Our prior posts discussed drought-tolerant trees and shrubs, providing insights into creating sustainable, water-efficient gardens. Today, let’s explore a balanced composition with low-maintenance, drought-tolerant plants. These selections are perfect for smaller gardens or enhance more extensive flower beds and gravel gardens.
Allow me to introduce the stars of this composition: Yucca filamentosa ‘Excalibur,’ Stipa tenuissima, Sedum ‘Matrona,’ Perovskia ‘Blue Spire,’ and Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue.’ These remarkable plants serve as the backbone of our composition, providing structure, year-round appeal, and unrivaled resilience.
While our main plants take center stage in the latter part of summer, we recognize the need to infuse vibrant colors and attract pollinators in the early summer. To achieve this, I’ve incorporated two additional plants. First, there’s Allium sphaerocephalon, strategically placed between Stipa to introduce captivating colors in June. The second addition is Eremurus, thoughtfully planted between Perovskia to deliver striking flowers from June to July, perfectly timed with Perovskia’s growth.
Eremurus like Allium gracefully fades away by the end of July, just as Perovskia and Echinops take the stage, concealing their not-so-pretty fading leaves. The resulting combination of these plants not only delights the eye but also acts as a haven for pollinators, providing a bountiful source of nectar.
This post will provide detailed descriptions of each plant, ensuring you have all the information needed to create a thriving, drought-tolerant garden masterpiece. So, let’s begin our journey, exploring the beauty and resilience of these exceptional plants.
Yucca filamentosa ‘Excalibur’ (Adams Needle)
The rosette reaches about 2 ft (60 cm ) tall and 3 ft (90 cm) wide. Flower height: 5 ft (150 cm)
Yucca filamentosa ‘Excalibur,’ commonly known as Adams Needle, is a striking yucca variety with distinctive features that make it a valuable addition to your garden. Here’s what you need to know about this exceptional plant:
- Beautiful Foliage: This yucca showcases stunning blue-green foliage adorned with numerous curly, white filaments that add intriguing texture to its appearance.
- Compact Habit: ‘Excalibur’ has a neat, rounded growth habit, making it more compact than the straight species.
- Impressive Flower Stems: While the foliage typically forms a clump about 60 cm in height and 1 m wide, the plant can reach a height of up to 1.5 meters (4-5 feet) during flowering.
- Drought-Tolerant: ‘Excalibur’ is a tough, resilient perennial that thrives in sunny, dry locations, including dry slopes. Its adaptability to challenging conditions makes it a reliable choice for low-maintenance landscaping.
- Evergreen Perennial: This yucca is evergreen, forming basal offsets over time, eventually creating a substantial clump. Its manageable size also makes it suitable for container gardening and an excellent focal point in garden borders.
Care Tip for Yucca filamentosa ‘Excalibur’: Ensuring Proper Drainage
One essential aspect of caring for Yucca filamentosa ‘Excalibur’ is to choose the right location in your garden. Opt for a spot on a small hill or an area with good drainage, especially during the rainy spring season. While ‘Excalibur’ is a very hardy perennial (USDA Zones 5-10) that can withstand frost and challenging conditions, it’s essential to prevent excessive moisture around the root area. This simple step can help maintain the health and vitality of your yucca plant, ensuring it thrives in your garden.
Stipa tenuissima Height x Spread: 2ft-1ft (60-30 cm)
Stipa tenuissima, also known as Mexican feather grass, ponytail grass, or Texas needle grass, is a compact, evergreen ornamental grass that adds elegance to your garden. Here are some key characteristics of this beautiful grass:
- Graceful Appearance: Stipa tenuissima forms upright clumps of airy silver-green foliage. During the summer, these clumps are crowned with feathery flower heads that gently sway in the slightest breeze, creating a mesmerizing visual effect. As late summer approaches, the grass undergoes a transformation, turning into a beautiful buff color, adding further interest to your landscape.
- Low Maintenance: This ornamental grass is incredibly low maintenance, requiring minimal care to thrive in your garden. It is rarely affected by pests and diseases, contributing to its ease of care.
- Drought Tolerant: Stipa tenuissima is highly drought-tolerant, making it an excellent choice for water-wise gardening.
- Hardiness: Stipa tenuissima can be quite hardy (USDA Zones 6-10) However, Similar to Yucca it’s important to note that it doesn’t tolerate prolonged exposure to wet soil, especially during the spring. To ensure its health, plant it in a well-drained location where water doesn’t accumulate.
- Self-Seeding: Stipa tenuissima originates from mountainous regions of Texas and Mexico. While it self-seeds, it’s not considered invasive in European countries. You may occasionally find it sprouting in unexpected places, such as cracks in paving or in pots. You have several options for dealing with these self-seeded plants: leave them in place, transplant them to a more suitable location, or give them away.
- Companion Planting: Stipa tenuissima looks amazing when planted near plants with bold leaf structures, such as Yucca, sedum, or Pinus mugo. It also complements bright flowering plants like Salvia, achillea, and others, creating a visually stunning garden composition.
