If you’re looking for a compact, easy care evergreen shrub that provides year-round interest - and will thrive in a dry shade garden - consider Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’!

I like to think of Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’ as the gentler, more approachable relative of our beloved native Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium). Like Oregon Grape, ‘Soft Caress’ is a drought-tolerant evergreen shrub with fragrant sunny-yellow flowers. However, unlike Oregon Grape, its leaves and stems are thornless and soft rather than sharply poky and leathery.

‘Soft Caress’ is a great plant to use if you’re looking to bring a bit of texture into your dry shade garden. Its leaves look a bit like palm leaves – with slender, thread-like leaflets arrayed along a graceful central stem. For maximum effect, try planting it with some of the broader-leafed shade loving shrubs like Hosta, Hellebore, Osmanthus, and Viburnum davidii – or underplant it with dry shade-loving perennials like Epimedium and Heuchera.

From late fall to early spring, flowers appear in long ‘candles’ held above the foliage. These flowers not only help to brighten the winter garden, they’re also a great source of nectar for pollinators and other beneficial insects during the winter and spring, when few other plants are in bloom. The flowers are followed by decorative silvery-blue berries that add to the visual interest of the plant – and are popular with songbirds.

Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’ gets about 3’ by 3’ and maturity. It prefers part shade (morning sun is ok) to full shade and well-drained soils, and does well in containers as well as in the ground. This graceful, low maintenance shrub will be a welcome addition to your shady garden!

In the quest for evergreen ornamental grasses, the Giant Feather Grass provides the evergreen green blades, but the thing that makes this grass a standout is its 6' tall blooms that shimmer in the evening light and last much longer than most ornamental grasses.

The 2-3' tall clump of foliage can be cut back in the winter to refresh it or left alone to have a permanent presence in the garden. Blooms start emerging in May and retain their good looks until frost starts to beat them up and need cut back. Besides that, there is no maintenance needed for this grass and the inflorescences rise dramatically above other perennials or shrubs.

Stipa gigantea is drought tolerant in well drained soil, deer resistant, heat tolerant and has interest all year long. They look wonderful as a single accent or could be massed for a naturalistic garden. By the way, it doesn't seed around like its cousin- Stipa tenuissima or Mexican Feather Grass. It's difficult to photograph the quality of the light as it shines through the blooms, but come visit and we'll show you!

Here's a great choice for that elusive 4-5' tall evergreen shrub! Choisya ‘Aztec Pearl’ smells great, is deer and drought resistant, pollinator-friendly, insect and disease-resistant, and is also a good firewise shrub.

One of the tricks in creating a drought tolerant garden is to select plants that actually thrive in our summer-dry climate, and this plant definitely fits the bill. Choisya ‘Aztec Pearl’ is a hybrid between C. ternata - which is native to Mexico (hence its common name) and C. arizonica – which is native to Arizona.

'Aztec Pearl' grows well in exposures ranging from full sun to half a day of sun. It looks handsome all year and especially when it is covered with clusters of fragrant white flowers in the late spring that have a spicy, citrusy fragrance like orange blossoms. Its five-fingered leaves have a wonderful texture that contrast well with rounded leaf forms or purple foliage. Plants generally reach 5’ by 5’ here in the Rogue Valley, but it is easy to tip prune them to keep them around 4' tall and wide.

‘Choisya ‘Aztec Pearl’ is hardy to near 0 degrees, under the right conditions. The key is to place it where it gets at least some winter sun, and make sure that the soil is well-draining and doesn't get waterlogged over the winter months.

Anyone who has visited Shooting Star's demonstration gardens in spring has likely been stopped in their tracks by one of our favorite native plants - 'Emily Brown' Ceanothus - in full bloom and literally humming and buzzing with pollinators.

One of the common names of Ceanothus is "California Lilac", and it's easy to see why. 'Emily Brown' is covered with deep, blue-violet flowers in early spring, which contrast beautifully with its dark green holly-shaped leaves. Plants are fast-growing, reaching 4' to 6' tall by up to 12' wide. They're also extremely drought-tolerant, and won't need any summer water when established.

This is a showy, sturdy evergreen shrub that is a perfect choice for that place in the yard that doesn't have any irrigation lines running to it. The toothy leaves ‘Emily Brown’ makes it more deer resistant than its smooth-leafed cousins. But it will still benefit being protected from deer when young. 

Wooly Speedwell (Veronica pectinta) is a charming evergreen groundcover that forms a thick, vivid carpet of bright blue when it bursts into bloom in mid-spring.

This sturdy, undemanding perennial only gets about 2” tall and will spread to about 18” wide. Wooly Speedwell loves full sun, prefers well-drained soil, and is drought tolerant, pollinator-friendly, and deer resistant – it will even take light foot traffic!

Once the first flush of flowers is finished in late May/early June, deadhead the plants and give them a good ‘haircut’ while you enjoy the look of the wooly, gray-green foliage. Plants will generally begin reblooming a few weeks later, and will continue flowering through the growing season.

Wooly Speedwell is a great choice for planting in mixed containers, or at the edge of a perennial border. You can also let it cascade over a rock wall, or plant it between stepping stones on a garden path. It will even do well out in a hot sunny “hellstrip” between a sidewalk and the street. It looks especially wonderful planted as a mass, so be sure to get several plants for maximum effect!