My salvias are doing quite well. Black eyed susans,yarrow,flax,yuccas, scotch broom seems to do well with little water here in the upper northern part of calif. On top of drought( no rain since may) we are suffering with smoke from the southern Oregon fires. Best plant, Russian sage,still blooming with only monthly water.Christie.

Every time I read or hear something about drought tolerent plants, the first two that are always mentioned are purple coneflowers and black-eyed susans. I've had both of these in my garden for over ten years now, and they wilt terribly at the first sign of drought or hot temperatures. Mulching with compost and watering them doesn't help any. We could get two inches of rain, and if the next day is a hot one, they'll be wilting. Nothing other plant in my garden is as susceptible to drought as those two are.

My astilbes are shot, needless to say. And my buddleia got terrible spider mites and dropped most of its leaves before I noticed. Even my siberian irises are even wilting! Never saw that before. I'm amazed at how well the hostas are doing, but they're in the minority. I did a rain dance tonight and got a thundershower for my efforts, with 5 minutes of rain. BTW, there's an article in the Aug/Sept issue of Garden Design about dealing with drought. Good luck ya'll!

We've had a terrible drought all summer, and the only thing that I haven't watered AT ALL is cystis (hope I'm spelling that correctly!) 'Moonlight.' The only other plant that still looks good is weigela 'Wine and Roses' and I have watered that sporadically. Even the crape myrtles, which usually can withstand a lot of drought, are looking wilted.

Almost forgot, my lirope looks as fresh as ever, and I never water it! :-)

The plants doing well in my garden despite draught are: Liriope, Hostas,Coreopis (Moonbeam), Black-Eyes Susans and all of my stupid Mulberry Trees which much to my chagrin withstand ANYTHING! The plants that are suffering are my poor Hydrangeas and Azaleas. Three of the Azaleas were planted last Fall and the roots are not really well established. I fill plastic milk jugs filled with water and punch holes in them. I am concentrating on keeping the thirsty Hydrangeas and new azaleas hydrated. I've given up on my annuals. We have had 45 or more days over 90 degrees this summer. I think we were spoiled by the unusually mild summers (for No. VA) of the past four years.

Please, oh please take some of our rain. Just a few days
worth. We have had 50 days of rain, many days very heavy rain.

I want some sunshine.

I live near Cincinnati and it has been pretty rough here with the drought and I find myself checking out radar websites constantly...not a good sign. My Hydrangas have done fairly well, but I have been trying to water them once a week or at the first sign of wilting. The yard is crunchy, but I am assuming will come back. Two things do puzzle me, however. One, a sugar maple in the front yard has died ( I guess)since all of the leaves seemed to have turned brown within a couple of weeks. Any idea whether it will come back? The second is that my peonies have never died back like they seem to do other places, but they are fairly sheltered and out of direct sun. As I type, it is clouding up...yesssssssssss!!!!

Susan

Salvias, petunias, cannas, gladiolas, vinca, kiss me over the garden gate, and morning glories look good for annuals.
Buddleas, Hollyhocks, hibiscus, verbascum, phlox, hostas, altheas, russian sage and ornamental grasses look good for perennials.

Looking good: liatris, liriope, chrysanthemum, shasta daisy, marigold, peony, hollyhock, poplar trees, rose of sharon, honeysuckle vine, barberry, Jap red maples, Kousa dogwoods, datura, arborvitae, miscanthus grasses, northern sea oats, trumpet vine, clethra, penstemons, nicotiana, sunflowers (moulin rouge), black eyed susans, yellow butterfly bush, purple coneflower, rose campion, lambs ears, wisteria, gaillardia, sedums-all of them.

Traumatized: hyacinth bean vines, hydrangeas, rhododendrons, viburnums, helenium, coleus, zinnias, hardy hibiscus, brugmansia, nicandra, swamp milkweed (droops terribly), hackberry trees, forsythia.

Doing fabulous: Russian sage (I only give it a couple deep soakings in spring, then it's on its own); Virginia creeper (I am afraid to water or it may overtake my entire shed); Santolina (both the gray and green types receive water only about every 6-7 weeks); Helianthemum, or sunrose (I grow the gray leaved one with the light pink flowers--barley needs irrigation); Artemesia Powis Castle (I have one growing in the desert where the hose won't reach, but it can also stand "average" water); Nepeta, or catmint (monthly water or even less); Baby's breath (no water from me).

