Drought-tolerant flowers, groundcovers, and more.
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Feeling the heat? If your plants are throwing in the trowel during summer’s hot, dry spells, it’s time to switch to drought-tolerant heroes! These 22 tough-as-nails plants laugh in the face of drought, and pests and disease don’t bug them either.
Drought-tolerant plants are often native to the hot, dry areas of the world, like the Mediterranean coast, South Africa, Australia, and our own prairies and deserts of the Southwest. They come in all sizes and shapes—from low-growing groundcovers to taller flowering plants—and many thrive in sun, shade, and areas in between. The only common denominator is their resilient nature and ability to handle periods of minimal rainfall and dry soil like champs.
If you’re designing a xeriscape garden or just want to find plants that won’t turn yellow or wilt dramatically at the first signs of drought, take a look at the best of these hardy plants.
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Most Popular Drought-Tolerant Plants
While some drought-tolerant plants are hardy enough for desert landscapes, many are even happier in standard gardens, raised beds, and planters. Swapping out fussier annuals and water-loving perennials for these tough plants is an easy way to reduce water waste, simplify garden maintenance, and make your flower beds more resilient in a changing climate. Best of all, whether you’re looking for front yard drought-tolerant plants or a few ornamentals for a shady backyard garden, there are lots of attractive plants to choose from!
1. Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp.)
When most people think about drought-tolerant plants, they envision cactuses. And there are few better cactus plants to grow than the prickly pear! Not only is this plant native to the Americas, but it’s cold hardy and produces edible fruit and cactus paddles, as well as bewitching flowers that bloom in vivid shades of pink, yellow, orange, and red. Just be sure to remove the cactus spines from the paddles and fruit before making classic treats, like nopales.
Zone: 4 to 9
Exposure: Full sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. These plants rarely need pruning, but wear gloves if you do!
Watering Needs: Low
2. Yarrow (Achillea spp.)
Yarrow is a fast-growing perennial that can withstand drought and infertile soil. Several cultivars to look for are ‘Moonshine,’ which grows to about 18 inches tall and offers lemon-yellow flowers that are good for cutting or drying and attractive, finely cut, gray foliage. There’s also ‘Coronation Gold,’ a taller variety that reaches 3 feet high and has bright yellow flowers, the shorter ‘Oertel’s Rose’ that grows 1 to 2 feet tall and has purple-pink flowers, and ‘Summerwine,’ an A. millefolium type with burgundy-red blossoms. All are easily grown, bloom from June through September, and can be readily divided.
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Full sun to partial sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Deadhead old flowers to encourage reblooming and prevent floppy stems.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
3. Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum spp.)
Full sun, drought-tolerant plants are fine on their own. But if you want your plants to do even more for you and your garden, try growing mountain mint. This pretty native plant is prized for its silvery-green leaves that show up well in drab garden corners, but it’s also a top-notch pollinator plant that’s sure to be covered with bees when it blooms in late summer. Beyond all that, mountain mint is also edible and great for tea-making, and it doesn’t spread aggressively like peppermint!
Zone: 4 to 8
Exposure: Full sun to partial sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Mountain mint only needs water while establishing, and should be happy with rainfall alone once it’s settled.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
4. Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Butterfly weed is a long-lived native plant in the milkweed family that produces bright orange and yellow flowers that are irresistible to butterflies. Growing 2 to 3-feet tall, butterfly weed blooms over a long period of time, beginning in late spring and continuing through late summer. However, this tap-rooted perennial is tricky to transplant, so you’ll want to be choosy about where you grow it!
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Full sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Remove seed pods if you don’t want plants to self-sow.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
5. Beardtongue (Penstemon spp.)
With over 250 species to choose from, it’s easy to find a type of beardtongue to suit any garden or color scheme. Beardtongue flowers are usually tubular in form and come in pretty shades of pink, red, white, purple, and even yellow. These tough plants prefer lean and dry soils, and they’re perfect for mixed flower beds since they bloom in early summer and can fill in the gap between spring and mid-summer flowers.
Zone: 3 to 8
Exposure: Full sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Deadheading old flowers can encourage reblooming, but old stems and leaves should be left in place through winter to insulate beardtongue roots from chill.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
6. Coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata)
Despite their delicate look, coreopsis plants are surprisingly rugged and dependable — even in times of drought. Many varieties are also native to coastal areas and are unphased by salty soil. Although there are lots of charming coreopsis plants to choose from, ‘Moonbeam’ is particularly popular thanks to its compact shape and pale yellow flowers that bloom nearly continuously with regular deadheading.
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Deadhead and cut back sections of coreopsis plants throughout the season to encourage reblooming.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
7. Wild Strawberries (Fragaria vesca)
Although wild strawberries produce smaller berries than cultivated strawberry plants, their berries are said to be tastier and sweeter. These low-growing plants can be kept in food gardens that don’t get much water, or planted in flower beds as a low-maintenance groundcover. Aside from their berries, wild strawberries also produce dainty white flowers that are always a hit with bees when they bloom.
