Drought-Tolerant Landscaping Can Be Beautiful!
Drought-tolerant landscaping in Northwest Florida (Zone 8b-9a) can be beautiful! Many drought-tolerant plants add vibrant colors and unique textures to your garden. Once established, these plants significantly reduce water consumption, withstand the heat better, and stay lush even during the peak summer months.
Here we have compiled a list of some of our favorite tried-and-true drought-tolerant plants and how to use them. Remember, the key is to choose the right plants for the right place. Identify your full sun and shade areas, understand your watering requirements, and plan accordingly.
For Height:
(Statement Trees or Large Specimens)
- Vitex Chaste Trees (Vitex agnus-castus): A beautiful small flowering tree, Vitex Chaste Trees are cold-hardy and well-adapted to the Gulf Coast. They go dormant in winter, but in summer, their lilac-like flowers attract a wide range of pollinators, and their seeds provide food for small birds.
- Bottlebrush Trees (Callistemon citrinus): A larger evergreen option, Bottlebrush Trees feature vibrant red flowers. While they may experience some cold damage in severe winters, they recover well in spring after a rejuvenation prune. Their flowers attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees.
For Medium-Small Sized Hedges and Intermediate Height:
- Texas Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens): A wonderful silvery shrub with light purple flowers, Texas Sage is versatile in height and use. It can be used individually as a medium-height statement piece or as a hedge. Cold damage can occur in severe winters, but spring rejuvenation pruning helps maintain its health.
- Mrs. Schillers or Dwarf Walters Viburnum (Viburnum obovatum cv.): These native shrubs are incredibly heat and drought-tolerant once established. They bloom with small white flowers in early spring, attracting bees and other pollinators. Mrs. Schiller’s Delight Viburnum is more compact compared to Dwarf Walters, but both can be used as evergreen medium fillers in landscape beds.
- Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis): Known for its culinary uses, Rosemary can also be used as a large drought-tolerant flowering shrub. It thrives in full sun, and dry spots, and requires minimal fertilizer. Its silvery to grey-green leaves add texture and color to your landscape.
Fillers with Texture and Color:
- Color Guard Yucca: Yucca filamentosa ‘Color Guard’ – With its compact size, vibrant yellow and green leaves, and upright growth habit Color Gaurd Yuccas make great eye-catching fillers in drought-tolerant Florida Landscapes. They are also very cold tolerant, and with age will have the trademark Yucca flower stalk that adds another element of interest.
- Lomandra Breeze: Lomandra longifolia ‘LM300’ – This evergreen dwarf grass adds texture and interest, and can be planted individually or in mass to add flow and filler in landscape beds.
- Pink Muhly Grass – Muhlenbergia capillaris – While not evergreen compared to Lomandra, Pink Muhly adds texture and color, with its lighter green leaves and pink plumes in the late summer – early fall.
- Firecracker Plant: Russelia equisetiformis – Known for its vibrant clusters of scarlet tubular flowers, and delicate-looking leaves, Firecracker Plants offer a great mounding grass-like addition to your flower beds. Less commonly, there are white/yellow cultivars that can be intermixed with the traditional red. Firecracker Plants also attract many pollinators, including hummingbirds.
For Lower Growing Color and Borders:
There are many to talk about here, so I will highlight a few:
- Bulbine (Bulbine frutescens): A great succulent border plant with strappy leaves and yellow or orange flower stalks.
- Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.): With a wide array of colorful cultivars on the market, Daylilies offer seasonal texture and color from spring to fall. They can be planted in mass or used as border or foundation plants.
- Lantana: While some varieties can grow quite large, there are now compact, less aggressive (non-invasive) cultivars available. Notably, the Gem Series is prized for its double-colored flowers and compact growth, making it a great option for border plantings.
- Blue Daze: A Florida-friendly low-growing spreader, prized for its exceptional heat tolerance and light blue flowers.
- Coreopsis and Rudbeckia: From true natives to more compact and prolific flowering cultivars, Coreopsis and Rudbeckia are exceptionally heat and drought-tolerant, offering a range of yellow, orange, red, and white flowers.
- Salvia (Garden Sage): Similar to Coreopsis and Rudbeckia, some Salvia varieties can grow to 2-3 feet and can be used as taller fillers.
Lets Talk Shade!
Although drought tolerance and full sun often go hand-in-hand in low-input landscapes, there are drought-tolerant options for the shady corners of your yard as well.
Cast Iron Plants (Aspidistra elatior): Typically seen around old majestic oaks, Cast Iron Plants are exceptionally drought-tolerant and require little fertilizer to thrive in the shade. They can be used around trees or along foundations. While not a flowering plant, their dark green, broad leaves add texture and depth to your landscape.
Mahonia: The most popular variety of Mahonia is ‘Soft Caress’, favored for its semi-dwarf size and delicate thin leaves. This plant also produces yellow flowers in the fall.
Tea Olives (Osmanthus fragrans): A hardy, upright evergreen shrub, Tea Olives are notable for their highly fragrant flowers. They make wonderful medium-sized screening shrubs or statement pieces and can also be used in pots around sitting areas.
Heuchera (Coral Bells): A colorful, seasonal border or filler plant, Coral Bells thrive in shady, dry areas and go dormant in winter.
Ferns: While ferns are often associated with damp areas, some are drought-tolerant, most notably those in the Dryopteris or Sword Fern genus. Once established, Autumn Ferns (Dryopteris erythrosora) are drought-tolerant and provide a unique color contrast with their mahogany-colored new growth.
