Favorite Drought Tolerant Plants for the Garden

Most articles overwhelm the reader with too many recommendations, so I will stick to my 3 favorite perennials: lilacs, sages and lavenders. All three are evergreens, drought tolerant and most are strongly aromatic.

California Lilacs (Ceanothus) like the blue one shown in the picture are my favorites, displaying striking flowers every spring when they become the star of the garden. Only some are aromatic and beginner gardeners should not trust the advice that these are “reasonably easy” to grow - they are vulnerable to water, especially in summer, and you shouldn’t plant them in rich soil. Don’t even think of relocating them once they are in the ground.

The place to go to pick these up (and the sages) is The Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley (website here). Spring is best - when you can see the colors. It’s not an easy place to find, so use GPS or this page and follow the directions exactly. Another great resource: Las Pilitas Nursery’s website here.

Sages (salvia) can become a cult thing with gardeners who love the sheer diversity available. My favorite is the Winifred Gilman cultivar of Cleveland Sage, whose aromatic leaves remind me of the desert – crush a leaf and you’ll either love it or hate it. If the interior of your car needs a new scent, try placing a few leaves inside - it will overwhelm everything else. The conventional favorite is Salvia Greggii, which inexplicably is missing from both those websites, but I have always found it a striking plant - I think it suits either full sun but damp, or partial sun but dry.

If you don't care if they're natives and you have a tendency to kill plants, lavenders are the easiest to grow of these three and they are available at Green Arrow, Home Depot and pretty much everywhere else.