tall) or some interesting evergreen plants? As far as I know, I'm zone 7, although not sure how this compare to USAD zone 7?

There are various types of yucca that would look great in your planting. The prickly pear cactus grows im most prairie states. Green santolina and grey santolina are very attractive, but may freeze back some years.

Let me also suggest rosemary...mine has survived sub-zero temperatures in a clay pot...very tough, and fits your scheme, I'd say. Sage would be very appropriate.

Perhaps Heather, or cold hardy Lavenders.

Interesting ideas. I like the look of the cactus, just not sure if this would cope with our UK climate? Worth investigating though. Sage and rosemary are both hardy enough, and I think perhaps a purple sage would look really nice in the scheme. Thanks very much, I'll consider these.