Sure it has been dry. Some of us cannot remember the last time we had a good soaking rain. Some of us are spending inordinate amounts of time watering. But are we in a drought?
The University of Nebraska- Lincoln hosts a national drought monitor as part of their National Drought Mitigation Center. According to their website, the “Drought Monitor identifies general areas of drought and labels them by intensity”.
They define drought as “a moisture deficit bad enough to have social, environmental or economic effects.”
They go on to label droughts as short term or long term and by intensity.
So if you are hearing we are in a drought, which people do like to say if it hasn’t rained for a while, you can visit this site and find out if we are, in fact, in a drought. They also provide a weekly drought summary for the region and predictions for whether or not the conditions will continue.
According to the 4th National Climate Assessment seasonal droughts are predicted to increase in summer and fall with the changing climate as “higher temperatures lead to greater evaporation and earlier winter and spring snowmelt.”
There is a lot of useful and relevant information on this webpage. But what they don’t tell you are what plants you can plant that will withstand drought conditions, should they occur in your area. As we plan for climate resilient landscapes, those plants that will withstand periods of drought will become more of a necessity in our landscapes.
Drought tolerance happens only after a plant is established. This means you cannot simply plop a plant in the ground and expect it to be drought tolerant immediately. In order for a plant to develop those drought tolerant characteristics, they must first establish their extensive root systems. Regular, infrequent, deep watering is the key to establishing drought resistant root systems. These roots will tend to stay deep in the ground, mining water well below the surface level.
Here are some plants that we think will do well in the increased periods of drought predicted for our near future:
Flowering Perennials
Achillea millefolium
Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’
Allium ‘Millenium’
Allium cernuum
Amsonia hubrechtii
Amsonia illustris
Amsonia tabernaemontana
Asclepias tuberosa
Asclepias verticillata
Aster azureus
Aster cordifolius
Aster divaricatus
Aster laevis
Aster macrophyllus
Aster oblongifolius
Aster spectabilis
Baptisia australis
Baptisia tinctoria
Calamintha nepeta
Callirhoe involucrata
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Coreopsis grandiflora ‘Early Sunrise’
Dalea purpurea
Danthonia spicata
Desmodium canadense
Echinacea pallida
Echinacea purpurea
Echinacea tennesseensis
Echinops bannaticus
Erogrostis spectabilis
Eupatorium altissimum
Eupatorium hyssopifolium
Eryngium planum ‘Blaukappe’
Gaura linheimeri
Geum triflorum
Helianthus microcephalus
Helianthus occidentalis ssp dowelianus
Heliopsis helianthoides
Kalimeris incisa
Kniphofia uvaria
Leucanthemum x superbum
Liatris ligulstylis
Liatris microcephala
Liatris scariosa
Limonium latifolium
Monarda fistulosa
Monarda punctata
Nepeta subsessilis
Oenothers fruticosa
Origanum laevigatum
Perovskia atriplicifolia
Phlox stolonifera
Phlox subulata
Pycnanthemum flexuosum
Pycnanthemum muticum
Pycnanthemum virginianum
Ratibida pinnata
Rudbeckia hirta
Rudbeckia maxima
Ruellia humilis
Salvia nemorosa
Salvia x sylvestris
Scutellaria incana
Silene caroliniana
Silphium laciniatum
Silphium perfoliatum
Silphium terebinthinceum
Solidago bicolor
Solidago caesia
Solidago flexicaulis
Solidago nemoralis
Solidago rigida
Stachys officinalis
Stylophorum diphyllum
Teucrium chamaedrys
Thermopsis villosa
Tiarella cordifolia
Tradescantia ohioensis
Verbena bonariensis
Vernonia glauca
Zizia aptera
Shrubs
Ceonothus americanus
Hypericum prolificum
Hypericum calycinum
Grasses & Grass -Like Plants
Andropgon gerardii
Andropogon ternarius
Andropogon virginicus
Carex appalachia
Carex humilis ‘Hexe’
Carex lurida
Carex montana
Carex rosea
Elymus hystrix
Koeleria micrantha
Muhlenbergia capillaris
Nassella tenuissima
Pennesetum alopecuroides
Schizachryium scoparium
Sesleria x ‘Greenlee Hybrid’
Sesleria autumnalis
Sporobolus airoides
Sporobolus heterolepis
What plants in your landscapes have been stand-outs when it comes to drought?
New Moon Nursery 