Water Wise Plants for Sun

Easy & Low Maintenance

Drought tolerant plants are not just cactus and succulents. They include a large variety of trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses, flowers and herbs. Not only do they thrive in low amounts of water and summer heat, they will hold up in our rainy, cool winters as well. Just make sure there is excellent drainage in the soil to prevent root rot. When planting, add plenty of compost or organic material to the soil to ensure good drainage and aeration. Certain varieties, such as lavender and sedum need sharply draining soil as they will rot if allowed to sit in soggy soil over the winter. Even though these plants are drought tolerant, they will need about 1” of water per week through their first summer until they are established. After that, occasional watering (about once a month) is all that is needed to keep them looking good.

Following is a list of many low water plants. These all do well in full sun, at least 6 hours. A few varieties will tolerate part sun as indicated below.

D = Deciduous
E = Evergreen
◐ = Part Sun: 4-6 hours of sun or light open shade

Perennials & Herbs
● Achillea (Yarrow) ◐ D
● Aster lateriflorus ◐ D
● Agastache (Hyssop) D
● Artemisia E
● Baptisia (False Indigo) D
● Coreopsis (Tickseed) D
● Echinacea (Coneflower) ◐ D
● Eryngium (Sea Holly) ◐ E
● Euphorbia (Spurge) ◐ E
● Gaillardia (Blanket Flower) D
● Gaura (Beeblossom) D
● Gypsophila (Baby’s Breath) ◐ D
● Helianthemum (Sun Rose) ◐ E
● Kniphofia (Red Hot Poker) D
● Lavandula (Lavender) E
● Nepeta (Catmint) D
● Perovskia (Russian Sage) D
● Phlomis (Jerusalem Sage) ◐ E
● Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan) ◐ D
● Salvia ornamental and herb varieties (Sage) D
● Salvia rosmarinus (Rosemary) E
● Solidago (Goldenrod) D
● Sedum (Stonecrop) ◐ D and E varieties
● Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s Ear) ◐ E
● Verbena bonariensis (Lollipop Verbena) D
● Verbena canadensis (Homestead Purple) D

Groundcovers
● Arctostaphylos (Massachusetts) ◐ E
● Cotoneaster (Bearberry) ◐ D and E varieties
● Delosperma (Ice Plant) D
● Lewisia (Bitterroot) D
● Salvia rosmarinus (Rosemary) E
● Sedum (Stonecrop) ◐ D and E varieties
● Thymus (Creeping Thyme and other varieties) ◐ D

Ornamental Grasses
● Calamagrostis acutiflora (Feather Reed Grass) ◐ D
● Cortaderia selloana (Pampas Grass) E
● Festuca glauca (Blue Fescue) E
● Helictotrichon sempervirens (Blue Oat Grass) E
● Molinia (Moor Grass) ◐ D
● Muhlenbergia capillaris (Muhly Grass) E
● Nassella tenuissima (Mexican Feather Grass) E
● Panicum virgatum (Switchgrass) D
● Sesleria autumnalis (Autumn Moor Grass) ◐ E
● Sporobolus heterolepis (Prairie Dropseed) D

Shrubs
● Arbutus (Strawberry Tree) ◐ E
● Berberis varieties (Barberry) ◐ D and E varieties
● Caryopteris (Bluebeard) D
● Ceanothus (California Lilac) E
● Cistus (Rockrose) E
● Cotinus (Smoke Bush) D
● Ilex crenata (Japanese Holly) ◐ E
● Ligustrum japonicum (Privet) ◐ E
● Mahonia (Oregon Grape) ◐ E
● Nandina (Heavenly Bamboo) ◐ E
● Osmanthus heterophyllus (False Holly) ◐ E
● Philadelphus (Mock Orange) ◐ D
● Physocarpus opulifolius (Ninebark) ◐ D
● Pyracantha (Firethorn) E
● Ribes sanguineum (Flowering Currant) D
● Salvia rosmarinus (Rosemary) E
● Vaccinium ovatum (Evergreen Huckleberry) ◐ E
● Viburnum bodnantense (‘Pink Dawn’) ◐ D
● Viburnum carlesii ‘Aurora’ (Korean Spice’) ◐ D
● Viburnum davidii (David Viburnum) ◐ E
● Yucca E

Trees
● Acer circinatum (Vine Maple) ◐ D
● Betula nigra (River Birch) ◐ D
● Carpinus varieties (Hornbeam) ◐ D
● Fagus (Beech) ◐ D
● Ginkgo Biloba ◐ D
● Parrotia persica (Persian Ironwood) ◐ D
● Quercus varieties (Oak) ◐ D
● Zelkova serrata (Japanese Zelkova) ◐ D