All plants

Drought tolerant plants

A garden that survives July without a hose starts with the plant list, not with irrigation.

The list holds low-water plants, about 10 litres per square metre in a dry summer week. 42 plants.

• Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation'Allium hollandicum 'Purple Sensation'
• Dwarf purple barberryBerberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea Nana'
• Silver birchBetula pendula
• Japanese quinceChaenomeles japonica
• Bearberry cotoneasterCotoneaster dammeri 'Major'
• Hedge cotoneasterCotoneaster lucidus
• Spring crocusCrocus vernus
• WintercreeperEuonymus fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety'
• Blue fescue 'Elijah Blue'Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'
• Border forsythiaForsythia × intermedia 'Lynwood'
• Common ivyHedera helix
• Daylily 'Stella de Oro'Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro'
• Autumn Joy stonecropHylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'
• Old Gold juniperJuniperus × pfitzeriana 'Old Gold'
• Blue Chip juniperJuniperus horizontalis 'Blue Chip'
• Blue Arrow juniperJuniperus scopulorum 'Blue Arrow'
• English lavenderLavandula angustifolia
• Wild privetLigustrum vulgare 'Atrovirens'
• Grape hyacinthMuscari armeniacum
• Daffodil 'Tête-à-Tête'Narcissus 'Tête-à-Tête'
• Virginia creeperParthenocissus quinquefolia 'Engelmannii'
• Fountain grass 'Hameln'Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln'
• Mock orangePhiladelphus coronarius
• Moss phloxPhlox subulata
• Ninebark 'Diabolo'Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diabolo'
• Dwarf mountain pinePinus mugo 'Pumilio'
• Purple-leaf plumPrunus cerasifera 'Nigra'
• FirethornPyracantha coccinea 'Red Column'
• Rugosa roseRosa rugosa
• Black-eyed Susan 'Goldsturm'Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm'
• Woodland sageSalvia nemorosa 'Caradonna'
• Common sageSalvia officinalis
• RosemarySalvia rosmarinus
• Russian sageSalvia yangii 'Blue Spire'
• Japanese spiraeaSpiraea japonica 'Little Princess'
• Common lilacSyringa vulgaris
• Hicks yewTaxus × media 'Hicksii'
• English yewTaxus baccata
• Creeping thymeThymus serpyllum
• Darwin hybrid tulipTulipa (Darwin hybrids)
• Lesser periwinkleVinca minor
• Weigela 'Bristol Ruby'Weigela florida 'Bristol Ruby'

Other lists

• Plants for shade

  What 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 butterflies

  Forage from early spring to late autumn, with each plant's flowering months stated.

• Evergreen plants

  What holds a garden together from November to March, when the rest of it is underground.

• Plants for a hedge

  Species that take clipping and close into a line, with the mature height of each.

• Ground cover plants

  Instead of weeding: a close mat that shuts the ground and keeps weeds out.

• Plants safe with children and pets

  Nothing toxic and nothing thorny: the list a garden with a toddler or a dog starts from.

• Plants for screening

  For a neighbour's window, a road, and anything you would rather not look at from the terrace.

• Plants for pots

  For 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, 2026-09-22.