Sedum ‘Matrona’ Height x Spread: 2ft x 1.5ft (60cm x 45cm)
Sedum ‘Matrona’ is a resilient and drought-tolerant cultivar prized for its robust growth and unwavering endurance. From early summer through winter, it captivates with a profusion of pink blossoms adorning its ruby-hued stems and striking purple leaves that transition to a rich bronze as temperatures drop. This hardy plant is a breeze to cultivate, thriving in challenging conditions, including rocky or impoverished soils. Once established, it becomes heat-tolerant, and its succulent leaves make it well-equipped to handle drought. Adorning purple stems, these succulent leaves, kissed with bronze, give rise to clusters of delicate pink flowers in late summer, attracting a plethora of pollinators, particularly bees. Even when the blooms wane, the seed heads retain their allure, casting a charming spell throughout the winter months. Sedum ‘Matrona’ is the epitome of beauty and resilience in your garden.
Perovskia ‘Blue Spire‘ Height x Spread: 3ft x 2.5ft (100cm x 75cm)
Perovskia ‘Blue Spire,’ also known as ‘Russian Sage,’ proudly boasts the prestigious RHS Award of Garden Merit for its enduring blooms, fragrant foliage, and remarkable drought tolerance.
- Appearance: With a bushy, upright demeanor, Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ can reach heights up to 1 meter and spread to 75 cm wide. The silvery-green, lance-shaped leaves exude a delightful fragrance when touched, making each encounter with this plant a sensory delight. These leaves, deeply divided and sporting a feathery appearance, add to its visual charm.
- Blooms: Throughout mid-Summer to early Autumn, Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ graces the garden with small, tubular flowers in soothing shades of light blue or lavender. Arranged in long, spiky clusters atop the stems, these blooms are an irresistible attraction for pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies. Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ makes an excellent companion to all kinds of late-summer ornamental grasses and perennials.
- Easy to grow, drought-tolerance: This resilient plant thrives in full sun and well-draining, moderately fertile soil. Once established, it showcases its impressive drought tolerance and accommodates a range of soil types, from sandy to clay. With remarkable hardiness
(USDA zone 4-9), Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ makes it a versatile and enduring addition to many gardens.
Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’ Height x Spread: 3ft x 2ft (90cm x 60cm)
- (USDA zone 3-9)
Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’ is an exquisite choice for those seeking architectural structure in their sunny borders. This globe thistle is known for its spiky leaves and bristly metallic blue flowers, creating a visually captivating presence. - Blossoms: The standout feature of Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’ is its tight globes of deep blue flowers. These vivid blooms are not only visually striking but also highly attractive to a variety of beneficial insects, including bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Additionally, these beautiful flowers make for exceptional cut flowers, allowing you to bring their charm indoors.
- Low-Maintenance Plant: Remarkably adaptable and flourishes in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils. It’s particularly hardy and can tolerate a broad spectrum of soil types, from poor and infertile to dry, as long as the soil is well-drained. It’s best to avoid overly rich soils.
- Companion Planting: A great companion plant for Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’ is Perovskia ‘Blue Spire.’ The combination of these two plants is visually stunning and ecologically beneficial. Their contrasting structures and complementary colors add an interesting and captivating dimension to the landscape. The spiky, architectural elegance of Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’ juxtaposed with the delicate and airy appearance of Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ make for a striking combination. Furthermore, both plants are highly attractive to pollinators, making your garden a haven for beneficial insects like bees and butterflies.
Eremurus
Eremurus, also known as foxtail lilies or desert candles, bring a captivating vertical element to the garden landscape, especially as herbaceous perennials begin to emerge. These striking plants burst into bloom from spring through early summer, gracing your garden with awe-inspiring flower spikes laden with hundreds of blossoms.
As these magnificent spikes unfurl, they reveal a stunning array of colors, from pristine white to creamy hues, soft yellows, delicate pinks, warm apricots, and vibrant oranges. The very name “Eremurus” hints at their origins and preferred conditions, with “erema” meaning ‘desert’ and “ouros” meaning ‘tail,’ a reference to the distinctive flower spike.
Naturally, Eremurus can be found in regions characterized by dry hills, steppe environments, and even deserts. To thrive, they require a sunny, dry spot, especially during the summer months. Their fleshy roots tend to spread almost horizontally, and they can be somewhat delicate, so thoughtful planting and companions are recommended.
While the foliage of Eremurus can be a bit unruly, growing them amidst spreading Geraniums, Perovskia, Nepeta, and other companion plants helps create a harmonious and visually appealing composition in your garden. These captivating foxtail lilies add a touch of desert-inspired beauty to your landscape, making them a truly unique and captivating addition.
Allium sphaerocephalon
Allium sphaerocephalon is a captivating and unique addition to your garden. This striking allium species features dense, cylindrical flower heads resembling drumsticks, initially a lush green in color and maturing into a rich maroon-red hue.
An excellent choice for planting in a mixed herbaceous border, Allium sphaerocephalon harmonizes beautifully with ornamental grasses and other perennials. Its eye-catching and distinctive flower heads add a touch of whimsy and allure to your garden, making it a charming and intriguing element in your landscape design.
If you want more examples of ready-to-use groups of drought-tolerant plants ideally suitable for your gravel garden, check my Workbook ‘How to Create a Gravel Garden: Plan & Design a Sustainable and Low-Maintenance Gravel Garden.’ Available for download here.
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