Drought Tolerant Ideas, Tips & Guides

A highly ornamental shrub, Chinese fringe flower (Loropetalum chinense) features fragrant fringed flowers and fantastic, colorful foliage – a beautiful addition to gardens with mild winters.In late winter to early spring, and sporadically through the summer, th

‘Millenium’ allium has an upright habit that makes it a cinch to tuck in between other summer-blooming plants and creates an interesting contrast to the mounding cushion spurge and snow-in-summer growing nearby in this garden plan. Its ball-shaped blooms stand out among the spiky salvia and domes of euphorbia. And if deer have been browsing your garden, this is one border they'll give a pass — these perennials rarely get nibbled. Growing conditions for this drought-tolerant border Give this drought-tolerant group full sun for the most flowers and best foliage color and well-drained soil to avoid rot. There's no real need to feed this group of plants that

Maybe you’ve heard of xeriscaping. It’s a type of desert-style landscaping, right?Actually, I’m here to tell you that it’s way more!

The alpine aster, Aster alpinus, is a short-lived cold weather perennial in the very large Asteraceae family that includes daisies, dahlias, and sunflowers.This herbaceous ornamental species is unique for having an earl

Native to Mexico and parts of the United States, including the southwest and the Central Plains, blackfoot daisy is a cheerful, drought-tolerant plant that can take the heat and still shine brightly.This evergreen perennial member of the

When it comes to enjoyable South African exports, the cape marigold comes to mind.Dimorphotheca sinuata is a self-seeding daisy-like annual in th

With its long history of medicinal use, I find yarrow to be one of the most incredible and fascinating common garden plants.An herbaceous perennial and member of the

Showy and low maintenance, gaura, also known as beeblossom, is a North American native that’s highly popular as a cultivated wildflower.Plants have an open form, with long, waving wands dotted with delicate, fluttering flow

Succulent plants have unusual shapes, rich textures, varied colors, and showy blooms that make a dramatic impact in any container or garden setting.They are not a unique floral family, but div

Did you know there’s a plant named after a time of day?And while you may recall the rather old-fashioned fo

How can you not immediately fall in love with a plant called “American beautyberry”? It just makes the heart swell. Here, take a Kleenex.The emotive lexicon is well deserved.This large, deciduous shru

For an impressive dose of prehistoric drama, consider sago palm.The Cycad genus in the Cycadaceae family inclu

Have you always wanted to grow your own succulents?You’re not alone.Some vari

Ah, the pungent smell of marigolds – their distinctive fragrance tells me that summer has most definitely arrived.And once summer is at full tilt, I

When you think about xerophytic or drought-adapted plants, you might immediately picture a saguaro cactus and other similar species, and you’re not wrong – but there are so many more, and a lot of them are colorful flowers, useful herbs, and beautiful trees.We link to vendors to help you find relevant products.

With showy and colorful rose-like flowers from June to first frost, Portulaca grandiflora, or moss rose, is a favorite for its easy cultivation and fast growth.We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy

Daylilies and I go way back. Hardy, drought-tolerant, profuse bloomers: what’s not to like? Add to that their eagerness to spread and multiply, and you’ve got yourself an easy addition to your home and garden.Because of its popularity, the daylily is available in a staggering array of co

Beloved by many gardeners for its heat tolerance and shade-loving nature, but reviled by others for its eagerness to spread with abandon, R. simplex can be divisive.Thanks to its sweet purple flowers, however, we come down firmly on the pro-ruellia side of

Succulents exist in a vast array, their form and color ranging from tiny green bulbous leaves on a string-like stem to rosy-toned stumps that appear to be living rocks.It can be hard to believe that agaves belong to this

Verbena is a genus containing about 250 species, many of which also simply go by “verbena” in common parlance, or if we’re lucky, something like the highly specific “purple verbena.”When I saw that my colleague here at Garden

California coffeeberry, also known as California buckthorn, is an excellent choice for drought-tolerant wildlife gardens.This species can grow up to 15 feet tall and spread

Columbine, or Aquilegia, is an intriguing member of the Ranunculaceae family with exquisite petals that give it an ephemeral quality, like a briefly glimpsed hummingbird.It is an herbaceous perennial that blooms from sp

The intoxicating fragrance of Texas mountain laurel is enough to cause drivers to slam on the brakes or dog walkers to abruptly stop short, giving poor Fido whiplash.Famed TV chef Emeril Lagasse used to lament the non-inventi

Woody shrubs give wonderful structure to gardens and landscapes. And ones that add pretty flowers, luminous foliage, and multi-season color give even greater value – like spirea.Beloved by greenhorn and green thumb gardeners a

Salvia, a genus of plants in the mint (Lamiaceae) family with nearly a thousand members, is known for its toughness.Heat tolerant, chill tolerant, drought tolerant, impervious to pest

You know the phrase, “an iron fist in the velvet glove”? Scholars like to quibble over who uttered it first, with Napoleon as the leading candidate.Me, I’d argue only that they could have been talking about olea

Not just another pretty face in a lush and lazy garden, yarrow (Achillea) earns its keep in the worst soils with the least amount of water.If you’ve got barren areas crying out for color, it’s yarrow to the rescue!

With its cheery mounds of yellow blooms, desert marigold is a waterwise species adapted to arid landscapes.This drought-tolerant native of the American Southwest can

Mexican white oak (Quercus polymorpha) is such an incredible tree that it’s even become a favorite of the vaunted University of Texas at Austin.In fact, the facilities services of the university

Are you sick of mowing all the time? Why not replace that time consuming, resource draining lawn with a beautiful meadow of low-growing chamomile?Perfect for slopes and other hard to

What is xerophytic gardening?If we dissect the word, the pre

Baby’s breath spirea,Spiraea thunbergii, is an ornamental woody shrub in the Rosaceae family. It has gracefully arching stems and slender, slightly-serrated lanceolate leaves.The ‘Ogon’ cultivar, S. thumbergii ‘Ogon’, aka Mellow Yellow, is noteworthy for its early spring bloom

With their tufted heads and uncanny beaks, all the different types of bird of paradise flowers (Strelitzia spp.) are showstoppers in their own right.Even when they’re not flowering, the silky evergreen f

The succulent is one of nature’s most efficient plants, and one of the easiest to propagate.It’s a type of “xerophyte,” a shallo

Purple sage is an arid climate native, and its silver foliage and purple blooms fill the air with a beguiling aroma.This shrub attracts pollinators like bees an

Ornamental sky blue aster, Symphyotrichum oolentangiense, formerly Aster azureus, is a native herbaceous perennial that readily naturalizes in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 8.It toils away all season long, forming branching foliage. Then it