Choose Appropriate Plants

Lavender, for example, may be a wonderfully drought-tolerant flower for the West, but in the South if it has wet clay in winter and too much humidity in summer, it will succumb to fungal diseases and root rot. Choose the right drought-tolerant plants for your region and your soil. Here's a rough guide according to region:

• Aubretia (Aubrieti deltoidea)
• Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
• Blanket Flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora)
• Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
• Cinquefoil (Potentilla)
• Daylilies (Hemerocallis)
• English daisy (Bellis perennis)
• Gayfeather (Liatris spicata)
• Giant allium (Allium giganteum)
• Lambs' Ear (Stachys byzantia)
• Lavender (Lavandula)
• Lilyturf (Liriope muscari)
• Oriental Poppy (Papaver)
• Peonies (Paeonia)
• Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
• Salvia
• Sedum, taller types
• Snow-in-Summer (Cerastium tomentosum)
• Thyme (Thymus)
• Tickseed (Coreopsis)
• Wild Sweet William (Phlox divaricata)
• Wormwood (Artemisia)
• Yarrow (Achillea)

• Annual Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
• Celosia
• Cosmos
• Four O'Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa)
• Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa)
• Moss Rose (Portulaca grandiflora)
• Sea Lavender or Statice (Limonium sinuatum)
• Summer Cypress (Kochia scoparia)
• Treasure Flower (Gazania rigens)
• Zinnia

• African Iris (Dietes vegeta)
• African Lily (Agapanthus africanus)
• Blanket Flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora)
• California Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum)
• Candelabra Aloe (Aloe arborescens)
• Daffodil (Narcissus)
• Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata)
• Evening Primrose (Oenothera berlandieri)
• Flax (Linum flavum)
• Fleece Flower (Polygonum capitatum)
• Gayfeather (Liatris spicata)
• German Bearded Iris (Iris x germanica)
• Hoarhound (Marrubium vulgare)
• Ice Plant (Carpobrotus edulis)
• Jerusalem Sage (Phlomis fruticosa)
• Lavender (Lavandula)
• Monkey Flower (Mimulus lewisii)
• Naked Lady Lily (Amaryllis belladonna)
• New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax)
• Penstemon
• Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia uvaria)
• Sea Lavender or Statice (Limonium)
• Verbena
• Yarrow (Achillea)
• Yucca (Yucca gloriosa)

• Annual Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
• Celosia
• California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica)
• Cosmos
• Four O'Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa)
• Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa)
• Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia)
• Moss Rose (Portulaca grandiflora)
• Sea Lavender or Statice (Limonium sinuatum)
• Senecio
• Summer Cypress (Kochia scoparia)
• Treasure Flower (Gazania rigens)
• Zinnia

• Clump Verbena (Verbena canadensis)
• Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
• Gayfeather (Liatris scariosa)
• Goldenrod (Solidago altissima)
• Moss Verbena (Verbena tenuisecta)
• Purple Coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia)

• Annual Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
• Blanket Flower (Gaillardia pulchella)
• Cosmos
• Mexican Tulip Poppy (Hunnemannia fumariifolia)
• Moss Rose (Portulaca grandiflora)
• Treasure Flower (Gazania rigens)