8 Inspired Drought-Tolerant Plant Combinations for a Water-Wise Landscape

Drought-tolerant plant combinations don’t need to be dry and boring. Xeriscaping, or designing a landscape to use as little water as possible, can be done while still maintaining a beautiful and interesting landscape. The physical traits that allow some plants to thrive without supplemental water can also lend fascinating colors, textures, and architecture to a design. Choosing plants native to areas where water is in short supply ensures that you are choosing plants that evolved naturally to withstand tough conditions.

To get the water-wise ideas flowing, let’s revisit two gardens that showcase an inspiring array of drought-resistant plants. First is Roger and Mary Greenberg’s garden in Tiburon, California, Texture Extremes. It is filled with artful combinations that thrive through Northern California’s dry summers. Though some selections are frost tender, the Greenbergs’ use of exuberant textures and a skillfully restrained color palette could be reinterpreted with hardier plants.

Next, we’ll check out the gravel gardens at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin, Digging Deeper Into Gravel Gardens,. That article showed how to build a gravel garden. Now we will get to know the colorful palette of tough, low-maintenance plants that give these gardens their signature look. Many have a broad range and will work well in gardens all over the country, especially where soil drains quickly.

Plant Combo 1 (seen above):

1. ‘Cyclops’ aeonium (Aeonium ‘Cyclops’, Zones 10-12) 2. Common valerian (Valeriana officinalis*, Zones 4-7) 3. Sago palm (Cycas revoluta, Zones 9-10) 4. Threadleaf Japanese maple (Acer palmatum var. dissectum, Zones 5-8)

Succulents, tough grasses, and heat-loving woodies offer contrast in shapes and colors in drought-tolerant landscapes

Location: Greenberg Garden, Tiburon, California

A gardener’s eye naturally seeks out interesting patterns and anomalies, and the Greenberg garden does not disappoint. Standout specimens grab our attention and then share the spotlight with nearby companions. Repeating colors and forms keep the look cohesive, and it is clear that scale and plant architecture were carefully considered. When you put together your own water-wise combinations, these are ideas worth thinking about. Try to pull from the full range of plant forms and colors available, and don’t be afraid to experiment.

Plant combo 2: Repeat and contrast forms for interest

Putting the variegated version of a plant next to the straight species is a great way to use both repetition and contrast for added interest. Here the brightly variegated foxtail agave is first to grab our attention, and the echo of its greener cousin adds emphasis. Their radiating pattern is picked up by the cordyline, and the massing of the Jerusalem sage helps to balance out these larger shapes.

Plant combo 3: Take advantage of topography

Planting on a slope makes it possible to visually “stack” plants for added impact. Here ‘Yellow Wave’ phormium spreads broad brushstrokes of gold over the hillside, and long-blooming Mexican bush sage provides the perfect color complement.

1. Oriental fountain grass (Pennisetum orientale, Zones 5-10) 2. ‘Yellow Wave’ phormium (Phormium ‘Yellow Wave’, Zones 8-11) 3. Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha, Zones 8-10) 4. ‘Gold Mound’ lantana (Lantana camara* ‘Gold Mound’, Zones 10-11) 5. Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima, Zones 7-11)

Plant combo 4: Create a subtle sweep of soft textures with massing

Large drifts of lavender, fountain grass, and feather grass create a perfect muted backdrop for splashy cordyline and barberry. Although these cultivars hail from all over the world, the overall effect is reminiscent of a naturally occurring plant community.

1. Mexican grass tree (Dasylirion longissimum, Zones 8-11) 2. Oriental fountain grass (Pennisetum orientale, Zones 5-10) 3. Festival™ Burgundy cordyline (Cordyline ‘JURred’, Zones 8-10) 4. Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima, Zones 7-11) 5. ‘Provence’ lavender (Lavandula × intermedia ‘Provence’, Zones 5-9) 6. ‘Orange Rocket’ barberry (Berberis thunbergii* ‘Orange Rocket’, Zones 4-9)

Grasses and perennials with low water needs help create a sense of abundance

Location: Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Madison, Wisconsin

In How to Create a Gravel Garden, author Jeff Epping walked us through the process of constructing a gravel garden, and readers were treated to a few lovely “after” photos of the inspiring plant combinations that flourish in the Olbrich Botanical Gardens’ gravel beds. Here we see more of the dense plantings that help reduce the need for weeding and ground covers and make these gardens feel lush and vibrant while still conserving water. All of these plants were chosen for their toughness and low water needs, and many of them are hardy down to Zone 3 or 4.

