Yardsmart: 3 hell strip perennials

Hell strips are what they call narrow planting spaces adjacent to a driveway, street or sidewalk. This is the plant graveyard, where less than resilient species give up the ghost by midsummer. Why are these sun-drenched planters so tough to cultivate? It's because adjacent paving becomes a thermal mass that collects and reflects that heat back on plants both night and day.

Any planter immediately adjacent to a large field of paving will feel the heat, particularly when it's black asphalt. This happens on the surface and also underground when the absorbed heat moves into soil to cook roots. If you doubt just how much heat a driveway radiates, go out on a hot July day to stand barefoot on that slab. Then step over to the soil of the hell strip and compare.

Beneath that soil, plant roots are nearly as hot as the surface temperature. During a heat wave, roots of sensitive plants may never recover. The key is choosing species of plants for your hell strip that stand up to both absorbed and reflected heat, so they'll take these conditions in stride.

The best place to prove hell strip plants is in the desert, where temperatures soar well over 110 for weeks at a time. Plants that are widely grown there can take hot ground, reflected heat and poor fertility, day after day. They're also surprisingly cold hardy too. I've watched them for years in the Palm Springs, Calif., desert, and can attest to their resilient nature. Make this your starting point for a flowering palette that turns your hell strip into a perennial border, knowing it will take summer heat waves in stride.

Long flowering autumn sage is a native of Texas and northern Mexico that proves itself time and again to be a favorite of desert gardeners and hummingbirds. The species, Salvia greggii, is cold hardy to USDA Zone 5, so it should take winter cold to well below zero. Note that the red flowered types will be more heat and cold tolerant than other bloom colors.

Known as gopher plant, the lovely blue foliage and lemon yellow flowers of Euphorbia rigida appear far too delicate for the desert or a hell strip. Yet they thrive all over desert landscapes and with Zone 5 hardiness they're quite popular in northern climates, too. The common name tells you they won't be bothered by gophers due to the potent latex sap they contain. Theres no better problem solver for rodent-infested ground, hell strips and super lean sandy soils.

Another native of Texas and Mexico is Gaura lindheimeri, a relative newcomer to desert gardens. The white flowered variety is far more frequently seen in the desert, but pink forms may do equally well. The airy animated appearance of Gaura's long slender flower stems blends very nicely with gopher plant and is equally cold hardy.

To solve hot-spot planting challenges, consider these three star performers. Use them as the structure for a perennial border augmented with other heat resistant species such as agave or yucca. All three of them are the best flowering companions for your favorite upscale succulents.

In colder climates, deer grass, Muhlenbergia rigens, proves an equally heat- and cold-tolerant companion. For seasonal features, purple fountain grass is a beautiful choice because its nodding flower wands add height and texture to your border. However, fountain grass is not cold hardy so it must be replanted each spring, but well worth the effort.

The only caveat is to ensure there's free drainage if your soils are clay or hardpan. A good solution is to bring in rocks and arrange them to raise each planting spot just a few inches above grade. This keeps the sensitive crown of each plant above the wet while roots can still access moisture freely deeper down.

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Yardsmart: 3 hell strip perennials