Drought tolerant plants
A garden that gets through July without a hose starts with the plant list.
42 plantsThe list holds low-water plants, about 10 litres per square metre in a dry summer week.
Autumn Joy stonecropHylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'
Bearberry cotoneasterCotoneaster dammeri 'Major'
Black-eyed Susan 'Goldsturm'Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm'
Blue Arrow juniperJuniperus scopulorum 'Blue Arrow'
Blue Chip juniperJuniperus horizontalis 'Blue Chip'
Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue'Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'
Border forsythiaForsythia × intermedia 'Lynwood'
Common ivyHedera helix
Common lilacSyringa vulgaris
Common sageSalvia officinalis
Creeping thymeThymus serpyllum
Daffodil 'Tête-à-Tête'Narcissus 'Tête-à-Tête'
Darwin hybrid tulipTulipa (Darwin hybrids)
Daylily 'Stella de Oro'Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro'
Dwarf mountain pinePinus mugo 'Pumilio'
Dwarf purple barberryBerberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea Nana'
English lavenderLavandula angustifolia
English yewTaxus baccata
FirethornPyracantha coccinea 'Red Column'
Fountain grass 'Hameln'Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln'
Grape hyacinthMuscari armeniacum
Hedge cotoneasterCotoneaster lucidus
Hicks yewTaxus × media 'Hicksii'
Japanese quinceChaenomeles japonica
Japanese spiraeaSpiraea japonica 'Little Princess'
Lesser periwinkleVinca minor
Mock orangePhiladelphus coronarius
Moss phloxPhlox subulata
Ninebark 'Diabolo'Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diabolo'
Old Gold juniperJuniperus × pfitzeriana 'Old Gold'
Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation'Allium hollandicum 'Purple Sensation'
Purple-leaf plumPrunus cerasifera 'Nigra'
RosemarySalvia rosmarinus
Rugosa roseRosa rugosa
Russian sageSalvia yangii 'Blue Spire'
Silver birchBetula pendula
Spring crocusCrocus vernus
Virginia creeperParthenocissus quinquefolia 'Engelmannii'
Weigela 'Bristol Ruby'Weigela florida 'Bristol Ruby'
Wild privetLigustrum vulgare 'Atrovirens'
WintercreeperEuonymus fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety'
Woodland sageSalvia nemorosa 'Caradonna'
Plants picked for your own plot
The studio draws a plan for your own plot and picks plants that suit its light and soil. It needs no account.
Design my gardenFree, no account and no card
Other lists
- Plants for shade30 plantsWhat grows on the north side of a house, under a tree and against a wall the sun reaches for an hour.
- Plants for bees and butterflies60 plantsForage from early spring to late autumn, with each plant's flowering months stated.
- Evergreen plants24 plantsWhat holds a garden together from November to March, when the rest of it is underground.
- Plants for a hedge13 plantsSpecies that take clipping and close into a line, with the mature height of each.
- Ground cover plants17 plantsInstead of weeding: a close mat that shuts the ground and keeps weeds out.
- Plants safe with children and pets39 plantsNothing toxic and nothing thorny: the list a garden with a toddler or a dog starts from.
- Plants for screening24 plantsFor a neighbour's window, a road, and anything you would rather not look at from the terrace.
- Plants for pots8 plantsFor a terrace or a balcony, where the soil ends at the wall of the pot and water goes twice as fast.
Reviewed and approved for Poland by a qualified gardener with thirty years of practice, 22 September 2026.