Looking good but need watering weekly: Germander; Salvia (the edible Tricolor, Purple, and Golden variegated, plus various ornamental perennial ones); Veronica.

Taking a hit: My dwarf Colorado spruce, daylilies, creeping phlox and bearded iris are all sunburned (it's been in the mid to high 90s for a couple months); Shasta daisies, coreospis, purple coneflowers (look unhappy even with plenty of irrigation); ground cover junipers (which haven't been watered for about 5 yrs just can't take it this year--some droping branches, others on their last legs); Artemisia Silver Mound (ready to bite the dust).

In addition to many already mentioned above, I'll add V.bonariensis and Iberis. The Iberis aren't even established plants. They were mark downs at Lowe's this June and I had a spot for a low growing spring bloomer. They never wilt and seem so tolerant of drought, that now when I hand water the bed they are in I skip over them entirely. I want to see how much more they can take :-)

I have been impressed in other years of drought (and this year too) by the annual argeratum blue horizon. This is the tall cultivar, and it branches abundantly and seems to go on forever without water. Why I always put it in backyard beds is a puzzle. It should be out front adding some color on the street to the otherwise tired, parched and embarrassing display...

Shrubs/trees: butterfly bush; fragrant sumac and coralberry; witchhazel; wiegelia; oakleaf hydrangea; lilac.

Perennials: mountain mint, hellebores (believe it or not); peonies and everything that Dicentra mentioned.

Annuals: nicotiana alata; verbena bonariensis; saliva gregii and coccinea; salvia Purple Majesty

All of these are happy

would you believe that after praying for rain all summer, I began to lay my brick-pattern concrete patio today, and it rained all day! Somebody up there had a good laugh...but I have to tell you about my new drought garden...a friend gave me a ton of bearded iris...so I dug a big oval in the front lawn...useless grass was mostly dead anyway...and added several different yuccas, ornamental grasses, eryngiums, dasylirion, blackberry lilly,tritomas,crosomias, the one cardoon the squirrels didn't eat, and portulacas. It is mulched with newspaper and pea gravel and a few fancy rocks. I looks so good I can't stand it! My goal is to get rid of most of the grass by the time the old riding mower gives out, and I won't have to spend money on a new one.

I had plants struggling for years in the part of my yard under the eaves on the sunniest side of my house had. Now it's the one part of my yard I have barely had to water. It has sedums, nepeta, rosemary, chives, and lambs ears. The little bit of coreopsis the rabbits haven't chewed off at the base is ok. The obedient plants there do look a bit thirsty. In a different sunny spot, I'm surprised that 2 rose plants I have aren't looking too bad. Think I've only watered them once or twice this summer. I know in spring the bulbs I plant there do fine too.

My hydrangeas look thirsty before anything else ever does, and that's even the ones in mostly shade! Think my mature hemlocks, arborvitae, junipers, cedar, and maples are doing ok, but even established dogwoods, azaelas, and spicebushes are not looking their best.

I'm quickly learning about gardening in a drought via my state Cooperative Extension office. Nearly every state has one. Just do a google search using your state name and cooperative extension, and you'll find all kinds of information on your area and drought.

Nothing is looking good here in New Jersey. My cosmos and zinnias are looking ok, smaller than usual but blooming up a storm (i wish) lol. My roses and rhodo's are wilting and all my maples are starting to wilt, even the big shade trees. My yarrow is blooming and seeming to be wiltproof. The biggest surprise has been the wave petunias I have in window boxes on my fence, they have been going nonstop all summer with just one trim. They are thirsty though, I try to water them at least three times a week. My thick leaved hostas in the shade are still green, but my variegated hostas turned all green and then brown and now they are all brown. I just keep watering them and now I am trying to figure out some sort of shade for the ones that get the morning sun. On the other hand, my pond plants are happy as can be, they love the sun and the heat.

