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Drought-Tolerant PerennialsWe asked visitors to our web site to list their top drought-busting plants. Here's what they told us:
Shrub roses—I like Fru Dagmar Hastrup
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Favorite drought-resistant plants: cold-hardy opuntias,
echinocereus, sedums, yuccas and sempervivums, as well as
eunonymus varieties, oriental yew, and evergreen boxwood.
All survive in this area without any watering except the
rainfall, and all but the sedums are evergreen varieties. ---
My favorite drought tolerant plant is
Stachys byzantina (lamb's ear). It attracts bees and is great for dried and fresh
flower arrangements. I have enjoyed this plant for many
years. Children love this plant as well; the leaves feel
furry and soft like a lamb, thus the name. ---
Artemisia ('Silver King') and all sedum plants. ---
I enjoy growing vinca and find it to
be rather drought-tolerant. It can go a long time withought
any water and keep right on blooming and showing no
signs of stress—even in full sun. ---
Ornamental grasses! I've planted some at the Jersey shore
and been away for as much as six weeks at a time. When I
return, they are thriving in a salt-air, very sunny
environment with the only water from the evening mists
and rain. ---
I am partial to the many varieties of lantana, which seem
to laugh at the heat and humidity of our coastal Virginia
summers. I have also had good luck with several varieties
of perennial salvias, and gaura ('Whirling Butterflies'). ---
My favorite drought tolerant plants: --- My favorite low-maintenance plant is Chamaemelum nobile, Roman chamomile. It makes a great ground cover in sun or part shade, and its fine, airy foliage is a lush shade of green. Once established, it can easily withstand periods of drought. It doesn't need mowing. It is quite tough; when you walk on it, not only does it grow more profusely, but its oil is released and the scent is terrific.
In addition, I am fond of water-stingy herbs such as
lavender, rosemary and thyme. And my garden is full of
hardy bulbs, such as daylilies, because no matter the
conditions, you can't seem to stop them from growing.
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Lavender, ceanothus, arctotis, and any type of succulent
including kalanchoes, echeverias, and aeoniums. ---
One of my favorite drought-tolerant shrubs is nandina
(heavenly bamboo) and of the vines, honeysuckle. I know
both of those grow with just the rain that Mother Nature
gives them because they grow wild and thrive in the woods
behind my house. Birds have spread the seeds and nature
has taken it from there. And long, long periods without
rain don't seem to have any adverse affect on them. ---
Black-eyed Susan ---
You asked my favorite drought-resistant plant. I quickly
thought of my Mexican sage. It has long spikes with
lavender-purple flowers. The hummingbirds love them, and
you hardly have to water them at all. And, if you get a
start, you can plant it and it will just keep growing --
not be stopped at all by transplanting. It gets rather
large -- say 5 feet by 5 feet. But just cut it back, and
it is blooming again within a few weeks. I have one in an
area that very, very seldom gets water, and it thrives very
well. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to cut
back on watering. ---
Verbena --- Here are a few of the drought-tolerant plants I have in my garden. They survive our Texas heat with little watering perfectly:
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Two of my favorites are Centranthus ruber and Gaura
lindheimeri. I find they look great all season with only
moderate water. In fact, too much water makes them flop and look
weak. ---
One of my favorite drought-resistant plants is the California poppy, Eschscholzia californica. I
planted a few packs of seeds a few years ago and they've
reseeded ever since and survived through very dry weather
without care. They're beautiful and carefree. ---
My favorites are hens and chicks (sempervivums). They seem to multiply so fast. I like to give them as gifts, especially to people who say, "I kill everything." I say, "Here's your present. Don't water it. In fact, don't do anything to it."
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Perennial salivas do very well in Florida with the dry
spells and high heat. Once established, they thrive for days
without watering -- even with the heat of the sun. Also, you
have a bonus in that they easily seed, so you get plants
for free and they fill in spots in your garden. ---
In our water-challenged state,
drought-tolerant plants are always a good choice (unless
you live in the redwood forest or next to a year-round
creek.) My personal favorites are aromatic perennials, such
as salvias, kitchen herbs (some are not frost-hardy, so
they're technically annuals), and of course all the lovely
lavenders. These plants are attractive-looking whether or
not they're in bloom, their fragrance is intensified by our
typically hot, dry summer climate, and they attract
beneficial insects and hummingbirds. Oak trees (if you
have a big piece of property) California bay laurel, and
native shrubs such as ceanothus or toyon, are great for
shade. ---
Portulaca, hands down, is a winner. Blooms all summer and
seemingly can survive without water! ---
Rosemary (zone 7 and higher),
artemisia 'Powis Castle', most salvias, garlic (great
around roses and veggies -- keeps bad bugs away) and the
agastaches (anise hyssops). Great plants all. And Vinca
minor survives beautifully in dry shade and blooms twice a
year here in Texas. Pretty stuff. ---
When I lived in the hot, dry Sacramento Valley, I
loved my euryops. I rarely watered them, never fed them,
and they were perfectly happy, growing larger and more
prolific every year! ---
--- My favorite low-maintainence plants are the kalanchoe and chives. I never know when we will get rain, sometimes it comes in buckets and sometimes we are close to 0 for the month. I planted the red kalanchoe in one flower bed in front of my house and had a chive plant in the other one and I did not water either one all summer. Both survived with the tiny amount of rain that nature provided. Each spring, I have to thin out the kalanchoe and I give it to my neighbors. The one chive I planted four years ago has reseeded the other flower bed and the white flowers are beautiful all summer and into the winter.
I stored the kalanchoe in black plastic bags one winter to
keep it from freezing and it started growing as soon as I
set it out. Some of the plants started blooming in the bag. ---
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Achillea millefolium (yarrow)
