6 Amazing Drought Resistant Plants

 

With specialized mechanisms that allow them to survive without water during times of drought, these drought tolerant plants require little if any supplementary water. Although most can survive without additional water, they do need some water and/or shade occasionally, especially as seedlings or young plants.

Given additional moisture you may find they thrive for long periods in your garden or landscape. These plants are often opportunistic and will quickly bloom and produce seed during the rainy season followed by a period when they will either ‘senesce’ (die back) or remain in a non-flowering state.  We chose six of these amazing drought resistant plants that you can put in your garden.

 

Bonfire

Growing up to 3 meters begonia bonfire is a hardy dense that is an excellent choice for an informal screening in your garden. It has very fine, deeply divided leaves with lovely bronze colored new growth. It flowers heavily through-out spring with brilliant red, spider-like flowers that are attractive to birds.

Stonecrop (Sedum)

Perfect plant for any garden sedum, are often taken for granted , partly because they don’t bloom until the fall, but also because they require so little care from the gardener. Their thick, succulent leaves are able to withstand drought and rainy weather. The flower buds form early and remain attractive well in winter.

Canyon Penstemon

Canyon Penstemon has tall spikes of rose-purple flowers that attract hummingbirds in the spring. Triangular green leaves are fused at the base of the stem, and have serrated margins.  You need to plant Canyon Penstemon  in full sun to part shade and you have to provide excellent drainage.

Silvery Lupine

Once established this drought tolerant, perennial wildflower needs only little bit of water. Silvery lupine is  fragrant flower that will bloom in June with purple to white flowers in whorls up stem.  Needs full to partial sun, reaching up to 24 inches in height.

Manzanita

Manzanita or “little apple” because of  the small, round nutritious fruit eaten by bears, coyotes, foxes, quail, and other animals, including human beings. They are evergreen, colorful, and grow fast. Make sure you pick the right plant for your soil as some prefer sand and some clay.

Lomandra -Katrinus Deluxe

This cold hardy, drought tolerant, shade tolerant, heat tolerant,  pine-green fine foliage and weeping habit gives you the look and feel or an ornamental grass all year long.  Don’t cut it in winter because it won’t need it; evergreen even when temperatures are very low.  This is a great low maintenance choice where ornamental grass is desired.

6 Amazing Drought Resistant Plants

How To Propagate Boxwood

It is obvious that boxwood is not a cheap plant so knowing how to propagate it can be very useful and budget friendly. All you need is a little patience – it might take a year till your new plant starts to grow. 

During July/August choose some healthy boxwood twigs that are 10 to 15 cm long and don’t have any blooms on them. Remove almost all of the leaves, leaving just a few on the tip. Prepare the soil and make holes. Plant the twigs so that half of their length is in the soil. Cover the planter with foil. The soil should be moderately moist and when a root system develops on the twigs new leaves will start to show.

 

Important Tip: it is best to keep the new plant at the height of your hands. This way the pruning process will be much easier. Using proper tools will help you make clean cuts that will heal fast. If you don’t make a clean cut, fungi and other pests may inhabit your plant.

 

Extra Tip: Boxwood is an outdoor plant so it doesn’t require a warm spot for a successful propagation. Keep the planters with the new plants on your balcony, preferably in shade. You can also plant the young twigs directly into your garden. Just choose a nice shady, protected spot and plant the twigs in moist soil rich with limestone and clay.

How To Propagate Boxwood

Urban Vertical Gardens - Perfect For Small Spaces

With their simple and contemporary design, these planters with different shapes and sizes allow each user to create a mosaic of their own to decorate a wall and transform a room into a green oasis.

Vertical gardens were mainly located outside until Urbio created an innovative  concept – an urban vertical garden – the first ever magnetic wall-mounted vertical garden system. Urbio is an award-winning design

and manufacturing brand that focuses on creating well-designed organizational solutions for small-space

living. Their products are recognized for design, style and engineered for function, performance, and durability.

