Drought-Tolerant Plants

Now that the dog days of summer are upon us, I'm having to water my gardens more and more. Luckily, this year hasn't been as bad as the past two - the drought nearly wiped some of my gardens out.

Something that I started doing after the Drought of 2006, was only planting / transplanting things that were proven to be drought-tolerant in my gardens. This way I know I'll have plants that will thrive even without weekly watering. Some of these plants include:

Autumn Joy sedum - This plant can practically fend for itself and it always rewards you with thick healthy leaves in the spring and summer, and then lovely pink coloring in the fall.

Goldenrod - This is the official flower of my home state, Kentucky. There are dozens of varieties of Goldenrod and because they are native to my area, they don't require as much care as hybrid plants.

Daylilies - This is a flower that many gardeners have at home and there are hundreds of varieties. Throught experimentation, I have learned that daylilies can go for up to 10 days without watering, and if they are heavily mulched, they can go a little longer.

Mock Orange Shrubs - I have these lining my driveway and they are a profusion of white blooms all spring long. I don't water this area at all and it receives FULL sun all day long, but the Mock Orange just keeps going and going (almost like the Energizer Bunny). I take hardwood cuttings in the fall and softwood cuttings in the spring, so I am able to spread this plant around without much effort.

So, if you are looking for some drought-tolerant plants to add to your landscape, these time-tested plants should do the trick.