rose is a shoo-in for 4 – 6 weeks of no-fuss color. It’s the perfect pick if you’re tired of losing spring blooming bulbs to munching varmints. Incredible hybridizing has generated a wide range of flower colors, as well as blooms that face downward, outward or upward. Multi-petaled selections in the ‘Winter Thrillers’ and ‘Winter Jewels’ series are making a big splash. Lenten rose are semi-evergreen or evergreen in winter, depending on your zone. Cut back old stems to the ground in late winter to put the spotlight on the emerging flowers. For a breathtaking display, combine with spring blooming ephemerals like Virginia bluebells (Mertensia), shooting star (Dodecatheon) and liverwort (Hepatica). (Pictured above: ‘Peppermint Ruffles’.)
SOLOMON’S SEAL
Polygonatum
Zones 2 – 8 ♦ Part Shade to Shade
2' – 3'+
Spring flowers: white
Attributes: drought tolerant, deer and rabbit resistant, enjoyed by bees, fragrant flower, cut flower (foliage), container plant, can be used as a slow groundcover, pretty golden fall foliage, native to eastern and central North America
Elegant arching stems drip with white, bell-shaped flowers in spring, followed by blue-black berries. Unfortunately, the fruit doesn’t attract birds, and the berries are poisonous. Newer introductions have burgundy stems and stunning white and green leaves that quickly capture one’s attention, even in heavy shade. ‘Angel Wing’ and ‘Double Stuff’ are two such head-turners. Other unusual selections that I’ve grown are humile, a darling groundcover that only gets 6" - 9" tall, and biflorum var. commutatum (also called giganteum), a strapping 6' – 7'-tall specimen. (Pictured above: ‘Double Stuff’.)
FOAMFLOWER
Tiarella
Zones 4 – 9 ♦ Part Shade to Shade
8" – 12" tall
Spring flowers: white or pink
Attributes: Drought tolerant, deer and rabbit resistant, enjoyed by bees, colorful foliage, container plant, can be used as a groundcover, native to North America
The fingerprint of most foamflowers is a dark, maroon-colored patch in the center of the leaf. Exquisite leaves are various shades of green and range in shape from slightly lobed to deeply divided. Foamy pink or white flowers cover the foliage mound in spring. ‘Cascade Creeper’ and ‘Sugar and Spice’ have some repeat bloom later in the summer. Foamflowers can be slow clump growers or ground-covers, depending on the cultivar. (Pictured above: ‘Sugar and Spice’.)
Other perennial choices: Hosta, some ferns (lady fern, male fern, sword fern), bugleweed (Ajuga, groundcover), Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense) and bigroot geranium (Geranium macrorrhizum)
The biggest drinker in the garden. Since we’re on the subject of water requirements, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: our lawn. Lawns comprise the largest section of most residential properties and they consume the majority of water used by homeowners. According to the National Wildlife Federation: “Approximately 50 – 70 percent of our residential water is used for landscaping, most of it to water lawns, which total approximately 20 – 30 million acres in the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that nearly 70 million pounds of active pesticide ingredients are applied to suburban lawns each year, helping to make polluted runoff the single largest source of water pollution nationwide, affecting ground water, lakes and streams, wildlife, and human health. And the use of gas-powered lawn mowers contributes five percent of the nation’s air pollution. A gas-powered lawnmower emits 11 times the air pollution of a new car.” If our water bill doesn’t cause us to rethink the lawn, perhaps the sheer weight of these numbers will.
A colorful groundcover of creeping thymes surrounds this urn of cascading flowers.
If you haven’t already put this book down to grab your spade, then do so now. I’ll wait as you go out and remove a chunk of lawn. Then consider adding remarkable, drought tolerant groundcovers (covered later in this book) instead. Or maybe you have more space to put in a meadow or wildflower garden? Your options may vary based on your residential setting and the size of your landscape, but you can do something.
FLOWERING SHRUBS AND CONIFERS
One of my biggest and best downsizing strategies was to replace sweeps of mixed perennial gardens with flowering shrubs and conifers. Dig, dig, swap, swap…Oh what a relief it is! You really don’t appreciate how much more work perennials are, compared to shrubs, until you make the switch. Don’t misunderstand, I still love perennials and will always have these in my gardens, just a lot less of them. Most “woodies” simply don’t require the same amount of water, fertilizer and routine care. And I can get every bit, if not more, color from shrubs and trees, especially given the explosion of new cultivars with dazzling foliage, berries, bark and/or form.
Drought Tolerant Flowering Shrubs for Sun to Part Sun
HYDRANGEA (PANICLE, SMOOTH AND OAKLEAF)
Hydrangea paniculata, arborescens and quercifolia
Zones 3 – 8 ♦ Sun to Part Shade
2.5' – 15'+ tall, 3' – 10' wide
Summer, fall flowers: white, pink
Attributes: Drought tolerant, cut and dried flower, container plant (some varieties); oakleaf is native to southeastern North America, smooth is native to North America I’m not playing water boy anymore, and neither should you. I’m putting my muck boot down on big leaf hydrangea’s (H. macrophylla) afternoon hissy fit, when its wilting leaves whine for water. It’s time to throw in the bucket and plant panicle, smooth or oakleaf hydrangeas instead. They’re just as beautiful and much less work. Check out this gorgeous oakleaf hydrangea ‘Gatsby Gal’! If you still insist on having blue flowers, then buy florist’s spray paint and spray away.
NINEBARK
Physocarpus opulifolius
Zones 3 – 8 ♦ Sun
3' – 10' tall, 3' – 6' wide
Early summer flowers: white with pink tinge
Attributes:
