The PCL Garden Plant Database and Select Bibliography

Welcome curious gardener!  This is the Placitas Community Library (PCL) Garden Plant database!  Although this database is not meant to be a fully comprehensive database, it is hoped that it’ll be helpful to the curious gardener seeing something that they like on the Library grounds, and wondering if the plant they see might fit into their garden space at home.  For the most part, the plants in the PCL gardens are native, hardy for most of Placitas, and low water users (or xeric), in an attempt to see how beautiful and sustainable our Placitas gardens can be.

For convenience, the entries in this database are categorized first and foremost by generalized garden location (High Country Garden/East side, West Expansion, Flagpole, Northwest/Rock/Pond, and South Bank and Labyrinth), then plant type (tree/shrub, perennial, etc.) with each plant having been identified by common name on physical plant labels in the garden.  Below is a graphic entitled Garden Site Map, which identifies the various PCL gardens and their general location on the Library property.

Once you know which garden your plant of interest is located, you can easily find additional plant information within the database, including:

• Common and Botanical names,
• a photo of the plant,
• its sun exposure and water needs,
• bloom color and season,
• approximate mature suze,
• its hardiness zones (based on 2023 USDA Hardiness Map),
• wildlife benefactors, and
• additional miscellaneous information that is helpful to the gardener.

NOTE:  Information contained in this database comes from many resources, university/extension resources, the USDA and other government databases, online catalogues, offline resources, and although the PCL Landscape Committee has worked diligently to develop, we can not guarantee its accuracy.  All photos are credited to Dawn Foster, unless otherwise noted.

Happy gardening!