12 drought tolerant plants that will also be happy if it rains!

Even if your summers are getting hotter and drier, you can still get the occasional wet summer. So if you're thinking about filling gaps in your garden with more drought tolerant plants, you also want them to be happy if it rains too. Last summer the UK had twice the normal rainfall and this summer was a record-breaking drought. Jane Beedle's garden that looked good in both summers, so here are the plants that survived both the dry and wet weather.
00:00 Welcome
01:27 The weather here - equates to a Zone 9 in winter, but usually with much milder summers
02:00 Should you water newly planted plants in their first summer?
02:17 How to plant plants
02:53 Larger, more mature shrubs will need watering
03:22 How to water trees
03:53 Start your planting design with your trees
04:02 Jane's best drought-resistant trees
05:40 Jane's top drought-resistant shrubs and perennials
09:41 Drought-resistant climber
10:52 Drought-resistant plants for pots
12:22 Other good drought-resistant plants
14:38 Dahlia 'Stephen Ryan'
15:58 Fill your garden with plants - it helps stop the soil drying out (Jane's theory!)

Whether you love English garden style, cottage gardens or contemporary urban gardening, The Middlesized Garden has gardening advice and garden ideas for you.

Weekly videos cover gardening advice and garden design - from small space gardens to middle-sized garden landscaping - plus garden tours and tips for container gardening.

The Middlesized Garden practices sustainability, wildlife gardening and no till methods. If your garden backyard is smaller than an acre, join us and enjoy your garden even more!

#gardening #gardendesign #backyardgarden

For small and middlesized backyards and gardens....

Note: links to Amazon are affiliate which means I get a small fee for qualifying purchases. It doesn't affect the price you pay and I only recommend things I use myself or really think you'd like!

[TheMiddlesizedGarden]

There are some really good plant suggestions from around the world in the comments below, thank you everyone - so do check them out. There are also some comments on invasive plants - almost any plant can be invasive if it's introduced to an environment where it does too well. It then out-competes the indigenous plants, which can affect the wildlife that live on those plants really badly. And yet the very same plant can be an asset to wildlife and the environment on its home territory. I've added some notes about which plants are invasive where, but they're not comprehensive, so I think it's really helpful to have reminders to check plants you buy for invasiveness where you are.

[GardenDiscovery]

I live in California where we're constantly in drought. I rely heavily on salvias and I love how they're magnets for hummingbirds

[Kent]

Jane's Garden is packed so full it creates its own micro-climate.

[DownButNotOutYet]

Hello Alexandra, my goodness, if viewers would listen closely to Jane their gardens will be winners hands down. Her garden is jam packed with plants which is excellent as she said no soil visible and it really works fantastic. She is a darling person to chat to you were very blessed to listen to her, there are no airs and graces about her so down to earth. Yes Franco is so correct the plants he mentioned thrive excellently here in South Africa. We always joke and say Africa is not for sissies!! Well be that as it may, I love fine flowers but they are killers to maintain well. She has a lovely garden which can be enjoyed year round. Go well, and thanks for a beautiful garden chat. Kind regards, Elize.

[pamelacorsi]

All of my coneflowers, foxglove and daylilies looked beautiful this summer throughout the draught here in eastern Massachusetts. My gardens are also planted closely and they all receive a bit of shade during the day. Thank you for your excellent content. I look forward to it every week!

[cq]

In the high desert SW zones 6-4 we've learned to plant cold, heat and draught tolerant plants for eons. Hardy Plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) is one of my favorite ground covers, it's stunning blue flowers in late summer, and foliage that is bright green in the spring, becoming a deep green in summer and in the fall the foliage is a beautiful bouquet of reds and purples, Iris do wonderfully in sun, draught, and heat, they almost demand it, Sedum Autumn Joy is a wonderful late summer plant, agastache would have to one of my favorite plants for pollinators, along with it's light and air foliage and beautiful varieties of flowers and it smells amazing, Salvia's are always welcome, lastly draught tolerant grasses always bring height and a feeling of airiness. Great video, thank you..

[harrystevens]

my salvias have been incredible this year - when the roses and other flowering perennials stopped flowering because of the heat they came through. To think I used to dislike them and fine them boring, how I am eating my words now! Salvia Carradonna looked incredible despite being in super dry conditions, and also 'hot lips', 'joy', and 'pink lips' were also beautiful.

[colleensainsbury]

Hello from South Africa, Star Jasmine and Tulbaghia are both plants originating in our country and are staples in our hot, sunny summer gardens, but also love lots of rain. I do suggest planting many more of our lovely summer garden plants. I have a Romantic English style garden, but use our more heat and drought tolerant plants to achieve the effect.

[wiggiatlarge]

This has been such an exceptional year here in Norwich Norfolk with virtually no rain since the end of March and still no rain.
Although retired I designed and built gardens in London and am a qualified agronomist, but we moved here eighteen months ago to an overgrown garden that had been sadly neglected, it ment the removal of much in the way of shrubs trees etc as they had become intertwinned.
So after that and laying out new beds and getting in tons of free rotted horse manure, we started planting in early spring.
Despite doing all that Beth Chatto taught me many many years ago with my first proper garden on unyielding Essex clay, it has made little diference, drip lines have been the only way that many plants have survived this year as so much could not get their roots down, many plants even such staples as Stachys have not moved since planting, I have even had to take out plants and re pot them or lose them such has been the struggle and the lawn disappeared months ago, even '76 did not start until June, this has been much longer, nature always has another surprise up its sleeve, and the rules go out of the window.

[juliabinford]

Lovely garden! It was clever to emphasize that drought tolerant doesn’t mean it can’t take rain. We have dry summers and plentiful rain the rest of the year here in the Pacific Northwest. I’m still learning how much to water in summer.

[hivicar]

Jane weighing in on watering debate wonderfully undiplomatic!

[thehorti-culturalists]

So glad 'Stephen Ryan' is proving a winner in all conditions!!!!

[Nienpet]

Beautiful garden! Lovely to see Jane in her natural surroundings and not rushing off her feet covered in butter creams and things 😂
FYI, the Tulbaghia Violacea is indigenous to South Africa. It’s from the Western Cape which has a Mediterranean climate.

[lisadiane]

Hardy red Oleander, blue ground plumbago, euphobia caraccas and stone crop are my new favorites !

[adrabruzzese]

Thank you both. Jane's garden is stunning.

[gillianrayson]

What a lovely garden...thank you for showing us.

[imeldamayer-taylor]

What a beautiful garden . Salvia a favourite of mine too. A lovely guest and interviewer of course. Thank you . Greetings from Vienna Austria, zone 7 B.

[thecrazygardenernz]

Some great sound advice from Jane about watering plants in their first season.

[juliepardo]

Yes, yes to common sage...very drought tolerant! I've finally found a spot in my garden that my common sage will overwinter and bounce back in Spring perfectly(I'm in zone 6b, Ontario, Canada). I've had my sage "hedge" there for 3 seasons now and it is flourishing beautifully! The previously area I had it planted in, I found that even though it was in a full sun area, I wasn't paying attention to how icy the ground around it was getting in the winter, thus it died every year. I relocated it to a raised, slightly sloped, well draining, sunny area where the snow doesn't compact as heavy and Voilà! It has maintained it's mounding shape and foliage color beautifully and doesn't look lanky at all with this drought.
Gorgeous garden Jane, thank you for sharing with us.

[SeaTurtle]

I would love for you to go back to some of these amazing gardens you’ve shown us over the years during their pruning times, so we can see what they are pruning, their techniques and how much they are removing.