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Article Series: Gardening
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Gardening Tips & Advice
Drought
Tolerant Plants For Your Garden
If you want to grow perennials in a very sunny
area, please consider a landscape plan that mainly focuses
on the drought-tolerant plants and flowers. By using drought-tolerant
plants and flowers, it will reduce money and time spent on
irrigation.
In order for you to view the arrangement of perennial flowers
in a drawing, a drought-tolerant landscape is included. This
plan describes which perennials should be placed in the front
row, back, row or middle row. The bed in this plan is approximately
15' long by 11' wide. Make sure to adjust the spacing to your
own beds. The pictures of perennials that are included in this
landscape plan are provided in the photo gallery at the top
of the page.
Remember that many drought-tolerant plants can also take being
in poor-to-average soil. Some of these even prefer poor soils.
In addition to drought tolerance, these perennials were selected
with an eye to soil-quality requirements. However, don’t waste
your valuable humus on these plants. These plants prefer soils
that are well drained. The best thing for drainage is plain,
old, infertile sand.
“Longwood
Blue” bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis ‘Longwood Blue’) is a perennial that is a drought-tolerant deciduous
shrub. It reaches 3' x 4' feet tall and a spread of 2' x 4'.
It is best grown in zones 5-9, but in zones five and six it
should be treated as an herbaceous perennial. Make sure to
cut above ground growth back in the wintertime. It is also
called “blue mist” or “blue spirea.” It has prominent features
of fragrant blue flowers and its silvery-gray foliage. The
flowering begins in the late summer and goes into autumn. They
attract butterflies and it is a good choice for the back row
in the bed of perennials.
“Autumn
Joy” is a favorite perennial for the sun-battered
gardens. Some gardeners want a more delicate looking garden
and should plant “Moonbeam” coreopsis. A very popular choice
for perennials in the “Autumn Joy” sedum (Sedum “Autumn Joy”
or Hylotelephium “Autumn Joy”), also known as “stonecrop.”
This sedum is a favorite in rock gardens. Its foliage is full
of succulent leaves in whorls. The leaves are sometimes variegated
and can sometimes range in color from a bluish-green to greenish-yellowish
to reddish-pink or almost off-white. However, this plant is
not just a foliage plant. It can produce an unusual flower,
but it is well worth the planting to see this flower grow.
The sedum’s flowers can be orange, red, yellow, or pink. The
flowers usually bloom in clusters above the foliage. The zones
that these flowers can be grown in are zones 3-9. The dimensions
are approximately 2' x 2'. This flower is also very attractive
to butterflies.
Moonbeam
coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’) is
one of the many thread leaf coreopsis varieties. It reaches
2' x 2'. It can produce bright clusters of light yellow, daisy-like
flowers. This flower can be grown in zones 3-9. This plant
can be invasive also. But like the next flower, purple coneflower,
this plant is looked at as a favorite because of its long blooming
period.
Purple
coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) can be grown only in
zones 3-8. This flower is a native of the Eastern U.S. It reaches
2' to 3' in height and 2' in width. It has daisy-like flowers.
The flowers can range from purple to pink. If you divide this
plant every few years, it will increase your stock and keep
the plants healthy. The seeds of its “cone” are attractive
to goldfinches. This plant is where you get an herbal remedy
for cold and flu called “Echinacea supplement.”
Lamb’s
ears (Stachys byzantina) will provide great texture
in rock gardens. This plant will spread readily. It is an invasive
plant, but the quality is wonderful, if you don’t mind it taking
over your ground. It is not grown for its bloom, but lamb’s
ears does give light purple flowers on tall spikes. It is grown
for its velvety texture on its silvery foliage. This flower
is deer-resistant. Just like the bluebeard, coneflower, stonecrop,
and coreopsis, this flower is an herbaceous perennial. This
flower usually only reaches about 1' in height and only spreads
to about 1' wide. Lamb’s ears are a great choice for the front
row of a perennial bed that is a multi-tiered bed. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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