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It is very good if the summer cottage or personal plot is open and sunny. The most beautiful and brightest flowers prefer well-lit places, but they often require abundant watering. If we come to the dacha only on weekends or we simply cannot water our beds every day in the heat, a lack of moisture can become a real problem. But this is only at first glance.
Drought-resistant perennials are numerous and decorative, they will decorate flower beds and discounts on our site with insufficient watering. And rocky hills, rockeries, rock gardens initially suggest that they will be scarcely moisturized. Drainage is specially arranged there, poor, low-nutrient soils are poured in order to artificially simulate drought even in the presence of an irrigation system. From this they do not become less beautiful.
Dry places in our garden
In addition to rockeries, rock gardens and slides, dry places may appear in any sunny area. Irrigation systems are laid before planting perennials. Sometimes it happens that a small bush or tree grows over time and blocks the sprinkler's ability to supply water to this or that part of the garden.
If we live in a city and come to the dacha only on weekends or on holidays, the lack of moisture will certainly be felt, especially in a sunny dry summer.
In any garden, there are areas that are not provided for watering, or that dry out very quickly:
- in the immediate vicinity of a stone or concrete fence;
- by the paved paths;
- adjacent to a variety of steps, ladders connecting the terraces;
- on the sunny terraces themselves with a small layer of soil.
But that shouldn't be a problem! The choice of perennials that grow in the sun is huge.
Sun-loving perennials for the garden
There are many drought-tolerant grasses, flowers, shrubs, trees that can grow and bloom successfully in full sun with insufficient watering.
In this article, we'll take a look at sun-loving perennials.
Drought tolerant ground cover
No drought tolerant ground cover perennials not a single sunny site will do. They help out when you need to cover a seemingly hopeless place where nothing grows due to the bright sun, a thin layer of soil and lack of watering. The range of drought-resistant perennials for sunny places is huge, we will consider only the most popular ones.
Sedum
They are an extensive detachment of succulent perennials, visually attractive, but drought-resistant and practically do not require watering. They receive moisture from the air and store in thick leaves, grow quickly, cover the most problematic sunny areas, are widely used to create slides, rockeries. The most popular types of stonecrop:
- sedum caustic;
- sedum white;
- stonecrop of Lydia;
- stonecrop folded back;
- stonecrop Kamchatka;
- sedum false.
There are tall species, the most popular of which is sedum, it is used in sun beds, in flower beds and is planted as a curb.
Bryozoan
A subulate bryozoan or Irish moss is a tiny, drought-resistant perennial that will perfectly fill the space between the slabs or stones of the path in a sunny area. Watering is required only immediately after planting. Withstands any conditions - light, shade, drought, heavy rains, heat, frost. And in July, bryozoan also blooms with tiny delicate flowers. Resistant to trampling.
Tenacious
This drought-resistant perennial fully justifies its name - it can grow anywhere, in any conditions, but prefers sunny areas with poor watering. There are many varieties tenacious with various colors of leaves, there are even variegated forms. They reproduce by daughter rosettes, quickly form a multi-colored rug. The most popular types:
- creeping tenacious, having a lot of varieties;
- tenacious geneva;
- pyramidal tenacity.
Rejuvenated
A succulent compact plant that grows in pretty rosettes with light green or purple leaves. In summer it blooms with rather large flowers located on long peduncles. Virtually no watering required.
Woolly chisel
The purist is also called hare or sheep ears. This drought-resistant sun-loving perennial is distinguished by elongated leaves, as if covered with gray-silver fur. In summer, the purse blooms with blue, pink or purple flowers, collected in a spike-shaped inflorescence.
Phlox subulate
Subulate phlox forms an extensive cushion of small, needle-like leaves. This drought-resistant perennial blooms in late spring - early summer with numerous, almost covering the bush with small flowers of a wide variety of colors. It is planted in sunny areas on hills, in rockeries, as a low curb or bordering sun beds, in separate curtains.
Loose mint
It is believed that the loosestrife loves to be well watered, but without watering in the sun, it will also grow and bloom magnificently. In a sunny area, in the absence of regular watering in varieties with yellow leaves, the color will become especially saturated. The loosestrife looks very beautiful on hills, slopes, even as a grassy lawn for dry, sunny places.
Drought tolerant flowers
Almost all flowers love sunny areas, and many of them can withstand short-term drought. But the assortment of not just drought-tolerant, but drought-resistant flowers is so large that you can make many flower beds without ever repeating. We will consider only a few of them, without pretending to have named the best - we all have our own preferences, arguing which flower is the best is a thankless task.
Phlox paniculata
Phloxes in sunny areas were also grown by our mothers and grandmothers. Since then, this undemanding, drought-resistant perennial has disappeared from our field of vision for some time. Today, phlox is back in vogue, with many new varieties dyed in all sorts of colors except yellow.
