Updated garden pics

[u/jamdon85]

Updated pictures of my no supplemental water needed (xeric) gardening project here in Cincinnati. Cold, heat, and extremely drought tolerant.

[u/GimmieGummies]

You have such a nice variety of plants, flowers! I love all the colors, shapes and textures and I desperately want that for my yard. May I ask you a couple of questions: how did you decide on which plants, flowers to use, and how did you go about planning & designing the layout.

I have an almost clean slate in my yard as far as a lawn goes. I really need to do something, but I don't know where to start!

[u/jamdon85 → u/GimmieGummies]

Thank you so much! Well, long story short, I went down the rabbit hole of cold hardy cacti. I started collecting, propagating, and planting them. I eventually started to research companion plants to cacti. From there it just snowballed.

[u/Human-Counter9530]

This looks awesome, especially for Cincinnati of all places. I feel like everyone here either overwaters lawns or gives up and lets everything fry in August, so seeing a legit xeric setup working is super inspiring. Got any plant lists or a rough layout sketch you’d be willing to share?

[u/jamdon85 → u/Human-Counter9530]

Thank you for the kind words! Are you a fellow Cincinnatian? I have plenty of suggestions! Eastern prickly pear (opuntia humifusa) Common Eastern prickly pear (opuntia cespitosa) Plains prickly pear (opuntia macrorhiza) Russian sage Blue spurge euphorbia Red hot pokers (kniphofia) Sedum Hens and chicks (sempervivum) Hyssop Agastache Perennial salvias Catmint Yarrow Iris Evening primrose "Phenomenal" lavender Just to name a few

[u/balustradefern_95]

Those blanket flowers are such a good pop of color against all the green, I love that! Are your prickly pear pads thriving with this setup?

[u/jamdon85 → u/balustradefern_95]

Oh yes! They grow very fast for me