Lessons Learned- Ramping it up a Slope September 20,2014

Lessons Learned- Favorite Plants for Ramping it up a Slope.   

Today I am linking with-

Lessons Learned hosted by Beth of Plant Postings

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Magical Mystical Teacher

Blue Monday hosted by Smiling Sally

I have a ramp with part of it an earth berm, and have slowly learned what plants can do well there in a very xeric and sunny environment, that would also do well on a sunny dry slope.  This year in particular I have not watered it all summer, in our dry season, with record heat.

Some of my favorite plants there are Oregano and Marjoram.  Dwarf Greek Oregano is nicely flavored and makes a dense low planting, it also is very easy to spread as I can just break off a piece and stick it in the ground and it will usually grow.  

Oregano is a plant I am considering putting in a lot of borders to fill in and make a nice dense planting that keeps down the weeds and also blooms.  I have grown it from seed but want to try more to grow it from cuttings.

Some Oreganos and Marjorams are variegated or chartreuse and make nice bright additons.

Some can get rather tall

Rosemary is a very good herb too for a slope, it is very tough and useful for cooking year round, I especially like to use it in the pan when roasting lamb, salmon, or beef.   

Thyme is also good but with time has been supplanted considerably by various heathers.

Heathers do well on dry slopes, and spread slowly to make quite large patches.   There are many varieties, and various ones bloom at different times of the year, so with careful planning, you can have some heather in bloom for most of the year, including winter, at least in the PNW where it is supposedly zone 8 but ranges down to zone 6 or lower for me since I'm at a higher altitude than most of it.

Correction- I looked better and Winter Savory IS still alive and doing well on the ramp.  Thanks Sue for encouraging me about its survival.   I will have to try cooking with some.

Winter-blooming heather

Kinnickinnick, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'Massachusetts', also makes a good ground cover on a sunny slope.   The taller shrubby growth is Rosemary.

Celeste close up-

Knickinnick has glossy dark green leaves and also has flowers in spring followed by red fruits.  At the bottom is another good ground cover, Rubus calycinoides, ground cover raspberry.

At the bottom of the slope, I have some Saxifrage 'London's Pride', which is variegated and has airy sprays of tiny pink flowers in spring.  It is very drought tolerant and rosettes can be broken off and stuck in the ground to propagate it.

There has been a long list of various plants I have tried that didn't make it on a slope.  Some are Anacyclus depressus 'Silver Kisses', Armeria maritima 'Splendens', Roman Camomile, Gaura lindera, Globularia cordifolia, Lychnis alpina, Raoulia australis, [Satureja montana- Winter Savory- correction, still alive!], and Silene- Alpine Catchfly.  These were all cute and beguiling plants claimed to be drought tolerant and capable of living in a rock garden, but for whatever reason did not make it on my dry ramp.

For Today's Flowers, some roses continue to rebloom, such as the very delightful Clothilde Soupert, with many delicate petals and a heavenly vintage scent-

And also the delightfully fragrant Sweet Chariot mini rose-

It actually sprinkled a little this week, to the delight of the parched Pacific Tree frogs that live here, whose croaks could be heard and occasionally were sighted-

And I discovered this fat little guy hiding inside my duck tractor, he was apparently too scared to move while I took his picture-

An update on my cool season greens, planted August 23, they are growing very fast, a mix of 4 kinds of Broccoli raab, and winter radishes-

Broccoli Raab getting big, this is the first time I have grown this in many years, and didn't pick it soon enough before, so I am looking forward to trying some soon-

I hope cooler weather and perhaps some cool season vegetables will brighten your days and table.   Happy Fall!      -Hannah

                                              

                                                            or cameras are macro

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