The Easy-Care Yard

You don't have to live in Southern California to grow exotic-looking, water-thrifty specimens like those found in the Ocampos' garden and showcased here. We've included suggestions for hardier plants with similar forms that will do well 
where summer rains are common and winter temperatures dip very low.

Canary Island Aeonium (Aeonium canariense)
This showy succulent is also known as velvet rose because of the fine fuzz on its leaves. Its varieties are hardy only to 25 to 30 degrees F, though, so gardeners in colder climates need to overwinter them indoors in containers. Or substitute cobweb houseleek (Sempervivum arachnoideum), which also has fine hairs on its leaves but survives down to –20 degrees F.