Best plants for drought: expert choices and advice for a resilient garden
Is water scarcity stressing you (and your garden)? In this episode, we discuss some of the hardiest, thirst-averse plants and how to build a landscape that thrives even when rain is nowhere in sight.
This episode features two expert guests from two very different fields. Climate: one in the mid-Atlantic and one in the southwest. They each share plants they rely on during dry conditions, and watering them daily is out of the question.
Whether you have just one bed or an entire garden, check out our practical tips.
We’ll cover which plants need a little help getting started, which ones are actually okay to set and forget, and how to group plants with similar water needs so you don’t overwater your survivors to keep your songbirds alive. Whether you’re updating your entire garden from scratch, changing up a parched lawn piece by piece, or just want to keep your patio containers alive through a brutal heat wave, get practical advice from plant geeks.
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Episode experts:
Ed Lyon is a horticulturist, author, former director of Iowa State University’s Lyman Gardens in Ames, and a frequent contributor to Fine Gardening magazine. He is nationally recognized as a leading horticulture educator with decades of experience helping gardeners grow beautiful and resilient landscapes. After many years in the Midwest, Ed moved to Pennsylvania and started Spellbound Garden Writing &Consulting. Natalie McAnarney, known online as The Plant Ninja, is a Texas gardener and YouTube creator based about an hour north of Austin. The former U.S. Army officer, who now works as a physician’s assistant, began converting her lawn to native and adapted plants in 2020. Through her YouTube channel, The Plant Ninja – Texas Gardener, she documents her lawn mowing projects and plant choices, and features others in the gardening world who take a similar approach. Thanks to Natalie’s efforts, she was able to get the HOA to approve a large-scale conversion of the front yard to native plants, citing Texas law that protects homeowners’ xeriscaping rights, and she has also become an advocate for drought-resistant landscaping.
Natalie’s go-to plants for drought
autumn sage (salvia greggi and CV, zones 6-9)
Yaupon holly (Ilex treezones 7 to 9)
Turkish hat (Malbaviscus arboreus variable Drummondizones 7 to 10)
Texas sage (Leucophilum frutescenszones 8 to 10)
Ed’s go-to plants for drought
Epimedium (Epimedium species and cvs., zones 4-9)
Favorite variety: “Rilafi” (Epimedium “Lilafi”)
Golden Ragwort (Paquera Aureazones 3 to 8)
butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosazones 3 to 9)
Lesser Calamint (Calamintha nepetasubspecies Nepetazones 4 to 9)
All photos are from contributors unless otherwise noted.
read more:
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