Adapting the garden to climate change: 22 perennials with no summer watering -

22 flowering perennials for a garden that is dry and hot in summer but rather damp and sometimes cold in winter.

With global warming, we all have to adapt our gardens to the changes. While it’s hotter and drier in summer, in many regions it’s still cold in winter, and sometimes even wetter than before.

Here, I suggest perennials that can withstand both dry summers and cold, wet winters.

Let’s face it, Brittany (western part of France) isn’t what it used to be. Olive trees are bearing fruit, cacti aren’t rotting in the ground and hydrangea flowers are roasting in the sun.

The lawn is still yellow in places in winter, and I’m thinking that some of the plants that used to grow well in our acidic, damp soil are doomed to disappear.

Of course, we all have to do our bit to limit global warming, for example by going on vacation less far away (too late, I’ve already bought the tickets…it’s no good!) or look on the positive side: we’ll soon be eating olives!

That said, I’m fed up with using so much water and spending so much time watering my plants. The garden will have to adapt to the new climate.

So I’m thinking about plants that require little or no watering. Here’s my small selection of drought-resistant plants that won’t freeze in winter: waterless perennials!

If you’re also looking for waterless flowering shrubs, here’s my article; 18 waterless shrubs.

1 – Lavender

Lavender grows really well here. They grow fast, bloom for a long time and perfume the garden in summer and even in winter for some varieties. Sometimes the leaves smell as strong as the flowers.

No watering in 2022! They sometimes suffer a little from humidity, but their main enemy is cats, who like to mark their territory.

2 – Daylilies

Daylilies are wonderful. They come in many varieties and colors, from pale yellow to fuchsia pink and all kinds of orange. They are sometimes bicolored, larger or smaller, with serrated petals. Once well established, they form large clumps. All you have to do is cut off the dry stems in summer, as they flower at the end of June. They flower for a relatively long time when the clump is well-filled.

The clump sometimes disappears in winter, so cover it with mulch to prevent wild weeds from taking hold, and mark its location with small stakes. Once the first shoots appear, there’s nothing more to be done. The daylily won’t give way to any other plant.

I water them a little during flowering in June and then not at all afterwards. They stood up well to the heatwave of 2022 and have no problem with winter humidity.

3 – Hellebores

We love them because they’re the first to bloom in January and sometimes even December. Here, they produce large leaves that stay green well into the summer. They act as ground cover and I don’t water them!

The heatwave of 2022 put hellebores to the test. They are planted in full sun, on terraces where temperatures rose to 50°C for several days. So I had to water them a little. But in January 2023, they were superb!

4 – Euphorbias

I’m putting them on the list without being 100% certain that they don’t need water. But I’ve noticed that they come up a lot in magazine photos of Mediterranean gardens. So I have gave them a chance.

I’ve installed several euphorbias in the garden and, indeed, they hold up well in summer. So, this year, I installed 4 more. However, they don’t seem to appreciate winter humidity. They should be planted in draining soil.

5 – The heather

The typical Breton heather still grows very well here. I never water them. They simply dread the spring frost when they’re putting out new shoots and flowers for the following winter. The bees love them!

But, My beautiful heathers suffered enormously from the 2022 heatwave. They didn’t get a drop of water and about 1/3 of them died (I hope they’ll grow back). As for the survivors, they look really ugly in January 2023. The shoots from spring 2022, and therefore this year’s flowers, have roasted in the sun. I’m going to try and prune them early to encourage regrowth. And then I’ll water them a little before the bans so that they hold out until the November rains.

It’s really sad because they’re an important source of food for bees in winter.

6 – Thyme

Thyme is often relegated to the vegetable garden, even though it’s beautiful in flower and bees love it. With the right pruning, it’s perfectly at home in borders and beds. Thyme is a Mediterranean plant and requires no watering.

7 – Sedums

They come in all shapes and sizes. Large and small, blooming in summer or autumn. Particularly interesting for a flower garden are the large sedums. They love the sun and bloom a more or less dark pink from September onwards. Easy to cut, they can be planted anywhere in the garden. Some even have purple foliage.

Sedums are the big winners during heatwaves.