Especially good

Mirabilis multiflora
Penstemon palmeri
Penstemon pseudospectabilis
Penstemon parryi
Penstemon strictus
Penstemon secundiflorus
Salvia lemmonnii
Salvia superba
Bearded Irises
Ratibida columnifera

Especially bad

Penstemon griffinii
All annuals
Buddliea- grasshopper food
Chrysanthemums
Anything planted this year
European grapes
Nortern Red Oak- scorched big time

My astilbe is shot. I also lost one bleeding heart. However, I have not watered my Korean Hyssop even once and it is loving this drought. When I first planted the stuff, I watered it every two weeks and it got crown rot. Half of it died. I guess when www.highcountrygadens.com called this plant xeric, they meant it! By the way, try visiting www.highcountrygardens.com....they specialize in drought-tolerant plants.

Mark

Billy in NJ mentioned that even the plants who supposedly can thrive in a drought are doing horribly... I'll bet this has alot to do with the horrible heat we've had along with the drought. I'm not sure what is making our plants look so bad - the 40-some days over 90 degrees that we've had, or the drought, or both! But here's my list:

Doing pretty well:
Variegated Euonymous (hardly any water for weeks)
Boxwood
Black eyed susans
Lamb's ear
Heather
Lavender
Rosemary
Zinnias
Russian sage
Asters
Bee balm

Doing poorly:
Dogwood
Rhododendron
Azalea
Holly
Newly planted shrubs of most varieties, unfortunately
Cleome wilts in the hot sun, looks good at 6pm
Thyme
Hosta

Nearly dead: Clethra, tuberous begonias, astilbe, delphinium.

Doing poorly: Phlox 'David,' Centranthus ruber (dying from the bottom up, but still blooming it's heart out), Cleome, German Chamomile, hosta 'Golden Tiara.'

Star performers: Rosa rugosa, peonies, beautyberry (Callicarpa), sunflowers, nicotiana.

The Star for me is my 'Knockout' Roses. They are planted in impossibly hot southern exposure in front of a concrete porch at the top of a slope. Not only have they survived, but they are flourishing and this is only there second summer. Yesterday I watered them for the first time this summer.
Echinops and ornamental grasses that didn't get planted until later in the season look suprisingly good. Russian sage, flax, sedum, Boltonia, lavender, Nepeta and gaura are unfazed by the drought.
My garden would be extremely sad though with out my annuals. I don't consider them thirsty at all. I have Zinnias and Ageratum 'Blue Horizon', Gompherena, Salvia 'Lady in Red', 'Bedder Blue' and 'Black and Blue', Lantana, Cleome, Brazilian Verbena, Pentas, Four o'clocks, and Larkspur that have held up very well.
Black eyed susans just didn't cut it. The echinacea bloomed its heart out, but the plants themselves look pitiful. My 'purple dome' asters look remarkably good under the circumstances and I am anxious for them to bloom.

Looking pretty darn good: liriope, hottunya (whatever), hostas, morning glory, sedum, black-eyed susan; canna; the weed trees such as mulberry (figures); malabar spinach; the mystery shrub in my front yard; geranium, chives
Looking somewhat OK: Clematis, cleome, rose of Sharon; lamb's ears; butterfly bush; cherry tomato (no blooms yet though); my rose bushes; spaghetti squash (!!); catnip and the rest of the mints I have; rose mallow
Looking pitiful: hydrangea; cucumber

Another happy plant I noticed while out watering last night: 'Crimson Pygmy' barberry still looks great in bone-dry soil, even though the four o'clocks right next to them are looking very unhappy. These are growing in a bed that has received almost no water all summer. The barberries are well-established plants, several years old, that I cut to the ground this spring and sent up vigorous new shoots before the drought really hit.

Salvia greggii,santolina,Russian sage,Rosemary,and different varieties of lavender all seem to be thriving.Fire acanthus and all varieties of lantana that I have are well.I've pretty much gave up on trying just anything that looks nice and started xeriscaping a couple of years ago. Natives I have include Mexican persimmon,Mex. plum,Agarita,prickly pear cactus,agave's,yucca's,Honeysuckle's. This has been the least disappointing summer I've had.Do yourselves a favor and go native!