Long-Blooming Drought-Tolerant Plants

By Abby Lapides

Flowers, flowers everywhere—that’s what we want!

Sometimes the goal of a fabulous flowering garden can seem impossible in challenging locations, especially dry. Learn about some of the toughest, longest-blooming plants that will easily get through droughts while looking gorgeous.

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A favorite Missouri native perennial, Rose Verbena, Verbena or Gladularia canadensis, provides clusters of rose-pink blossoms from late spring through late summer and well into fall. Its sprawling, low-growing habit makes it an ideal ground cover. It resembles its annual cousin, but this beauty queen is hardy. It looks gorgeous in the garden, containers, naturalized, and spilling over rocks, borders, and walls. Rose Verbena grows easily in average, welldrained soil in full sun. Although the original plant may not be long-lived, it will self-seed and spread by its self-rooting stems to form a fast-spreading ground cover. eaSy care Shade-loving plantS

With daisy-like colorful flowers, tickseeds, Coreopsis spp. bring blossoms from early summer into fall. The Missouri native’s sunny yellows naturalize easily. Newer selections feature shades of pink, a two-toned red and white, and a personal favorite, ‘Sweet Tart’, with hundreds of blossoms in deep raspberry hues accented with yellow-orange centers. The cheery blossoms appear for months, making it a top choice for butterflies, cut flowers, meadows, and natural gardens.

There’s a reason you see Spirea all over town: gas stations, car washes, etc. They take all the abuse Mother Nature throws at them: drought, heat, high humidity, rocky, dry soil, and no human care. Yet even under these severe environments, these little gems work tirelessly producing brilliant foliage and blossoms. With its easy-growing nature, ‘Double Play Gold’ Spirea makes a carefree specimen. Only growing 2’ tall and wide, it features eyepopping gold foliage and fluffy pink flowers.

Lenten rose, Helleborus spp., adds delightful flowers to the shady woodland garden. Its dark, thick, evergreen foliage looks fantastic in and out of bloom. In late winter nodding 3-4″ cup-shaped flowers emerge. The remarkable blossoms come in a multitude of colors and forms: deep red, almost black, blue, pink, white, speckled and two-toned. The flowers can be single, multiple-petalled, or frilly. Flowers dry on the plants, sometimes persisting for months. It easily grows in most soil conditions, except wet, and tolerates drought once established. A long-lived perennial, Lenten rose resists pests, deer, and rabbits.

A blooming powerhouse, ‘Honorine Jobert’ Japanese Anemone claims bright white 2-3” flower petals with golden sepals surrounding kiwi green centers. Flowers float high over deep green glossy foliage from August through September. Discovered in the 1850s in France, this plant has been a perennial favorite for over 150 years. Plant these where they can be seen from your patio— you will want to see them glow at dusk when enjoying an evening outdoors. They grow 3-4’ tall, and 1-2’ wide. Tolerant of most conditions including full sun to full shade.

‘Intense’ Geranium. I can’t say enough good things about this fabulous plant. An exuberant bloomer, its flashy pink blossoms cover the foliage for a considerably long time. Its mat-forming evergreen foliage smothers weeds and looks attractive all year long. All-in-all, this selection of hardy geraniums is about the easiest and one of most beautiful perennials to grow. Will happily grow in sun or shade.

Abby Lapides is owner and a speaker at Sugar Creek Gardens Nursery. She has degrees from the University of Missouri, and is a member of the Landscape and Nursery Association of Greater St. Louis. You can reach her at (314) 965-3070.

Give your babies a good start when planting to increase your chances for success. Add compost or other organic matter to the soil when planting. Once settled in these beauties will tolerate drought, but they will need to be well-watered until plants are established. A top dressing of mulch will help hold water in the soil and keep weeding to a minimum. And lastly, although all these plants are tough as nails, they benefit from deep soakings during exceptionally long dry spells.

Photos provided by the following: Coreopsis ‘Sweet Tart’ and Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’ courtesy Ann Lapides; Rose Verbena courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden; ‘Spirea ‘Double Play Gold’ courtesy Proven Winners; Lenten Rose courtesy Walters Gardens.