Weird Weather: How to Garden in Increasingly Hot, Dry, Unpredictable Climates

Not to alarm you, but the Earth is burning. Wildfires in 2025 rampaged through California, destroying nearly 60,000 acres, decimating more than 18,000 homes and structures, and forcing more than 200,000 residents to evacuate. While we often hear of wildfires throughout California, the scope of the destruction was unprecedented. But now, wildfires rage in the Carolinas and Georgia, states still recovering from the 2024 catastrophe of Hurricane Helene. Never has a hurricane affected regions so far inland, and the fallen trees and debris provide ample fuel, making the fires extremely challenging to battle in the mountainous region.

But disastrous weather events aren’t the only issues facing gardeners. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2023-2025 are the three warmest years on Earth on record. Increasingly hot temperatures and ongoing droughts force us to rethink our planting plans.

How can we create a safe, sustainable landscape that thrives during high heat? What plants provide beauty while also surviving during periods of drought? And how can we design a beautiful landscape that also prepares us for worst-case scenarios, like wildfires?

(Apologies, friends, for the doom-and-gloom.)

Instead of fretting about a climate we can’t control, let’s focus on how to prepare your garden. By incorporating fire-resistant plants and landscaping strategies, as well as installing heat- and drought-tolerant plant varieties, you can still enjoy a beautiful garden that thrives in our increasingly toasty, dry climate.

When creating a landscape, gardeners typically think of curb appeal, designing gardens that complement the home, filling spaces with rich color, texture, and plants that offer multi-season interest. But it’s equally important in our crazy climate times to consider the flammability of plants—and to design gardens that offer a defensible space around the home.

What, you might ask, is a “defensible space”?

According to FireFree.org, a defensible space is a barrier between your home and other structures where potential fuel, like a shed filled with building materials or easily flammable vegetation, resides. Create 30 to 100 feet of defensible space around your home by removing potential fuel, like highly combustible shrubs, trees filled with dead branches, dry grasses, or leaf piles, to help slow the spread of a potential wildfire.

But wait a minute: we’re gardeners.

Who wants plants 100 feet away from the house? We want to enjoy beautiful blooms and fabulous foliage where we can see them. We need scrumptious shrubs to prettify the foundation. We crave color by the patio. We want fragrant blooms that delight us as we walk along the path to our front door.

Don’t worry. We’re not suggesting you give up growing a garden. Instead, consider adding a wide array of beautiful, fire-resistant, drought-tolerant plants that thrive in our new climate reality—and help you feel safer should wildfires threaten your area.

Fire-resistant plants don’t readily ignite from a flame or spark, and their foliage and stems rarely fuel a fire’s intensity. The plant may be damaged or killed by a fire with extreme heat, but the plant doesn’t promote the spread of a wildfire. A fire-resistant plant has:

• Moist, supple leaves
• Little dead material within the plant
• Water-like sap without strong odor
• Low sap or resin materials
• An open structure with green growth and a high moisture content

Many deciduous trees and shrubs, as well as perennial groundcovers and plants, offer good fire resistance.

Highly flammable plants, however, contain fine, dry, or dead material, like twigs, leaves, or needles that ignite easily. The plant may sport loose, papery bark. The leaves and stems contain volatile waxes, oils, or terpenes. You may notice a strong aroma when crushing a leaf, and the gummy, resinous sap often has a strong odor. An upright juniper, for instance, is considered a highly flammable plant.

Fortunately, many fire-resistant plants also tolerate drought well, which makes adding them to your garden a win-win: you’ll feel more secure growing fire-resistant plants, while also benefitting from plants that thrive even during extended droughts.

Take a look below at some of our recommended plants that offer the dual benefits of fire resistance and drought tolerance.

Ready for a beautiful, fire-resistant, and drought-tolerant garden that thrives in extreme weather?

With careful planning, you’ll enjoy a lovely garden rich in color, texture, and blooms that gives you peace of mind for a challenging, changing environment.