The vertical garden system consists of a white panel with holes that is attached to the wall. The pots are then attached to the panel. This is a very simple process which means you can easily remove the pots from the panel in order to water, re-pot, fertilize or prune the plants.

Small pieces of pumice are placed on the bottom of the pot in order to help the plants grow. This encourages water drainage , aeration of the soil and prevents rotting roots.

For proper planting, you should use small pieces of pumice (around 5 cm) and then fill the rest of the pot (2.5 cm bellow the top of the pot) with soil.

Urbio planters are lightweight, made from durable polypropylene which can be recycled and are available in different shapes and sizes, so users can make their personal mosaic in accordance with the plants they want to grow.  Designers have pointed out that one of the biggest advantages of Urbio’s vertical gardens is the fact that they will keep your space clean as the soil and the plants won’t make a mess even if you have light color furniture. There is no danger of scattering particles from the planters. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it?

Urbio planters would have been just a concept if it wasn’t for the team of designers who worked hard to bring us the final product. Beau Oyler and Jared Aller together with the Enlisted Design team are the designers that created these simple yet extremely useful hanging planters. Their experience was very valuable. Beau and Jared have worked on projects for Williams-Sonoma, Nestlé, Netgear and Clorox, and have won multiple awards for their designs. They constantly work on finding useful solutions, just like the Urbio indoor vertical gardens. Innovative, reliable solution for urban gardening and organization in small spaces!

 

 

 

Disclaimer: This text is our own opinion on the Urbio indoor vertical planters. We are in no way associated with Urbio and haven’t received any compensation for writing this post.

 

 

 

Urban Vertical Gardens - Perfect For Small Spaces

How To Prepare Your Geraniums For The Winter

Your Geraniums will bloom all over again next year if you just move them indoors before the first frosts. With a proper preparation, they can wait for the next spring placed in a bright spot in your basement or corridor.

 

Geraniums should be placed in a bright spot and temperature from 41F to 54F during the winter. As they do not need too much light placing them near a window will be sufficient. Once you find a perfect spot for your plants, water them moderately, as they have the ability to store water in the ticker stems. The soil should be just slightly moist. You don’t need to fertilize your Geraniums till March.

 

Geraniums often bloom in autumn, especially when the nights are pleasant. In late September you should remove all the flowers, both old and new, so the plant can save energy for the winter. Remove wilted leaves as well. Most of their leaves will fall through the winter. Just use your hands to remove all of the dead parts. Cutting them is a worse option as only short twigs will remain.

 

Pruning is very important for growing beautiful Geraniums. If you want dense plants full of flowers you should prune your Geraniums in March or October. You should do this by cutting all of the new shoots so only the main (old) ones remain.

 

 

How To Prepare Your Geraniums For The Winter

How To Prepare Your Geraniums For The Winter

Your Geraniums will bloom all over again next year if you just move them indoors before the first frosts. With a proper preparation, they can wait for the next spring placed in a bright spot in your basement or corridor.

 

Geraniums should be placed in a bright spot and temperature from 41F to 54F during the winter. As they do not need too much light placing them near a window will be sufficient. Once you find a perfect spot for your plants, water them moderately, as they have the ability to store water in the ticker stems. The soil should be just slightly moist. You don’t need to fertilize your Geraniums till March.

 

Geraniums often bloom in autumn, especially when the nights are pleasant. In late September you should remove all the flowers, both old and new, so the plant can save energy for the winter. Remove wilted leaves as well. Most of their leaves will fall through the winter. Just use your hands to remove all of the dead parts. Cutting them is a worse option as only short twigs will remain.

 

Pruning is very important for growing beautiful Geraniums. If you want dense plants full of flowers you should prune your Geraniums in March or October. You should do this by cutting all of the new shoots so only the main (old) ones remain.

 

 

How To Prepare Your Geraniums For The Winter