I know this is a "dated" thread, but I have to mention something about one of the links that buyorsell included to Botanical Interests. I purchased two packages of "fragrant" sweetpea seeds from this company for this season and planted them. They're blooming now. I am so disgusted with them that my DH is going to pull them all up today. One was Moroccan Spice, which would lead you to think they'd be fragrant, right? Nope. I didn't expect 18 inch stems, but I DID expect stems longer than 4 inches! Nope--stubby stubby stubby all around. Nothing on the package said these would be on shorter stems, or stems 6 inches. Yeah, they weren't even close 6 inches at all! Can't recall the other name on the second package I got, but it also was advertised as fragrant also. As mentioned, I was so disappointed/disgusted I gave away the remaining seeds, cautioning people that they're pretty, stubby and won't smell. I won't ever buy from Botanical Interests again. Evah! Just wanted to share. Of course, YMMV. Smiles, Sooz

I'm not sure why yours died, I thought they were indestructible too. I originally bought three gallon sized plants and planted them in a spot with full afternoon sun and morning shade on the west side of a building and they flopped pretty bad. I dug up one and replanted it, I think in spring, down in the hot dry median and it got much bigger by the second year and it now puts out a lot of runners I am not too crazy about. It is almost 5 feet tall and wide (it would be even wider if I didn't stay after those suckers). They seem to move fairly easily (top might die back but it comes back from the roots) so thats another reason I think of them as indestructible. I saw some planted in another hot, full sun exposure median by the street at a commercial building here in the city but they are that more improved vertical kind. Much nicer and smaller plants. So, I am not sure except maybe its a matter of getting them well established on the roots first and then they take off? I do remember mine didn't get all that big the first couple years + there was that ugly flopping and they didn't seem to mind watering much. I thought of a couple other examples that take the heat and drought with very little or no extra watering and winter well here in Oklahoma. Salvia Greggii Scutellaria drummondii (nice neat small leaved mound, covered with purple flowers easy from seed) Apache Plume (gorgeous round shrub about 4' to 5' high and wide covered with ornamental pink featherlike seedheads all summer and white flowers simultaneously, needs zero watering and very cold hardy) TLC in Okla. City carries them and so does High Country Gardens.

Thanks for that tip, David! I googled sod webworms, and found a site or two that explained/described them and had some suggestions for how to identify if you have them: http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/sodwebworm.html. I first went around and looked closely at the grass/soil, but could not find the signs they said to look for. I then did the soapy water test, but didn't see any of the caterpillars (larvae) come to the surface. I did see one adult moth, but they say that doesn't necessarily mean you have the caterpillars as the moths will fly quite some distance. I then took my hand spade/fork and chopped into some various areas to look under the grass about an inch or so, to see if I saw any grubs, caterpillars, etc. that could be the cause. But only found some ants and earwigs. I don't think either of those could cause damage to the lawn. So I am still at a loss, but will continue to look for any signs of the webworms or grubs. Or I may try to find some of the biological bacteria the sites talk about for killing the larvae and treat it anyway. The sites also mention types of grasses that are more resistant to the webworms (types of ryegrass and fescue). So possibly overseeding this fall with these or other hardier grass(like the Reveille blend that Amester mentioned, or others in the thread you linked to David) may be an answer. I am interested in the EZ Wet and Field Magic that Bob_In_Colorado has posted about and may try some of that - for a smaller sized area, though, as this much lawn area has proven to me to be too expensive to maintain (both with $$ on water, and time!).

I'm gardening in Santa Monica and going for a more drought tolerant garden while keeping roses in the mix. I haven't been checking the forums for a bit and I'm sure I'll echo many recommendations already made, but I like the following so far: Lavenders of all sort, but especially Fern-leafed in tighter spots. Eschscholzia in a myriad of colors. Platystemon californicus. Annie's carries this absolutely charming California native. It has lovely light yellow flowers that close up at night. It looks great right now for me. I really love this annual/companion. It's definitely for the front of the border. Penstemons in darker purples, blues -Marguerite BOP amongst others- and red. They can fill out nicely. Salvia of all sorts. I like gregii hybrids for sunnier spots, but check out the selection at Annie's. It is terrific! Cerinthe. I love the blue-grey-green foliage and purple flowers. It's very easy from seed. Centranthus or Jupiter's Beard in pink/red and white is all over my garden. It spreads almost to the point of invasiveness, but it looks good with little water and the volunteers are easy to rip out. I like the way certain ornamental grasses blend with roses. Smaller Pennisetum, Calmagrostis, Bouteloua, and Deschampsia varieties can be blended with roses and other drought tolerant plants fairly easily. Nicotiana mutabilis is very low maintenance and low-water for me. It looks great Spring-Fall with tall stalks of multi-colored flowers. Limonium -statice or sea-lavender- comes in all sorts of colors besides purple and is very easy to maintain with little water. I like the apricot and white varieties a lot. I really enjoy variegated Euphorbias like 'Blue Glacier' and 'Tasmanian Tiger.' They can lend much needed foliage interest and form very shapely mounds. Columbines fare a bit better in light shade for me, but I love to grow them. I have a Rosa rugosa alba in light shade under planted with black/dark purple columbines that looks wonderful right now. Eriogonum or buckwheat can be mixed at the front of drought tolerant borders with great success. I like E. latifolium and E. grande v. rubescens a lot. The former has terrific light pink flowers if I recall correctly and the latter red. Some dwarf Correa varieties look great with roses. The common name is Australian Fuschia. They bloom in winter/spring and require little water. Consider South African bulbs that go dormant in the summer when there's little or no rain here anyways. Ixia, Aristea, Ferraria, species Gladiolus, and others can be unbelievably beautiful and very drought tolerant. Lewisia looks terrific in Spring in containers or in areas where it won't be covered up since it is quite short. Check out Annie's Annuals in Richmond for plenty of ideas if you haven't. I can't tell you how many wonderful plants I've seen on their site that I wish I could have ordered without thinking about it. Being able to go in person removes the need to save on shipping and you can see their demo gardens with mature examples of most of their offerings. Jay