20 Drought-Tolerant Plants for Gorgeous Gardens
Water: It’s a precious resource, treated like a commodity, and spotlighted in nervous news cycles. From droughts to data centers, water stars in endless debates. And with climate change contributing to dry conditions, it’s important to keep the water conservation conversation front-and-center. But with endless sunny days in the forecast, how can a gardener enjoy a gorgeous garden while mindfully protecting our most valuable resource?
Select drought-tolerant plants, of course.
We’re not talking about a cactus-filled landscape, although succulents and cacti make an aesthetically alluring garden design in the right region. Instead, less-obvious options exist to fill your beds, borders, and containers with fabulous flowers and foliage that require minimal watering.
Whether you’re looking for a bright burst of color with annuals and perennials, want to create a foundation planting or focal point with structural shrubs, or enjoy culinary creativity with homegrown herbs, you’ll find a terrific selection of drought-tolerant plants for your garden.
Grow a Gorgeous, Drought-Resistant Garden with These 20 Plants
Annuals
From charming containers to beautiful borders, annuals offer the perfect pop of seasonal color.
Choose drought-tolerant varieties that thrive in summer’s heat and humidity, like:
Creeping Zinnia
Thriving in full sun, creeping zinnia is an easy-to-grow-from-seed, deer-resistant, drought-tolerant annual that forms a low, 4-to-6-inch mat of vibrant, pollinator-friendly blooms all summer long.
Lavender Lady Gomphrena
This heat- and drought-tolerant globe amaranth features lavender blooms that thrive through the late-summer slump, making excellent cut flowers from summer to fall.
Sun Parasol® FiredUp Coral
Sun Parasol FiredUp Coral is a new, naturally upright dipladenia with hot coral-pink blooms, making it the perfect freestanding thriller for summer beds and containers.
Mega Pazzaz™ Pink Twist Purslane
With extra-large, vibrant flowers and a semi-trailing habit, the heat- and drought-tolerant Pazzaz™ series is an excellent spreading filler for beds, containers, and baskets.
Passionfruit Lantana
Featuring a spreading habit ideal for baskets and ground cover, this variety delivers a continuous blaze of vivid orange, pink, and yellow blooms all summer and fall.
Xeriscaping is the practice of designing landscapes to reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental irrigation.
In some communities, residents receive conservation incentives to convert from traditional lawns to xeriscaping: using drought-tolerant plants, rocks, amended soil, and mulch to conserve water. Check with your community to see if incentives are available for xeriscaping.
Perennials
Planting perennials makes good waterwise sense. While all plants need regular watering the first year to grow strong, healthy roots, drought-tolerant perennials grow beautifully without continuous watering after they’re established.
For a few options to make your garden look great without toting a hose around all summer, consider:
Jos Eijking Sea Holly
A superb, eye-catching structural perennial for zones 4–9, this pollinator favorite features a unique blue color and interesting texture that makes excellent summer cut flowers.
REALFLOR® ‘Sunset Halo’ Gaillardia
A durable, pollinator-friendly blanket flower for zones 5–9, Sunset Halo features compact, continuous ruby-red and yellow blooms that resist deer and rabbits in containers and borders.
Catwalk Queen Catmint
This exceptionally large-flowered, thick-leaved catmint for zones 3–8 features striking lavender-blue blooms on a sturdy, compact habit that thrives in hot, dry borders.
Tony’s Talisman Geranium
This hardy, low-maintenance geranium for zones 4–8 produces purple blooms from late spring to fall, attracting pollinators to cottage gardens, borders, and containers.
Dakota™ Gold Black-Eyed Susan
Boasting massive 7-inch golden blooms all summer, this compact, hardy Rudbeckia for zones 5–9 is perfect for mass plantings, cut flowers, and containers.
Even if a plant is labeled “drought-tolerant,” it will still need a little TLC the first year in the garden.
Make sure to water regularly to allow the plant to establish a healthy root system, and then you can enjoy years of low-maintenance beauty from your drought-tolerant plant.
Shrubs
From foundation plantings to privacy screens, shrubs provide great garden structure while also adding gorgeous color and texture to the landscape. And while all shrubs need a little extra watering during the first year, these drought-tolerant beauties will look lovely for years—without increasing your water bill.
A few options include:
Butterfly Candy™ Lil’ Raspberry™ Butterfly Bush
This compact, heat-tolerant butterfly bush for zones 5–10 features fragrant, seedless hot-pink blooms from spring through fall, attracting pollinators to containers and perennial borders.
First Editions® Spicy Devil® Ninebark
This structural 3-to-4-foot shrub for zones 3–7 features vibrant orange-to-purple foliage and spring flowers, offering multi-season interest for foundations and small hedges.
Beyond Midnight® Bluebeard
Featuring dark glossy foliage and deep blue late-summer flowers, this compact, pollinator-favorite shrub for zones 5–9 adds bold color to landscapes and perennial borders.
Kodiak Jet Black® Diervilla
This tough, drought-tolerant native shrub for zones 3–8 features dark burgundy foliage and yellow early-summer flowers, offering easy-care color for deer-resistant landscapes.
Golden Jackpot® Joyce Barberry
This rust-resistant, gold-leaved barberry for zones 4–8 features a compact, naturally rounded habit, making it a stunning, low-maintenance choice for borders and accents.
For a drought-tolerant garden, select plants that thrive in your region.
While native plants make excellent choices, expand your options by choosing climate-similar varieties. Amend the soil with organic material and mulch beds to help retain moisture.
Edibles
If you love to create culinary treats with homegrown herbs, you’re in luck: some of the most popular and delicious herbs are drought-tolerant. While many edibles need regular watering to produce well and taste their best, growing herbs native to the Mediterranean region offers a delicious way to save water in your garden while savoring delicious meals. From pizza to pasta to stuffing, roasts, and desserts, homegrown herbs add fabulous flavor to your favorite recipes.
A few herbs to consider include:
Sensational!® Lavender
Featuring shimmery silver foliage, extra-large fragrant mauve-purple blooms, and unmatched heat tolerance, this sturdy perennial for zones 5–8 is perfect for borders and containers.
Italian Oregano
Perfect for classic Italian cuisine, this easy-growing, Mediterranean oregano for zones 5–10 thrives in well-drained soil, making it a flavorful choice for garden edges or containers.
Summer Thyme
Essential for Mediterranean cuisine, this drought-tolerant, pollinator-friendly perennial thyme for zones 6–8 brings spicy, earthy flavor to soups, meats, and vegetables.
Garden Sage
Perfect for sauces, stuffings, and meats, this fragrant garden sage for zones 4–10 brings unique, savory flavor to recipes and grows beautifully in containers.
Rosemary
Highly aromatic and perfect for flavoring meats, breads, and oils, this versatile rosemary for zones 8–10 grows beautifully in containers, gardens, or as a fragrant pathway border.
Are you ready to enjoy your gorgeous, drought-tolerant garden?
Store the sprinkler, roll up the hose, and relax in the spectacular, environmentally friendly space you’ve created.
Do you know that National Garden Bureau members include the most innovative breeders and distributors of drought-tolerant plants?
If you want to create a gorgeous garden that shines all season without endless watering, check out the plants and products available from National Garden Bureau members.
About National Garden Bureau
Founded more than 100 years ago, the National Garden Bureau educates, inspires, and motivates people to grow home gardens. National Garden Bureau members are horticultural experts, and the information shared with you comes directly from these experts to ensure your gardening success.
“This post is an educational/inspirational service of the National Garden Bureau and our members. Please credit and link to National Garden Bureau when using all or parts of this article.”
