My Colorful Drought-Tolerant Plants

My small yard is a little piece of heaven in my eyes. I plant flowers, herbs, and succulents because I love seeing the color all year round. As a gardener, I feel very lucky to be living in Southern California (USDA Hardiness Zone 8B) because the weather allows me to have lots of color for longer periods of time. However, the warm weather easily turns into extreme heat, so along with my water-loving hydrangeas, dahlias, and impatiens, I have a slew of colorful, drought-tolerant flowering plants to save water. My five favorites are listed below. I've had all of the plants on this list for about two years now, and they're all healthy and flowering beautifully.

Lantana - Lantana is a very common drought-tolerant shrub in warmer climates. I have two in my yard, and I especially enjoy their bicolored flowers. Lantana can be trimmed into any shape as a bush, but I'm training mine into trees. It is a plant that can reach tall heights, so it can be a colorful backdrop for your shorter plants. Garden Guides explains that Lantana " requires very little water to flourish. It is a popular plant for xeriscapes. When first planting lantana, keep it moderately moist, but once established, yearly rainfall is usually enough to maintain the plant."

Moss Rose - According to The Gardener's Network , "I f you live in a area of heat and drought, you will love growing Moss Rose. Also commonly called Portulaca [Grandiflora], this tough, yet pretty little plant, needs little moisture to thrive and bloom. It grows well in mid-summer's heat, too." The Moss Rose that I've planted have bloomed flowers in many colors. The flowers are small, double blooms, and this flowering plant is easy to propagate via cuttings. The drought-tolerant Moss Rose also works well as a ground cover where there is no foot traffic.

Gazania - Better Homes and Gardens describes Gazania as a " tough plant [that] endures poor soil, baked conditions, and drought beautifully and still produces bold-color, daisylike flowers from summer to frost." In my yard, I have these drought-tolerant plants in lovely orange and purple varieties grown as perennials, since I live in Southern California. They are planted in front of taller plants because these don't get taller than a foot.

Yarrow - A great cutting flower, the drought-tolerant Yarrow comes in a variety of colors. I especially like the cheerfulness of the yellow Moonshine Yarrow. I have my Moonshines planted behind short plants, as it grows 1-3 feet tall. According to High Country Gardens, Yarrow "is well suited to wildflower gardens and is drought resistant. Yarrow makes excellent cut or dried arrangements. Yarrow has excellent resistance to browsing deer and rabbits."

Salvia - Also known as sage, this beautiful flowering plant comes in a variety of species that have flowers in blue, purple, fuchsia, and red. Organic Gardening says of Salvia that "most species are tough and extremely drought-tolerant." I have Salvia in red and blue-violet. My red ones grow to about a foot tall, while the blue-violet is about 3 feet tall. I am able to grow mine as perennials, and they grow so well in my zone that I do trim the red ones twice a year and divide the blue-violet once every year.

I suggest you give these five colorful beauties a try because not only are they drought-tolerant, but they are easy to grow and care for.

My Tiny and Neglected Garden

I just got back home after two weeks away. I was at a cousin's wedding in Canada (Edmonton, Alberta). It was a beautiful wedding. Plus, we took a road trip to see Jasper, Columbia Ice Fields, Banff, Canmore, and Calgary. Then, I was off to Northern California to get my dogs who spent time there while I was away. Now that I'm back in Southern Cali, I have had to see the slight disarray my tiny garden was in. Most plants got watered well and lived, but other not so much. They were either watered too much or too little....so much for asking a friend to make sure the plants weren't dying! He said everything looked good. Well, my eyes saw a different yard! It still amazes me how overgrown plants can get over two weeks....and how ugly they can get too. Flower gardens are definitely hard work at times. I've been pinching, pruning, cutting, replanting over the past couple of days. With the hot weather out in this part of the world, it leaves a small window of time to work outdoors. Below are some pictures of the things in my tiny garden. My yard is in constant need of work, but all of the work has been worth it. I love my new hobby!

My DIY vertical garden using an old trellis, plastic baskets, and zip ties! I've planted small wax begonias, rosemary, and succulents in the baskets. It doesn't require much watering. Gotta love low maintenance!

Double impatiens!! I am not a fan of the regular and plain impatiens, but for some reason I love these! A few more petals really makes a difference, but I have to say that I am a sucker for fluffy blooms.

I couldn't get these solar lights to stay upright on their own. One day I went toy he dollar store and bought a bunch of terra cotta pots (I could not let the dollar deal pass me by!), and they sat in the yard for a while because I had nothing to put in them. Then I realized I could probably take the solar lights apart and push the stakes through the holes at the bottom of each pot. I turned the pots over and did just that. Now I never have to worry about the lights falling over. One day, I want to turn the pots right-side up and maybe plant something inside and bury the stake of the solar light in the middle. Maybe....

These are my small citrus trees. The shorter one is a dwarf navel orange and the taller one is a Meyer lemon. I've had them for a year and they have fragrant blossoms. They have both had small fruits, but they never get big enough to ripen. They go bad and fall off! I don't know what I'm doing wrong, although I'm sure it's me. Everyone has told me these are easy to grow! They get plenty of sunlight, they get watered as recommended, and they get fertilizer specifically for citrus plants. Well, it's only been a year. I guess I just have to be patient. At least I haven't killed them yet.

Ant Invasion!

So with the hot summer weather come very annoying ants. They are everywhere. I have carefully placed this mixture in different areas of my yard where trails of ants crawled.

1 cup got water

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons borax

Dissolve sugar and borax in hot water. Voila! You have an ant killer! Putting the mixture in small shallow lids will help ants crawl in to take a drink. The sugar will attract the little buggers, and the borax will kill them. This is good to use indoors and outdoors. Hopefully, the workers share with the queen so she stops reproducing! Keep away from pets and children as it may be toxic. 

Zinnia, etc.

I've been taking pictures of seed packets and plant tags before I get rid of them so that I know what plants are growing (or not growing) in my yard.