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    Home » Gardening

    Drought Tolerant Plants - 21 Perennials You'll Love

    by Patti Estep · Mar 11, 2019

    Drought tolerant plants can save you time, money, and heartache. Here are some of my favorite perennials that grow well even during the hot summer days.

    drought tolerant plants collage

    Where I live, the weather can really vary. In some seasons we get a lot of rain and sometimes we have a heat wave. Then there are issues like summer vacations and life getting in the way. That's when it helps to have drought tolerant plants.

     

    Today I'm sharing 21 drought resistant plants. All of which are perennials that grow in my garden. I've included the USDA zone hardiness range that they grow best in, their light requirements, their general height and width, and the time of year in which they bloom. 

    In some cases, I've given you a specific variety of the plant in the photo, but you should be good with any variety in the species.

    21 Drought Tolerant Plants

    penstemon-huskers-red

     

    Beardtongue – Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red'

    Zones: 3 – 8

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide

    Blooms: April – June

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    black-eyed-susan-rudbeckia

     

    Black Eyed Susan – Rudbeckia hirta 'Indian Summer'

    Zones: 3 – 7

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide

    Blooms: June - September

    nepeta-catmint

     

    Catmint – Nepeta recemos 'Walkers Low'

    Zones: 4 – 8

    Sun: Full Sun to Part Shade

    Size: 2.5 feet tall by 3 feet wide

    Blooms: April – September

    purple-coneflower-echinacea

     

    Purple Coneflower – Echinacea purpurea

    Zones: 3 – 8

    Sun: Full Sun to Part Shade

    Size: 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide

    Blooms: June - August

     
    heuchura-coral-bells

     

    Coral Bells – Heuchera 'Creme Brulee'

    Zones: 3 – 8

    Sun: Full Sun to Part Shade

    Size: 1.5 feet tall by 1 foot wide

    Blooms: June - July

    centurea-montana

     

    Cornflower – Centaurea montana

    Zones: 3 – 8

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 2 feet tall by 1.5 feet wide

    Blooms: May - June

    dark-red-daylily

     

    Daylily – Hemerocallis

    Zones: 3 – 9

    Sun: Full Sun to Part- Shade

    Size: 2-4 feet tall by 2 feet wide

    Blooms: July - Aug

    golden-lamium-archangel

     

    Yellow Archangel – Lamium galeobdolon

    Zones: 4 – 9

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 2 feet tall by 2 feet wide

    Blooms: June

    Note: Lamium galeobdolon is considered a noxious weed in western Washington State and other areas of the Pacific Northwest where it has escaped cultivation and invaded forested areas. 

    Bearded Iris

     

    Bearded Iris - Iris germanica

    Zones: 3 – 10

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide

    Blooms: May

     
    Lady's Mantel in bloom

     

    Lady's Mantle – Alchemilla mollis

    Zones: 3 – 8

    Sun: Full Sun to Part Shade

    Size: 1.5 feet tall by 2.5 feet wide

    Blooms: June

    Hidcote English Lavender

     

    English Lavender – Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote'

    Zones: 5 – 8

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 1.5 feet tall by 1.5 feet wide

    Blooms: June - August

    Lenten rose - helleborus

     

    Lenten Rose – Helleborus

    Zones: 4 – 9

    Sun: Part Shade to Full Shade

    Size: 1.5 feet tall by 1.5 feet wide

    Blooms: April

    purple allium

     

    Ornamental Onion – Allium 'Purple Sensation'

    Zones: 4 – 9

    Sun: Full Sun to Part Shade

    Size: 2.5 feet tall by 1.5 feet wide

    Blooms: May - June

    single bloom peonies

     

    Pink Single Peony – Paeonia lactiflora

    Zones: 3 – 8

    Sun: Full Sun to Part Shade

    Size: 3 feet tall by 3 feet wide

    Blooms: May

    rose-campion

     

    Rose Campion – Lychnis coronaria

    Zones: 4 – 8

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 3 feet tall by 1.5 feet wide

    Blooms: May - June

     
    Russian Sage

     

    Russian Sage – Perovskia atriplicifolia

    Zones: 5 – 9

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 4 feet tall by 4 feet wide

    Blooms: July - Oct

    Salvia - May-Night

     

    Sage – Salvia sylvestris 'May Night'

    Zones: 4 – 8

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 2 feet tall by 1.5 feet wide

    Blooms: May - June

    Shasta daisies

     

    Shasta Daisy – Leucanthemum superbum

    Zones: 5 – 9

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 4 feet tall by 3 feet wide

    Blooms: July- September

     
    sedum-green-blue-leaves

     

    Stonecrop – Sedum 'Maestro'

    Zones: 3 - 9

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 2.5 feet tall by 2 feet wide

    Blooms: August - September

    Coreopsis - Moonbeam

     

    Tickseed – Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam'

    Zones: 3 – 9

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 2 feet tall by 2 feet wide

    Blooms: June - August

    Common white yarrow

     

    Yarrow – Achillea millefolium

    Zones: 3 – 9

    Sun: Full Sun

    Size: 3 feet tall by 3 feet wide

    Blooms: June - September

    Patti signature

    Drought tolerant plants are definitely something you should consider planting in your garden. They are great workhorses and are typically easy to grow. After all, we all get too busy to remember to water our plants now and then. And you never know what crazy weather will come during the growing season.


    P.S. You may also be interested in this list of 10 long blooming plants or if you have a shady yard you may like my 7 out of the ordinary shade perennials article. You can find these and much more on my Gardening Page.

    Penstemon huskers red

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    About Patti Estep

    Patti is the creator of Hearth and Vine, a home and garden blog filled with projects to inspire your creative side. She loves crafting, gardening, decorating and entertaining at her home in Pennsylvania. When she is not working on a project at home or searching for treasures at nurseries and thrift stores with her girlfriends, you’ll probably find her with family and friends, at a restaurant, or home party enjoying new and different food adventures.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. stephanie

      March 30, 2021 at 12:09 am

      Please do not recommend Yellow Archangel to anyone or put it in your garden. It is so invasive and so hard to remove. It will take over and you will not be happy! PLEASE!!! Remove this from your recommendations. I spent years trying to eradicate this from my yard. It is so hard to dig out! It will kill/overpower the rest of your plants and grow into your neighbor's yard, and they will not be happy either! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        March 30, 2021 at 6:36 am

        Stephanie Yellow Archangel was planted by the previous owner in the back of our house over 20 years ago. I have not found it to be invasive at all. However, after I read your comment I found that it is indeed considered a noxious weed in other parts of the country so I will note that in the post. 

        Reply
    2. marli junkes

      March 11, 2019 at 12:25 pm

      A altura do Hemerocalis está incorreta.

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        March 11, 2019 at 3:23 pm

        Oh yes! 24 feet is quite large! It should read 2 - 4 feet tall. Thanks for letting me know.

        Reply
    3. Carole West

      March 11, 2019 at 8:20 am

      This is a fantastic list of perennial options. Made me think about getting another color of day lilies to mix with my yellow ones. I'm pretty much done planting at our homestead because we only plan to live there until our project is done. I"m saving this for a future reference because it would be great to have a perennial bed at our next place.

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        March 11, 2019 at 8:42 am

        Thanks Carole, you can never have too many daylilies, or any plants in my opinion and there are so many beautiful hybrids now the choices are endless.

        Reply

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