Drought, Xeric & Dry Soil Plants
Showing 121–126 of 126 results
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Thymus serpyllum ‘Minus’ syn. T. praecox ‘Minus’ Dwarf thyme Z 2-9
Purple flowers cover evergreen foliage in late spring on this tiny thyme-leaved plant. Good groundcover or for rock gardens
Purple flowers cover evergreen foliage in late spring on this tiny thyme-leaved plant. Good groundcover or for rock gardens
Size: 3” x 12” and spreading
Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained to well-drained soil
Native: Europe
Wildlife Value: Deer resistant.
Size: Great for rock gardens, groundcover, drought tolerant.Thymus from the Greek word for “odor” due to the plant’s fragrance. Ancient Greeks made incense with thyme. ‘Minus’ described by Parkinson in 1640. He called it Thymus serphyllum vulgare minus.
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Tunica saxifraga syn. Petrorhagia saxifraga Tunic flower Z 4-8
Free blooming pixie, palest of pink blossoms from June through October on wiry stems form a 4" tall mound.
Free blooming pixie, palest of pink blossoms from June through October on wiry stems form a 4″ tall mound.
Size: 6" x 8"
Care: Full sun in well-drained soil.
Native: Pyrenees and Alps
Wildlife Value: Drought tolerant.
Awards: Royan Horticultural Society Award of Merit.
Size: Perfect for rock gardens, front of borders or groundcover.Tunica is Latin meaning tunic or coat referring to overlapping bracts beneath the flower. Before 1753. Near 1900 William Robinson (1838-1935) described the Tunic flower as having “elegant little rosy flowers … a neat plant for the rock garden and fringes of borders and thrives like a weed between the stones in a rough stone wall.”
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Verbascum nigrum Dark mullein Self-seeding biennial Z 4-9
June to October (if deadheaded) 3’ fall spikes covered with five-petal flowers of canary yellow, spotlighting purple stamens at each flower’s center.
June to October (if deadheaded) 3’ fall spikes covered with five-petal flowers of canary yellow, spotlighting purple stamens at each flower’s center.
Size: 36" x 24"
Care: Sun well-drained soil - self-seeder
Native: Europe to SiberiaVerbascum was named by the Roman Pliny who said they attracted moths, calling them Moth mulleins. Cultivated in gardens as long ago as Medieval times. Favorite plant in Elizabethan cottage gardens in the 1500’s. Grown in the Eichstätt Garden, the garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, c. 1600. Described by Parkinson in 1629 as: “a stalke whereon stand many golden flowers with the like purple threads in the middle.”
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Verbena hastata Blue vervain, Simpler’s joy Z 3-9
Bright purplish-blue candelabra-like spikes from July to September
Bright purplish-blue candelabra-like spikes from July to September
Size: 2-4’ x 2’
Care: sun to part shade in moist or moist well-drained soil
Native: eastern 2/3rds of No. America, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: Cardinals & Sparrows eat the seeds. Food for larvae of Buckeye butterfly.Native Americans used plant as remedy for coughs, colds, and fever. Mahuna Indians of So. California used the root to cure complicated stomach fevers. Sioux fed the seeds to their horses to give them energy. The Sioux also used it as an insect repellant. Pressed specimen in Emily Dickinson’s herbarium.
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Yucca filamentosa syn. Yucca americana Adam’s Needle, Silk grass Z 4-10
July – August flowers with translucent white bells, five feet high, out of a clump of spiky evergreen foliage.
July – August flowers with translucent white bells, five feet high, out of a clump of spiky evergreen foliage.
Size: 30" leaves - 5' flower x 3'
Care: full sun, moist well-drained soil. Drought tolerant
Native: New Jersey to Florida
Wildlife Value: symbiotic relationship with Yucca moth – its only pollinator is the Yucca moth and the Yucca is the only food source for the Yucca moth.
Awards: England's Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit; Cary Award Distinctive Plants for New England and Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden Great Plant Pick.IIn 1596 Gerard (1545-1612) named the genus Yucca from the incorrectly identified plant. He named it Iucca. Filimentosa from the Latin “filum” meaning “thread” because of the threads on the leaf margins. Colonists cut the leaves of Y. filamentosa to make thread. Indians used the root as an ingredient in bread, to make suds for cleaning and the leaf fibers to make clothes. For the Cherokee it cured diabetes and skin sores, induced sleep in people and drugged fish for an easier catch. One of earlier No. American plants sent to Europe – grew in Tradescant the Younger’s South Lambeth nursery in 1656. Both Gerard and Parkinson grew Yucca filamentosa in their personal gardens. Jefferson planted this in 1794 and called it “beargrass.” Grown at Elgin Botanic Garden, America’s 1st botanic garden, 1811.
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Zauschneria garetii syn Epilobium canum ssp. garrettii Hummingbird trumpet, California fuchsia, Garrett’s Firechalice Z 5-9
Vibrant orange-red tubes in late summer, spreading by root, form a colorful groundcover.
Vibrant orange-red tubes in late summer, spreading by root, form a colorful groundcover.
Size: 12” x 18-24”
Care: sun to part shade in well-drained soil
Native: Kingston Mountains in CA, Utah, Idaho & Wyoming
Wildlife Value: Attracts hummingbirds, birds and butterflies, Deer and rabbit resistantCollected in Utah’s Big Cottonweed Canyon in 1906 by A.O. Garrett (1870-1948), prolific Utah planthunter.
