Click below to listen to my Garden Bite radio show: Drought tolerant plants
It’s coming… the “dog days” of summer. 90 some degrees will brings on crackling lawns and drooping flowers
Characterisitics of a drought tolerant plant:
- fuzzy leaves – fine little hairs capture water
- gray leaves – their light color reflects sunlight
- large fleshy roots – below ground storage units
- succulent leaves – above ground storage units
And one of my favorites! Sea Holly
While large fleshy roots hold water underground, succulent leaves like those on Sedums, hold their water above ground. ‘Autumn Joy’ is probably the most popular sedum but I have a little ground cover variety known as ‘Dragon’s Blood’ that survived winter in a small container only partially buried in the ground, the year after, I didn’t even bother to do that. Just left it in it’s container on the deck.
‘Dragon’s blood’ leaves turn red in the Fall.
An annual that’s drought tolerant and tasty too is Rosemary. It’s waxy leaves are coated with a dense barrier preventing water loss. You can FEEL the wax when you snip them off for cooking. For dry shade areas, one of the toughest places to grow plants, choose Wild Ginger, Goatsbeard, Lady’s Mantle and the clematis ‘Virgin’s Bower’.