Zone: 3 to 10
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Prune away runners, if desired, to keep plants from spreading
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
8. Lavender (Lavandula spp.)
Most woody-stemmed herbs don’t need much water, and lavender is no exception. This famously fragrant herb can quickly develop root rot in soggy soil, but it thrives in well-draining gardens with sandy earth and minimal moisture. If you want to use lavender in recipes, look for English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), which is often used in tea, desserts, and baked goods.
Zone: 5 to 9
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Prune tender lavender stems when they finish blooming in late summer to fall. But don’t cut into the hardwood stems.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
9. Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
A tough prairie native, purple coneflowers are the queens of low maintenance gardens. These plants produce long-lasting, purple, daisy-like flowers on sturdy, 3 to 4-foot tall stems that can withstand even the harshest wind and weather. Coneflowers also self-seed readily, and they’re reliable performers that bloom regardless of heat or drought.
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Full sun to partial sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Leave flowerheads in place through winter to feed seed-eating birds.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
10. Some Asters (Aster spp.)
Many types of asters prefer moist soil; however, there are a few drought-tolerant aster varieties that thrive in dry gardens. Heath asters, for example, are a native North American aster that grows to around 1 to 3 feet tall and produces white, daisy-like flowers that look particularly pretty when paired with goldenrods and other native wildflowers. Alpine asters, another drought-tolerant option, are a smaller variety that typically stays under 1 foot high and has pale purple blooms.
Zone: 3 to 8
Exposure: Full sun to partial sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Some tall asters may need staking to keep stems upright, and most will flower more with deadheading.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
11. Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro)
Globe thistles are tough, tap-rooted plants that grow to about 4 feet tall and have round, spiny, purple flowerheads and jagged gray leaves. Noted for their architectural quality, these plants combine well with other drought-tolerant perennials, but are showy enough to stand alone, too. A favorite of bees and butterflies, globe thistles are long-lived and heat-resistant plants once established!
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Full sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Stake droopy stems, if needed, and remove old flowers to encourage reblooming.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
12. Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)
Like lavender, rosemary doesn’t need much water and is happiest in dry soil and lots of sun. Whether you grow rosemary in pots or garden beds is totally up to you, but these plants are so much more than just edible herbs! Rosemary is a top-notch companion plant that can repel pests from nearby herbs, flowers, and veggies, and tiny rosemary flowers are magnets for pollinators too.
Zone: 8 to 11
Exposure: Full sun
Maintenance Needs: Bring potted rosemary plants indoors in winter if you want to overwinter this herb in cold climates.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
13. Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum)
Native to the American prairies, prairie smoke plants are named for their wispy flowerheads, which look a bit like smoke when they’re grown en masse. Three pink bell-shaped flowers nod from each stem. These hardy plants can tolerate a range of soils, including dry and rocky earth, and they often don’t need any supplemental water once they’re established. Prairie smoke is also highly attractive to butterflies, yet resistant to most pests and diseases, including deer predation!
Zone: 3 to 7
Exposure: Full sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. These plants rarely need pruning, but old stems and leaves can be removed in early spring if you want to tidy up the look of your plants.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
14. Blanket Flower (Gaillardia grandiflora)
Blanket flower earned its name from its habit of blanketing the earth with bright flowers all summer long. For that “wow” factor, look for AAS winner ‘Arizona Sun,’ which has wide, mahogany-red petals tipped with yellow, or ‘Fanfare’ whose tubular red and yellow petals flare like little trumpets. Both are hybrids of two prairie natives, and grow to about 1-foot tall.
Zone: 3 to 10
Exposure: Full sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Don’t overfertilize – too much fertilizer can cause stems to droop and reduce flowering.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
15. Coral Bells (Heuchera spp.)
Coral bells are named for their small, bell-shaped flowers that bloom from spring through summer and attract hummingbirds. However, these shade-tolerant native plants are usually grown for their colorful leaves, which come in chartreuse green, purple, bronze, and other thrilling colors. Although coral bells prefer moist soil, established plants can handle drought well, and they’re even more drought-resistant if you keep their roots well mulched!
Zone: 4 to 9
Exposure: Full sun to partial sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Fertilize lightly in spring with a balanced fertilizer. Avoid high nitrogen fertilizers, which can reduce flowering.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
16. Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.)
Daylilies come in thousands of varieties, and there is a color, size, and shape to suit every garden. Planting early, mid-, and late-season bloomers, along with ever-blooming types, makes it possible to enjoy daylily flowers all season long. Try ever-bloomers like lemon yellow ‘Happy Returns,’ or deep pink ‘Rosy Returns.’ Daylilies, especially the older varieties, will tolerate poor conditions and dry soil, and they’re usually pest-resistant too.
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Deadhead old flowers to prolong the blooming season.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
17. Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
Russian sage has airy, soft gray foliage that provides a beautiful background for other drought-tolerant plants, like agastache, rudbeckia, and penstemon. Often called the backbone of the summer garden, Russian sage’s long branches are covered with sprays of small, blue flowers in mid- to late summer. These plants can grow to about 5 feet tall, but become woody with age and benefit from being cut back hard in spring. For small spaces, try dwarf ‘Little Spire,’ which grows 18 to 24 inches tall; or plant ‘Blue Spires’ for bright blue flowers or ‘Filigran’ for upright, finely cut foliage and light blue blooms.
