This is part one in a weekly series featuring the UC Davis Community Favorites, 75 can't-fail, easy-care plants well-adapted to our region and recommended by gardeners.
Hardy hybrid echeveria
Echeveria 'Perle Von Nurnberg'
Size: Under 1 foot tall
Bloom season: Summer and fall
Exposure: Partial shade to full sun
Pruning needs: Little or none
Water needs: Once established, water deeply once or twice a month.
Snapshot: This pretty succulent creates a border of perfect pearl-gray rosettes. Sun brings out deep pink highlights on the leaves' edges. In summer and early fall, bright coral flowers emerge on foot-long red stems, attracting hummingbirds. It's wonderful in rock gardens, but also is well suited to containers. Once established, this succulent can take the heat (as well as drought) while also coping well with colder temperatures in winter. You can see specimens in the arboretum's Ruth Risdon Storer Garden of Valley-wise plants on the UC Davis campus.
Why it's a Favorite: "The perfect 'edge filler' plant in my garden in small groups of three to five," said longtime arboretum volunteer Mary Patterson. "They grow as big as dinner plates with morning light and afternoon shade."
• Read more about the Arboretum's 75th anniversary at http://arboretum75th.ucdavis.edu/ For more on the Community Favorites and Arboretum All-Stars, click on http://arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
See a photo gallery of the Community Favorites online at www.sacbee.com/home_garden.
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