17 Drought-Tolerant Flowering Plants For 2015
Drought conditions and water restrictions in some regions of the country have made drought-tolerant varieties more important than ever. Here’s a look at some of the latest offerings from leading breeders.
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Gaillardia ‘Fanfare Citronella Imp’ (PlantHaven)
This gaillardia has unique pinwheel flowers that are sunny bright yellow in color. It has an exceptionally long flowering period, and fresh, gray-green, hairy foliage. Trim back and feed following blooming to encourage new growth and repeat fall blooming. It works well in pots and containers, as a garden border or in a modern landscape.
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Zinnia ‘Zahara Raspberry’ (PanAmerican Seed)
‘Zahara’ performs well in sunny, hot and dry conditions. Its bigger flowers stand out on a disease-tolerant, heat-loving plant. It requires very low water needs and also attracts bees and butterflies.
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Cuphea ‘Vermillionaire’ (Proven Winners)
This plant is a hummingbird magnet. Its tubular, orange-red blossoms are the preferred shape and color for the beautiful winged creatures, and they are produced all season long without deadheading. This is a very low maintenance plant that exhibits both heat and drought tolerance, though it can also tolerate higher moisture levels. It is not prone to oedema like other cupheas and looks beautiful all season with its well-branched, mounding habit. It is perfect for containers but also makes a great landscape plant.
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Sedum ‘Rock ‘N Grow Lemonjade’ (Walters Gardens)
Try this unique yellow-flowering, drought-tolerant sedum. Unlike most pink-flowering sedums, ‘Lemonjade’ produces citron-yellow flowers above its grey-green foliage. It’s the perfect companion for autumn mums.
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Scaevola ‘Pink Wonder’ (Proven Winners)
Enjoy the beautiful, clear-pink blooms that have a strong heat and drought tolerance, which means all summer satisfaction from your customers. ‘Pink Wonder’ has a look and feel similar to both of the ‘Whirlwind’ scaevolas, but now brings pink front and center. It is great on its own, or in combination. Look for a height of 6 to 8 inches with a spread of 12 to 18 inches. It is best in full sun.
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Salvia ‘Lemon Light’ (Star Roses And Plants)
‘Lemon Light’ is a compact salvia hybrid with bright-yellow blooms, which attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
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Salvia 'Fancy Dancer' (Star Roses And Plants)
‘Fancy Dancer’ is a compact salvia hybrid with bi-colored pink and salmon blooms, which attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
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Salvia 'Autumn Moon' (Star Roses And Plants)
‘Autumn Moon’ is a compact salvia hybrid with bi-colored, pale pink and yellow blooms which attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
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Osteospermum ‘Blue Eyed Beauty’ (Ball FloraPlant)
Perfect for premium spring endcaps, you can’t look away from ‘Blue Eyed Beauty’s’ deep-purple eye and cheery yellow petals. Osteo is excellent for erosion control on slopes, too. Prune lightly after flowering to maintain shape and encourage re-blooming in fall.
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Osteospermum ‘Akila Daisy White’ (PanAmerican Seed)
In the garden, the full, well-branched plants show off beautiful flowers and are drought tolerant once established. They are a great choice for mass plantings and containers. It is an All-America Selections winner.
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Gazania ‘New Day Rose Stripe’ (PanAmerican Seed)
Landscapers and consumers will appreciate this drought-tolerant series for its excellent performance in containers and baskets, as well as a garden edging or groundcover. It is heat tolerant, covered with large flowers and is very low maintenance.
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Euphorbia ‘Glitz’ (PanAmerican Seed)
‘Glitz’ is great as a filler flower for baskets and planters. This seed-raised euphorbia is a heat and drought-tolerant plant for full sun or part shade. It is low maintenance, and no deadheading is necessary.
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Euphorbia ‘Diamond Delight’ (Proven Winners)
This is the most vigorous double-flowering euphorbia graminea on the market. It is extremely heat, humidity and drought tolerant, and the extra petals create a full and dense white color coverage. The well-branched, mounding habit of ‘Diamond Delight’ results in a finished plant that is 25 percent shorter than its sister, ‘Diamond Frost.’ Look for a height and spread of 10 to 12 inches.
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Delosperma ‘Jewel Of The Desert Garnet’ (Emerald Coast Growers)
Delosperma ‘Jewel Of The Desert Garnet’ features rosy-pink petals that brighten to white at center. Expect flowers from late spring straight through to fall. It reaches 4 to 6 inches. The series also includes Moonstone, Peridot, Rosequartz, Ruby and Topaz. It is hardy in Zones 5 to 10.
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Coreopsis ‘Sun Up’ (Kieft Seed)
This is a first-year flowering perennial (hardy in Zones 4 to 9) with excellent heat and drought tolerance once established. This tough C. grandiflora has bright, golden-yellow flowers and provides consumers with a solution for full-sun exposure locations.
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Helleborus X Ericsmithii Winter Magic ‘Candy Love’ (Plants Nouveau)
‘Candy Love’ bursts into bloom with soft, pastel shades of yellow and pink. It was selected because it is so incredibly floriferous, even at a young age, and because it makes a large clump in the garden in no time. Perfect for dry shade, big, outfacing blooms are held well above the foliage, developing a greenish tinge as they mature. Blooming will begin in the winter months in mild regions and last well into the warmer days of spring.
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Echinacea Butterfly Series (Plants Nouveau)
These pint-sized selections with their saturated, single flowers will brighten any spot in the garden. The butterflies love them and they make the perfect front or middle of the border all summer blooming perennial. These improved single flowered selections have amazingly saturated bloom colors on small statured plants that are truly garden hardy in most of the US. Bred for their size and amount of blooms, the Butterfly series was named because in the breeding fields in the Netherlands, where hundreds of butterflies visit each and every plant. In the series are ‘Julia,’ ‘Cleopatra,’ ‘Purple Emperor’ and ‘Orange Skipper.’
View all
Gaillardia ‘Fanfare Citronella Imp’ (PlantHaven)
Zinnia ‘Zahara Raspberry’ (PanAmerican Seed)
Cuphea ‘Vermillionaire’ (Proven Winners)
Sedum ‘Rock ‘N Grow Lemonjade’ (Walters Gardens)
Scaevola ‘Pink Wonder’ (Proven Winners)
Salvia ‘Lemon Light’ (Star Roses And Plants)
Salvia 'Fancy Dancer' (Star Roses And Plants)
Salvia 'Autumn Moon' (Star Roses And Plants)
Osteospermum ‘Blue Eyed Beauty’ (Ball FloraPlant)
Osteospermum ‘Akila Daisy White’ (PanAmerican Seed)
Gazania ‘New Day Rose Stripe’ (PanAmerican Seed)
Euphorbia ‘Glitz’ (PanAmerican Seed)
Euphorbia ‘Diamond Delight’ (Proven Winners)
Delosperma ‘Jewel Of The Desert Garnet’ (Emerald Coast Growers)
Coreopsis ‘Sun Up’ (Kieft Seed)
Helleborus X Ericsmithii Winter Magic ‘Candy Love’ (Plants Nouveau)
Echinacea Butterfly Series (Plants Nouveau)
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Carol Miller is editor of Today's Garden Center. You can eMail her at [email protected]. See all author stories here.