Plants that have survived drought with little watering?

twopenny

It's been dry and very hot here since May and I have full sun all day. I thought I'd got drought resistant plants but obviously the ones expected are still struggling, I'm exhausted watering with little effect and I'm depressed seeing my hard work dying - so was hoping for a list of any plants that people have found coped with sun and no rain.

The hardy geranium of all sorts including a lemon scented one. The newer varieties have all passed away.

Wallflower Bowles Mauve and so far the newer perennial walflower varieties.

Old rose varieties.

Lavenders are ok so far but showing signs of stress.

Rosemary - one large ok but showing signs of stress. The two smaller ones are simply dying.

Bay tree in a pot.

Buxus dwarf hedging and balls.

Forsythia.

Helebore - the standard varieties of old stock are fine. The new fancy one I bought seems to be ultra sensitive.

Primroses of the native sort given a bit of water and shade. All others are burned to a crisp.

From seed Candytuft, Love in the Mist and Foxglove. Lobelia which has seeded from my neighbout seems ok with a little water now and then.

Has anyone got any bomb proof plants that I may consider? I don't on the whole do tender or treasured care but still need to go tougher for the garden I have now obviously.

KajiKita

@twopenny, sympathies! 

One plant that I have been amazed at how well it’s done this season is Tithonia, Mexican sunflower. Easy to grow from seed in the spring and a cheerful orange and yellow with soft textured foliage. 

Tbh though, if things like lavenders etc. are turning their toes up I wonder if deep mulching might help? I have been mulching more than ever before in my new garden (due to incredibly impoverished soil in one area and vast amounts of weeds in another) and it is noticeable how much better the plants in the mulched areas are doing. 

KK 

twopenny

Yes, the plants that are coping are the ones planted in/under membrane covered in gravel and that's the same in each garden here.

But I have a 45degree slope on much of mine so deep mulching would blow away or get washed down the hill

I have mulched to improve soil but with only one day of rain in 3mts there is no ground water.

Good advice though KajiKita.

Love that poppy. Now there's another plant to use.

Flugelhorn

Russian Sage
Agapanthus
Succulents / echevaria / sedum / ice plant
Lavatera

Brie

osteroperums.  though I have one in a pot that should be a good perenieal but hasn't been put into the garden yet due to concrete like soil conditions.  It does revive when watered and I suspect it will be ok once planted properly.  

10 foot cherry tree in a huge pot is a surprising one.  no fruit in evidence at all but the leaves aren't dropping despite only being watered about 3 times in 2 months.  

clingweed seems to be thriving of course.  

Soot2006

Roses and bindweed are doing A OK! I am using bath/shower/washing up etc water for my containers and am prioritising potted plants. They are very stressed. The established ones in the ground I haven't watered at all; they are older and wiser and are dropping leaves to help themselves so, next year, they will be fine again. The newer things are struggling. I did move all my containers to the shady side of the house which was a mammoth task but until some bigger trees grow in and give us shade, it's the only way to keep things alive. I am not normally so fussy but I am hosting a garden party in 2 weeks./

KajiKita

twopenny said:

Yes, the plants that are coping are the ones planted in/under membrane covered in gravel and that's the same in each garden here.

But I have a 45degree slope on much of mine so deep mulching would blow away or get washed down the hill

I have mulched to improve soil but with only one day of rain in 3mts there is no ground water.

Ah .... with a 45degree slope as well, I think I would start googling 'desert plants' as the slope would also protect them from damp and frost in the winter so I suspect you could get away with some quite tender, exotic things ..... 

Perhaps; hylotelephium, achillea, fennel, rosemary, sage, salvias, meadow wildflowers and the ornamental grass Jarava ichu.

California Poppy is another one that is doing well in beds that I haven't watered. 

This article is quite encouraging too:
Blooming Essex garden points to future of horticulture in a heating UK | Gardens | The Guardian

KK

KajiKita

Also, hunt out a copy of Beth Chatto's 'The Dry Garden'. She basically made a garden in an old gravel car park and her plants didn't get watered apart from when they went in.

Next year can be a fresh start again 

KK

twopenny

Russian Sage I love, never grown and would fit in. Though Im a bit purple heavy colourwise.

The Cherry Tree is interesting. I have a dwarf one that went from potted to ground this spring. It's coping well - not sure if Cherry is tough or in my case, the roots are still close so easy to water. It's something to do some research on.

Love Lavatera too but tiny garden and visible from every room so trying to get seasonal shows. Where I'd like it there is a lamp post and concreated wires going to my leccy box so have to be careful.

There's some great suggestions. Hoping it will help others not just me. Or even reference for folk creating gardens.

But you do know that next year it will be constant rain? I remember Geoff Hamilton from Gardeners world doing whole programmes on this and the dry gardens rotted in the following weather!

Woolsery

A lot of rock and coastal plants will be OK, like Helianthemum and Armeria, the small Alchemilla alpina and varieties of Oregano. There's the ubiquitous Vebena bonariensis, which just stays dwarf if starved and the newer Verbena 'Bampton' that's a lot tougher than it looks. Good old fashioned Geraniums, like sanguineum, will bounce back, as will macrorrhizum, even if it looks a bit naff right now. I've been known to go over ours with a brushcutter now and have it in flower again in autumn! 

MalMonroe

My fuchsia bushes. Two different varieties. Inherited from the previous tenant and I've been here 15 years. I'm a terrible gardener and always forget to water things. I feel guilty about forgetting them because they always flower so beautifully and seem to thrive on negligence. Last October I hired someone to tidy up the garden ready for winter and he hacked the fuchsias so much they looked dead, like brown twigs. But come spring, they started to grow greenery and then the flowers followed. They're obviously very hardy and they really are beautiful.

I also have some hydrangea bushes which flower every year. Even droughty years like this one. I don't have to do anything to the plants in my garden but they have survived and continue to reward me with lovely displays. I don't deserve them, I know.