Dry Summer Perennial Stalwarts

Echinacea "Green Envy" - from the White Flower Farm website.

Phew. The Kids are keeping me very busy this week. You see, I work at a University and the little chillins (and much of the faculty) have returned and things go upside-down for a bit.

But I couldn't contain my enthusiasm when an email greeted me this morning from White Flower Farm. With a listing of their recommendations for perennials that make-do in thirsty, crunchy climates and offer up their wares during the quieter summer months. I've added a few of my own - based on local, Zone 7 observations.

Test one out for next season. You can even get them established this fall (more on that soon).

Feel confident. Feel horticulturally invincible. Enjoy the summer-long color. Stare the lack of rain right in the face and laugh. Hands on hips. Chin up. Knowing you've got next year's drought licked.

Sedums

Echinacea purpurea varieties (Coneflower)

Achillea varieties (Yarrow)

Coreopsis varieties

Baptisia australis (False/Wild Blue Indigo)

Perovskias (Russian Sage)

Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed)

Phlox

Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan)

It's July. It's Virginia. Ack! It's Another Drought Watch.

No rain. No problem. Some annuals, like the Spider Flower, still keep going during the worst of times.

It is that time of year in Central Virginia when we need to rethink our water usage. If we don't receive much in the way of rain this week, water restrictions will go into place. Here are a few more details.

Out in Sugar Hollow, we rely heavily on rainwater, as we collect it off of our roof for all of our household water needs (check out Rainwater Management Solutions out of Salem, VA to learn more). So, as of late, showers are getting shorter, laundry is prioritized by way of familiar summer standards, plates and cups are reused and used again. And, parts of the garden suffer. In a huge, gut-wrenching way. It is all about picking our battles.

Yet, as a gardener and best-of-intentions nurturer of anything green, this is the hardest blow for me. Sniff.

Lots of crunchy stuff. Yellowed and stressed and dead. My carefully cultivated oasis of a container garden is struggling. Plants that normally thrive in Mediterranean-type climates - tomatoes, peppers, basil - are eking out an existence here in the Piedmont.

These times do open my eyes to what is kickin' in others' gardens during the dry spells. My friend Leora pointed out the Spider Flower a.k.a. Cleome to me the other night. Maybe next year.

But for now, the signs are all too clear. Our dwindling water supply is mirrored by the river that runs through Sugar Hollow. Low. Dried out. Desperate for replenishing.

As for my plants, I have the memories. And a few thirsty stalwarts who will teach me a little bit about a theory called - survival of the fittest. Rock on.

What do you do around the garden and in the house to make the most of your water usage while conserving?! Are there any plants you have found to be especially resilient during a drought?

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The above photo is from Wikimedia.