Plant combo 5: Lend mystery to the garden walk with an overflowing path

Plant combo 5: Use a few bold stars to add sparkle

The giant fleeceflower toward the back of this photo is a high-impact, low-maintenance perennial that dies back to the ground every year. Here its shrublike height and volume are in scale with the large drifts of prairie dropseed and ‘Summer Beauty’ allium. ‘Golden Mop’ Sawara cypress provides a dash of warm color that looks lovely mingling with the fine-textured plants in the foreground.

1. ‘Kit Cat’ dwarf catmint (Nepeta × faassenii ‘Kit Cat’, Zones 3-8) 2. White false indigo (Baptisia alba var. macrophylla, syn. Baptisia leucantha, Zones 3-9) 3. ‘Golden Mop’ Sawara cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Golden Mop’, Zones 5-7) 4. Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium, Zones 3-8) 5. ‘Summer Beauty’ allium (Allium angulosum ‘Summer Beauty’, Zones 4-8) 6. Calamint (Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta, Zones 5-7) 7. Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis, Zones 3-9) 8. Giant fleeceflower (Persicaria polymorpha, Zones 4-9) 9. Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia, Zones 5-9)

Plant combo 6: Create a cool combination of pale blooms

This plant combination looks crisp and perfect for weeks. The limited color palette puts the emphasis on flower shape. The delicate petals of the wavy coneflower, which would wash out next to brighter-colored flowers, provide radiant contrast to clouds of tiny calamint blooms and the abundant umbels of ‘Summer Beauty’ allium. Spires of Russian sage add height to this grouping, which peaks from mid to late summer.

1. Calamint (Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta, Zones 5-7) 2. ‘Summer Beauty’ allium (Allium angulosum ‘Summer Beauty’, Zones 4-8) 3. Wavyleaf coneflower (Echinacea simulata, Zones 5-8) 4. Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus hetero­lepis, Zones 3-9) 5. Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia, Zones 5-9)

Plant combo 7: Foliage adds flair

The color here doesn’t just come from flowers. A dark-leaved penstemon lends interest long after its early summer blooms give way to sprays of seed pods. Fall bloomers, such as the smooth aster, add a touch of warm chartreuse to the mix as they prepare for their end-of-season show. Nodding onion is unexpectedly eye-catching at the front of this border, with its distinctive, downward-curving stems.

1. ‘Kim’s Knee High’ coneflower (Echinacea purpurea ‘Kim’s Knee High’, Zones 3-8) 2. Calamint (Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta, Zones 5-7) 3. Fireland yarrow (Achillea ‘Feuerland’, Zones 3-8) 4. Nodding onion (Allium cernuum, Zones 4-8) 5. ‘Pocahontas’ penstemon (Penstemon digitalis ‘Pocahontas’, Zones 3-8) 6. ‘Lemon Meringue’ false indigo (Baptisia ‘Lemon Meringue’, Zones 4-8) 7. Sky blue aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense, Zones 3-8) 8. Smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, Zones 3-8)

Plant combo 8: A contrasting color gets noticed first

Graceful color companions keep the eye moving through this painterly composition. Repeating forms and colors help tie the bed together. Colors that depart from the main palette, such as the warm salmon of ‘Kim’s Knee High’ coneflower, grab the eye and keep this collection of plants from being too sedate.

1. Autumn moor grass (Sesleria autumnalis, Zones 5-8) 2. Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis, Zones 3-9) 3. ‘Kit Cat’ dwarf catmint (Nepeta × faassenii ‘Kit Cat’, Zones 3-8) 4. Fireland yarrow (Achillea ‘Feuerland’, Zones 3-8) 5. ‘Kim’s Knee High’ cone­flower (Echinacea purpurea ‘Kim’s Knee High’, Zones 3-8) 6. ‘Cleopatra’ coneflower (Echinacea ‘Cleopatra’, Zones 5-8) 7. ‘Little Spire’ Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Little Spire’, Zones 5-9) 8. Calamint (Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta, Zones 5-7) 9. Tennessee coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis, Zones 5-6)

BASICS

How to spot a water-wise plant

All plants transpire, releasing water from their leaves to cool themselves. Those adapted to grow in dry places have physical traits that minimize water loss. The following characteristics are common to many water-wise plants.

Gray, silver, or blue foliage –

Mescal Agave parryi — Zones 7-10

Small, thin, grasslike, or dissected leaves — 

Prairie dropseed Sporobolus heterolepis, Zones 3-9

Green stems with spines or minimal foliage –

Mexican sea holly Eryngium umbelliferum, Zones 7-9

Glossy, waxy leaves – 

‘Bressingham Ruby’ bergenia Bergenia ‘Bressingham Ruby,’  Zones 4-8

Hairy leaves –

‘Big Ears’ lamb’s ear Stachys byzantina ‘Big Ears’ syn. ‘Helene von Stein,’  Zones 4-9

Carol Collins is a senior editor at Fine Gardening magazine