8 – California poppies

I don’t know if the California poppy is really perennial, but in my garden it seems to live for at least 2 years. You throw a few seeds in carelessly and a few months later, you’ve got plants. After that, all you have to do is clean up around it a bit, because if it doesn’t have enough room, it takes on a strange shape. Year after year, it reseeds itself, or you can give it a helping hand by harvesting the seeds.

However, the plants completely dried out during the heatwave of 2022. But I know they’ll be back next year, and maybe even at the end of the summer.

9 – Yarrow

Yarrow is a wild plant easily found in fields and roadsides. It often invites itself into the garden. Just let it grow, as it likes it there. I know it in three colors (in the wild): very pale pink, almost white, slightly deeper pink and yellow.

I’ve installed botanical varieties in orange. They stand up better than wild plants and are taller.

10 – Agapanthus

Now a classic on roundabouts and in Breton gardens. Agapanthus thrives by the sea and doesn’t mind salt. I water mine, but the plants I forget seem to do as well as those I water.

They withstood the heatwave of 2022. They’re simply waiting – the flowers won’t open – for milder temperatures.

11 – Evening primrose

Like yarrow, it often arrives alone in the garden. It settles at the bottom of the garden in a forgotten corner or on the stairs between two steps. It loves the sun. Evening primrose blooms at the end of the day, at dusk. If you’re patient, you can watch the flowers open. The bright yellow color stands out well in the half-light, and the flower’s fragrance attracts moths.

On my terrace (50°C during a heatwave), evening primroses shade the other plants and don’t seem to suffer from a few days of heatwave. But they do benefit from the water I give the other plants around them.

12 – Forget-me-not

The all-rounder in the garden. Like yarrow and evening primrose, forget-me-nots grow wild. In winter, it covers the ground to keep it bare and prevent weeds from growing. In spring, it flowers and then pollinates. Then I pull it out to make way for other plants, as it’s a bit invasive.

Forget-me-nots have already disappeared completely by the time the heat arrives. So they don’t mind the heatwave.

13 – Muscaris

Muscaris, this little blue bulb is all terrain. It seeds easily and quickly forms a tight carpet. It grows happily at the foot of a low wall and lifts the asphalt from the driveway without difficulty. I’ve seen it survive in pots without holes or watering: it’s not afraid of drowning or thirst.

14 – Rudbeckias

They look best when they have water and rich soil. But if there’s a drought, they won’t disappear, and will delay flowering until the autumn rains come.

However, during the heatwave of 2022, I had to water the rudbeckias planted on the terrace, even though they were in the shade. They may have suffered from competition from other plants in this location and also from the very high temperatures.

15 – Daisies

Given the speed with which they spread across my lawn, the wild daisy isn’t bothered at all by the lack of water. I imagine that large garden daisies behave in the same way. Check it out!

2022: my daisies (which I call garden daisies) didn’t like the 50°C on the terrace in July. So they were watered, but I hope they’ll grow again next year. Maybe I’ll move them to a place less exposed to the heat.

16 – Valerian

The same plant will re-flower for several years (at least two) and then multiply on its own in the same area. All you have to do is prune the old stems, and young shoots appear at the foot of the old plant. Valerian looks lovely at the foot of rose bushes. It will reseed itself almost anywhere in the garden, especially around low walls and in unfriendly spots.

17 – Macleaya

A large plant, but not bushy. Just a few stems covered with large, silvery leaves. This plant is graphic and brings height and lightness to a bed. Overgrown but nothing troublesome.

18 -Carnations

Big surprise in the summer of 2022. I moved a seedling in June. It thrived in full sun. I wasn’t expecting it!

19 – Cape daisy (osteospermum – dimorphoteca)

In full sun, little by little, they cover the walls. I took lots of little cuttings so that they would spread out and cover the wall. Unfortunately, they froze this winter. I hope the cuttings will grow fast enough to cover the wall by summer.

20 – Zaucheria californica – California fuchsia

A plant I saw on @jardindelagrille’s Instagram account. To be tested in acid and damp soil in winter.

21- Gaillarde

I installed them for the first time this year (2022) in the garden, in full sun. They stood up well to the heat. I hope they’ll last through the winter.

22 – Sage

My “drop of blood” salvias are usually never very beautiful. Except in 2022: they thrived like never before. They loved this heat. I didn’t water them at all!

I didn’t even think of taking a photo of them…