Don't know why people would abandon them in a drought. When I lived in SoCal, they survived just fine with normal rainfall.

It is common for landscape plants to cycle in, and out, of favor. Down the time road, many get "rediscovered". It used to make me groan when architects would start going crazy about something that fell out of favor in commercial landscapes for a reason.

One example is Dietes, which is a very attractive and easy to grow plant with nice architectural value. Unfortunately, it is also next to impossible to prune just the old foliage when maintenance time costs $$, so we would have to cut them to the ground periodically. Which, of course, made them unattractive until they grew back. Not good in a commercial landscape where hundreds, or sometimes thousands, of these plants could be used.

We have a lot of Agapanthas. It is drought friendly. Many of our neighbors also have it. So pretty! Society Garlic is also drought friendly, and a lot of them have that too. We planted some new petunias between the Agapanthas for the red/white/and blue theme. Looks great!

Pretty and low water, but the snails--ick!

I think it has just fallen out of fashion. I see that with a lot of plants, perhaps junipers would be another.

Yes, just out of fashion. Plants are not quite as prone to fashion as clothes or kitchens, but there are certainly Trends.

Hollywood Junipers were super popular small trees for decades. Now not frequently planted. Callistemon has made a comeback. The big bottlebrush C. viminalis was frequently planted in the 50s-60s, now we have 'Little John', a great plant. Oleanders were long popular and so good for hot dry areas until the pest arrived that started killing them. As akarinz mentioned, Junipers were a big thing--there are still homes around here with junipers everywhere that are huge and pruned into hedges that started out as low groundcovers. There was a big thing for Sequoias in So Cal in the late 70s I think, when rainfall was better. They've all died off in my neighborhood over the past year, dozens of them.

Here in the bay area from the 50's to early 70's Bergenia was planted in front of every Motel and Apartment complex,Car lots. Sunset articles of modern 50's homes had them planted.

Now? Only the BBG has them. I wouldn't mind planting it.

Yeah, my mom & dad had Bergenia. Nice plant.

I agree, BarbJP, people pulling out long-established, tough shrubs like Rapheolepis and Ligustrum--no reason to. Camellias long established, in shade, can live well on what meager rainfall we get. I have to sigh when I see the tough mature shrubs replaced with succulents, but they keep the lawn.

I still am growing bergenia that was originally from a large patch at a house we rented more than 25 years ago. With every move, I would dig up a few to take with me. Even though pink is not my favorite flower color, bergenia is too nice a plant to not have growing somewhere in the garden. No other plant species has moved with me for as long.

One more Aggy. I'm not sold on the white..maybe only white would be better? More formal?

I like white Agapanthus, wish I had some. I also like white Plumbago and wish I had some. I think white flowers look so cool in the heat. Then again, so does blue. I still have Bergenia and a lot of the "old stuff." The Oleander pest never made it up to my part of California. I hope it never does.

The only thing I can think of on the Agapanthus is that they are not that fun to divide. The clumps get big and it is much more difficult than, say, Irises. Maybe some people get rid of them for that reason.

Another drought tolerant old timer I don't see in new gardens is Myrtus. It is one of my favorites.

Yep Myrtus is a great plant. I do see the dwarf one sold fairly often, but not the full sized one.

My place has dozens and they've become small trees. They're probably between 50 and 75 years old now depending on which garden remodel they're from. The house is 106 years old and as far as I can tell has had at least 3 major garden remodels in that time.

They never have been watered by us anyway nor the last owner who moved here in 1961, and they look great all the time!

We also have several vines of "Cecile Brunner" climbing rose that were planted in 1910 or so as we have pictures from then and the roses are in the pics in the exact same place. Those also get no water other than rain and they also do great!

An alternative to white Agapanthus which in my experience will take temperature extremes better is the white Crinum.

Myrtus is funny in that I always think it is pretty when I see it close up at the nursery in flower, but I have never planted it in my own garden. Since I am having such a difficult time getting plants to "take' in this soil, it is time I pick one up and see if it will survive where some other plants have died out.

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Calistoga al, which white crinum do you recommend? More than a few go by that common name. I recently yanked one of the larger flowering types because it was in a prominent spot, but the flowers only lasted 1-1.5 weeks. I planned to just move it, but it is still sitting in a bucket multiple weeks later, so that is a sure sign that particular species didn't impress me very much. I know they don't like to be moved.

I bought a mixed package of Crinum years ago. I saved seed and propagated it for my own use. Only the white started easily from seed. The flowers last as long here as the Agapanthus but it does not grow as much greenery, which make the flower stalks more striking. I have had no problems with moving or transplanting.

Crinums don't seem to be offered here very often, but maybe I'll look into ordering some of the species type, which probably have the longer bloom period. I know I don't have sufficient patience to grow them from seed.

Barb, thanks for the facts on Cecile Brunner. I still have a few roses, some needing little water and others more than I'd like.