High and Dry (Gardening with Cold-Hardy Dryland Plants)

Gardeners in the Interior West and Great Plains face a daunting challenge: a harsh, semi-arid climate of scorching summers and brutally cold winters. These climatic extremes rule out many standard garden plants that thrive in areas with greater rainfall and more moderate temperatures. Yet there is a wide variety of native plants that are not only beautiful but provide highly satisfactory choices for the western garden. In this comprehensive volume, Robert Nold describes the best picks among perennials and annuals; grasses; bulbs; rock garden plants; cacti; yuccas and other similar plants; shrubs; and trees-more than a thousand plants in all. Leavened with humor and rueful wisdom, Nold's pithy descriptions zero in on each plant's outstanding ornamental characteristics while giving the reader an accurate idea of what to expect from the plant's performance in the garden. With very few exceptions, the recommended plants can be expected to thrive without supplemental irrigation once established, and tolerate winter temperatures as low as -10F (-23C). Throughout, the book is illustrated with vivid color photographs and a selection of exquisite botanical watercolors by artist Cindy Nelson-Nold. Anyone with an interest in hardy, drought-tolerant plants will find in these pages an abundance of tempting possibilities with which to experiment. Indeed, High and Dry can serve as a highly useful tool for resource-conscious gardeners everywhere.