In article jBFYc.259118$eM2.204238@attbi_s51, "Pam - gardengal"
wrote:

"Tess" wrote in message
news:HorYc.203973$8_6.101424@attbi_s04...
Hello--I'm in Zone 8 and I'm looking for ideas on what to plant atop my
tall
retaining wall that will give it a little color and some "softness",
cascading downward. While we get a lot of rain, the summers are droughty,
so it should not be too delicate. Any suggestions?

Hmmmm.......zone 8 with ample rain and droughty summers - sounds like the
PNW!! Prostrate rosemary would be an excellent choice for this situation,
assuming it gets plenty of sunlight. Most vines will have a tendency to want
to grow upwards, but rosemary cascades beautifully. Evergreen, fragrant and
sporadically convered with tiny blue flowers. And you can use it for cooking
just the same as upright rosemary. Look for cultivars like 'Irene' or
'Huntington Carpet' - each will cascade a good 3 feet or more.

Another, less extensive cascader would be the Helianthemums or sunroses.
Also evergreen with foliage color ranging from deep green to a silvery gray
and covered in late spring and early summer with a profusion of tissue
paper-like flowers in your choice of colors - reds, red-orange, peach, pink,
yellow or white.

pam - gardengal

I never thought of using helianthemums as cascaders but sounds like a
great idea for shorter cascades. I have a nice collection of sunroses,
their flowering is just so spectacular, & their various shades of nearly
evergreen foliage pleasing even through winter. I never quite positioned
them to see a cascading effect but I can see they'd do that, though in
most cases only to a one or two foot drop. Some few of mine were in spots
that over time were getting too little sun because of the growth of larger
shrubs eventually overshadowing them, so I've been planning to move some
of the worst-positioned ones that were stunty or less flowerful this year,
to a newly raised garden with stacked-rock ledge where they should never
become shaded. If they spill down that a foot or so, the entire ledge may
be invisible next year.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com