Irises
It is difficult to imagine a person who does not like irises. Among the many species, there are true water lovers that grow right in water bodies. But many irises are able to grow in sunny areas with practically no watering throughout the hot summer, while blooming and pleasing the eye with beautiful long leaves.
Peonies
Peonies belong to the real elite of flowering perennials who prefer sunny places. They are beautiful not only during flowering - their leaves adorn our site until the very frost. At the same time, peonies can hardly be watered at all, they are able to be content with rare rains, only the driest summer may require additional moisture.
Alpine aster
Alpine aster or perennial aster, which is sometimes called "frosty" because it blooms until frost, is also very drought-resistant. In addition, today there are many new varieties of various colors and sizes. She is especially good as border perennial.
Bells
Among the many species of interest to us are mountain bells, which are drought-resistant and prefer to grow in sunny areas. They have decorative not only flowers, but also leaves. The most popular types of mountain bells are:
- Carpathian bell;
- bell of Portenchlag;
- bell Pozharsky.
These perennials are always welcome guests on rocky hills and rockeries.
Daylilies
Daylilies are some of the most beautiful flowering perennials. There are many varieties in a wide variety of sizes and colors. At the same time, daylilies are surprisingly unpretentious, they are drought-resistant, prefer sunny areas, their leaves remain decorative even after the flowering period. Now the selection of daylilies pays special attention to the breeding of remontant (re-flowering) varieties.
Rudbeckia
This drought-resistant perennial is like a little sun and invariably improves the mood of everyone who looks at it. The sizes of rudbeckia, depending on the species and variety, can vary from 30 cm to almost 2 m. It will decorate any flower bed, it will not require either abundant watering or careful maintenance - for a successful vegetation, it only needs a sunny area. The most popular perennial species:
- dissected rudbeckia;
- glossy rudbeckia;
- rudbeckia is brilliant.
Yarrow
Today on sale you can find many highly decorative varieties of yarrow in a wide variety of colors. It is very unpretentious and the only problem that this perennial can present is that it actively reproduces by self-seeding and can even litter the site. Prefers sunny places and is very drought tolerant.
Echinacea
Echinacea is like a large chamomile colored in reds, pinks, purples and lilacs. It is very decorative and has unique medicinal properties. This drought-resistant perennial grows in sunny places. Flower size and color are varied, but almost all varieties are bred on the basis of two types:
- echinacea purpurea;
- echinacea strange.
Spurge
One of the most drought-resistant perennials for sunny areas. You can decorate a hill with milkweed, rockery, it is suitable for creating borders, and tall species are used as a focal plant for a sunny place. The most popular types:
- euphorbia multiflorous;
- spurge almond;
- cypress spurge;
- spurge capitate;
- spurge bordered.
Herbs for dry places
Now more and more ornamental grasses have begun to be included in the landscape design of personal plots. On large sunny areas, special gardens are even created from some herbs, they look amazing. Among them there are many inhabitants of the steppe, drought-resistant and growing well only under the bright sun. In addition, most herbs are decorative in winter.
Elimus
It is also called the spikelet. He was one of the first to appear in the gardens of Europeans as a drought-resistant decorative perennial. It is very unpretentious, easily tolerates both drought and heavy rains.
Gray fescue
Compact and very attractive drought-resistant fescue is widely used in design. Its individual bushes can often be seen on a sunny slide or in rockeries, as a low curb. If you plant a piece of land with only fescue, its bushes will resemble bumps. This perennial is unpretentious and is great for dry, sunny locations.
Thyme
Perhaps it is not entirely correct to attribute thyme to herbs, from a botanical point of view, it is a shrub, but I really wanted to mention this wonderful sun-loving and drought-resistant plant. It is unpretentious, attractively blooms and has an enchanting scent. Thyme looks great on a hill, in rocky gardens, and is ideal for sunny locations.
There are many types of this perennial:
- thyme ordinary;
- creeping thyme;
- lemon-scented thyme;
- flea thyme.
Two-source
In culture, only the variegated form of drought-resistant two-source reed is grown, reaching a height of 90-120 cm.However, it is widely used, it often grows for years from the outer sunny side of the fence, where in the hottest summer there is no question of watering.
Feather grass
For its planting, the driest and sunniest area is chosen. Feather grass looks especially good in rocky gardens and herb gardens, but a skilled landscape designer will always find where to fit this wonderful drought-resistant perennial.
Conclusion
We have just touched on the topic of drought-resistant perennials for sunny areas. In fact, there are much more of them. Drought-resistant herbaceous shrubs and semi-shrubs were not at all included in the area of our attention. We hope that we have clearly shown that any land plot can be populated exclusively with sun-loving plants that tolerate prolonged drought well, and from this it will not become less attractive than well-irrigated areas.
