SUMMER'S THE TIME FOR DROUGHT-TOLERANT PLANTS.

Byline: JANE GATES Gardening

SANTA CLARITA - After this dry hot winter, it seems appropriate to think about gardening with drought-tolerant plants.

Water is not likely to become more abundant in this part of the world, and with the development taking place in the Santa Clarita area, resources are inevitably going to become more strained.

Although the illusion of living in Hawaii may be the ideal for some homeowners' landscaping wish lists, the reality is time-consuming, lacking in durability and wasteful in a way that can affect all residents dependent on the water supply.

Drought-tolerant gardening - or xeriscaping - has become popular over the years, encouraging plant hybridizers and nurseries to import and develop decorative plants of all descriptions to meet demand.

You can actually have a lush and luxuriant drought-tolerant garden - something once considered an oxymoron. You can find drought-tolerant flowers, ornamental grasses, ground covers and trees. You can even find plants to flower at different times of the year, and a few that will flower for long periods of time.

Some of the most common drought-tolerant plants are the colorful-leaved Euonymus and Photinia. Euryops is a medium-sized bush with big yellow daisies. You've probably seen many pink-flowered Rhapiolepsis shrubs in and around the Santa Clarita area. The lily of the Nile, a clumping perennial with big balls of white or blue flowers on a long stem is both showy and tough. Even the ever-present oleander can grow with remarkably little water.

These common plants often are taken for granted because they are overused. But if you clump them or use them for backdrops for more interesting and unusual plants, they will fill in inexpensively requiring little care or water.

Then you can consider trying some more creative selections for the rest of your drought-tolerant garden. If there will be no water other than what nature provides, consider California, Texas, Arizona and Australia chaparral natives. Cactus and succulent gardens with rocks and boulders can be striking, too.

There is a whole selection of plants that can do well without daily water, from the showy blue hibiscus, the floriferous Texas ranger, the bizarre kangaroo paws, the colorful gaillardia to the brilliant - but frost-intolerant - bougainvillea.

Try some of the many graceful ornamental grasses that come in a wide range of colors or drought-tolerant trees like the colorful pink silk mimosa or the delicate chilopsis. Learning and finding plants that suit your taste and live in harmony in the environment can be as much fun as planting and enjoying your garden.