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Full sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Prune back previous season’s growth in late winter to early spring to rejuvenate plant and keep stems from becoming floppy.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
18. False Indigo (Baptisia spp.)
If you go hunting for false indigo or Baptisia plants, you’re likely to find two common options: blue false indigo (Baptisia australis) and yellow wild indigo (Baptisia tinctoria). Although their flower colors vary, these native plants are both drought-tolerant, they thrive in sun and poor soil, and make excellent backdrop plants for lower growing perennials. These plants also belong to the Legume family, which means they naturally improve garden soils over time with their nitrogen-fixing roots!
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Full sun to partial sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. These plants may need stakes or cages if their stems get floppy.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
19. Blazing Star (Liatris spp.)
There are somewhere between 30 and 40 varieties of native blazing star in the United States. Some have tall spires of pinkish-purple blooms, while others produce flowers that look like tiny pompoms. Regardless of the type, blazing star or “gayfeather” plants are sure to delight with their easy-care needs, pollinator-friendly flowers, and ability to adapt to dry soil and blazing sun!
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Full sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Like many other perennials, blazing star should be divided every few years to prevent overcrowding and rejuvenate plant growth.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
20. Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
Black-eyed Susans are native to the Midwest, but they’ve naturalized across many parts of the United States and Canada. These easy-care perennials are mostly known for their flowers, which have bright yellow petals, chocolatey brown centers, and emerge atop 2 to 4-foot tall stems. Tireless performers, black-eyed Susans bloom profusely from summer into fall, and keep flowering even under the most adverse conditions. Though these plants are short-lived as perennials, they self-seed readily, and make charming cut flowers!
Zone: 3 to 9
Exposure: Full sun to partial sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Leave flowers in place through winter to feed seed-eating birds, like finches.
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
21. Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)
Although goldenrod is often blamed for hay fever symptoms, goldenrod pollen is actually too heavy to be airborne! These easy-to-grow native plants bloom late in the season when most gardens could use a splash of gold, and they pair nicely with other late bloomers, like asters and coneflowers. For a spectacular show, look for S. rugosa ‘Fireworks,’ which has arching branches covered with yellow flowers, or dwarf S. sphacelata ‘Golden Fleece,’ which blooms profusely and stays under 15 inches high.
Zone: 2 to 9
Exposure: Full sun to partial sun
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Stake floppy stems, if needed, and skip the fertilizer!
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
22. Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)
Wild ginger isn’t edible, but it still has much to recommend. This native plant, historically used for medicinal purposes, is untroubled by drought and dry soil. It grows in acidic conditions where many plants just won’t thrive, and its dense growth habit is excellent for suppressing weeds and keeping soil covered. Most growers keep wild ginger for its glossy green leaves; however, these plants also produce curiously-shaped, dark red flowers pollinated by small flies and beetles.
Zone: 3 to 7
Exposure: Full shade to partial shade
Maintenance Needs: Minimal. Just keep wild ginger out of direct light as full sun can damage its leaves!
Watering Needs: Moderate to low
Tips For Maintaining a Drought-Tolerant Garden
Choosing drought-tolerant plants, and especially plants that are native to your growing zone, is one of the best ways to limit water waste and make gardens more drought-resistant. However, if you want to make your garden even less demanding, here are a few water-saving tips!
1. Improve the Soil
Adding compost to your garden before planting can improve the soil structure and help garden beds hold onto water better.
2. Plant Close Together
Growing plants a little closer together protects the soil from harsh sun and slows down moisture evaporation rates, too. Remember to grow plants far enough apart that air can move freely between their leaves.
3. Mulch Well
Keeping garden beds covered with a 1 to 3-inch layer of mulch also helps soil stay moist a little longer.
4. Weed Diligently
Weeds can compete with garden plants for moisture and make beds dry out faster!
5. Water in the Morning
Watering gardens in the morning reduces moisture loss and gives plants more time to absorb the water they need before the sun starts blazing.
6. Use Drip Irrigation
Drip irrigation lines and soaker hoses direct water straight to plant roots and reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation.
Picking the Right Plants for Your Garden
Not all drought-tolerant plants are suitable for every garden, and the best plants for your space will depend a lot on how much sun your garden receives, your growing zone, and the plants that appeal to your tastes. If your garden gets a lot of sun, look for plants that crave light, like coneflowers or black-eyed Susan. However, if you’re working with a shadier space, shade-tolerant plants like wild ginger and foamflower may be a better pick.
As long as you’re selecting plants that appreciate the same amount of light and water, and avoid aggressive growers, like most mints, you can feel pretty confident that your plants will grow well together. Just make sure to give your plants enough space to spread out and locate taller plants towards the rear or north side of your flower beds so they won’t overshadow lower-growing plants. Then, fill any empty soil space with mulch or ground-covering plants, like wild strawberries, water your plants until they’re well-established, and sit back and enjoy your drought-tolerant flower beds!
Lauren Landers
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