My Mortgage Lifter tomatoes had lots of fruit last year when it was very hot and dry. But they didn't set fruit until the nights cooled off to under 70 degrees.

Burpee says their Burpee Eggplant is drought tolerant, as are garbanzo beans.

I'm in a dry prairie climate, with a large farm garden, and I rarely water any of it since it's too far from the house for a hose to reach and our well water is very cold and hard anyway. If you think it would be helpful, I could list my favorite seed varieties. I have noticed that many of the new varieties I've tried over the years don't perform nearly as well as my old faithfuls. corrie

I am very interested in finding some drought-resistant varieties of fruit and trees to grow in West Texas. We just moved here, and the most prominent native plants are mesquite and creosote bush. Not much rain here. Anyone have any ideas?

aloe vera or medicine plant , prickly pear cactus (fruit strain ) there is also a Galopagos strain that is taller.
jojoba prized for its oil, will grow in desert conditions.
other possibilities that might work but might not: beach plums (the plums are the size of a nickel and have stones they are a low shrub) , bilboa tree from Africa , eucaliptus from Austrailia, monkey puzzel tree Patagonia ,
peach , almond . the most drought resistant corn is an american Indian strain sold by www.nativeseedsearch.org but i don't remember the strain. read up on deserts around the world and keep us posted on what you find . The most arid desert is in South America Argentina I think .

Has anyone crossed the tumble weed with anything ? I hear it is a relative of the cabbage . the cabbage was originally a desert plant . how close a relative of cabbage is it ?

There are a couple of drought resistant crops that I have found in Mother Earth News. One is the Tepary Bean, the other is Amaranth.

You can go to the link that I provided below to read their article on amaranth. Then just use the search engine they provide on that page to find the tepary bean as well.

I have been experimenting with amaranth in the kitchen and I have decided that I want to grow it. However, I've never tried the tepary bean.

Here is a link that might be useful: Amaranth Article in Mother Earth News

I think this topic is very important inre: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4888946.stm

"World leaders are unlikely to agree a climate change deal limiting the global temperature rise to less than 3C, says the UK government's chief scientist.

Professor David King said that increase would cause drought and famine and threaten millions of lives.

Tony Blair wants a global consensus on stabilising greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change. The government shares the EU's 2C limit.

The US refuses to cut emissions and those of India and China are rising.

A government report based on computer modelling projects a 3C rise would cause:

* a drop worldwide of between 20 and 400 million tonnes in cereal crops
* about 400 million more people at risk of hunger
* between 1,200 and 3,000 million more people at risk of water stress

Prof King says few ecosystems, such as natural forests, could adapt; half of nature reserves would cease to be worthwhile and a fifth of coastal wetlands would be lost."

I think everyone should begin cutting down on their water usage, lobbying their local politicians about this issue, and also begin investing in the types of plants listed above at the very least on a personal garden level.

Texas persimmon tree - size/appearance similar to crepe myrtle. Fruit - 1 - 1.5" black similar in taste and texture to a date with seeds. Low-very low water usage, Z7-9.

You may want to try "Hopi pink corn" (70 days) it does best in all drought tests and is sold by native seeds search of Tucson AZ . You might want to try some and breed some in to your strains.
The carobe tree and sunflowers are drought tolerant .

I just ordered some corn native to northern Mexico which I hope will be drought-resistant. It is called Guarijio Red sweet corn. Does anyone know anything about this variety?
So far, my Hopi blue corn is looking nice! I tried some baby blue jade & Ruby Queen, and while the latter got tall & placed a single ear, some of the baby blue jade formed multiple ears. Still, the Hopi corn looks like it will handle drought much better.

Also, does anyone know where baby blue jade corn comes from? I read somewhere that it is a indian or heirloom variety, but no more info than that so far. I like to know about tribe/s & location/s it came from. Thanks.