Oops! I should have separated the shrubs from the perennials...sorry!

I find that asters can do without extra water, but after this summer's deluge, my Aster tararicus is about 2 feet taller than normal. Virginia bluebells don't need it because they are usually dormant by the time drought season kicks in. Also Solomon's Seal, Alchemilla mollis & pulmonaria can manage without extra water.

Iris, hosta, some ferns, joe pye, peony, clematis, huechera, siberieans, asters can all go 4-6 weekls with no water in my area. Roses probably the same. These are my most drought tolerant plants. Take your warmer summers into account when comparing. If you have sandy soil or if you cultivate your beds deeply water stress will be faster. Mulch, mulch, mulch and don't do a lot of deep digging. Amend soil by top or side dressing, not tilling or digging. Raised beds waste water.

What type of Asclepias do you have? A. incarnata likes moisture (although I've found it to be surprisingly drought tolerant). A tuberosa has stayed green and attractive through the drought this summer in the very hottest, driest corner of my garden, where even the Rudbeckia was wilted and crispy.

Others on your list that I didn't water much, if at all, this summer are Hosta, Peony, Siberian Iris, and Heucheras. We're talking about established plants here.

Here in my garden the Joe Pye Weed needed very little water indeed. In fact I had two, one on either sides of a flower bed this year. The one receiving regular water is much smaller, did not flower and its leaves are very pale. In decent soil without broiling hot sun the happier of the two Joe Pye's needed only incidental water and seemed to thrive.

Hope this helps.

Kate

entling...I have decided I am going to have to refresh myself on the best care for asters. We had drought this year and they are barely bigger than last year but there is no brown on the foliage when a lot of other plants around them have. Good call on the VBluebells, I forgot that. My SSeal always looks comfortable too. I am new to pulmonaria and never pay attention to my Alchemilla, I think it is lost somewhere..lol.

Beancounter...I have Ghost and Japanese Painted Ferns that surprised me how well they look with our drought. The wood ferns, Royal fern both suffered though. I have a Francis William Hosta that did not enjoy our drought, but it is planted near maples and that makes it worse. Guacamole on the other hand was great. Bearded iris like dry, siberian like more moist, right? My Joe Pye Weed did not do well with the drought this year. It is on a little incline, so I am not sure if the water is running off of it? All the leaves are part brown. Ditto on my peony. The two clematis I have only had a few browned leaves on the bottom. Heucheras in my yard, don't like dry or too sunny. In my facing west exposure, most of the leaves have brown edges. One rose did well with the drought...Penelope. It actually got the same water as the Joe Pye Weed 10ft away and looks much better. We have clay soil. With the drought, we dragged the hose all season but I just couldn't keep up with it. We have a lot of silver maples in neighboring yards that suck the moisture out of the soil. We did mulch, but maybe next year we could mulch deeper. Yes, I usually just topdress with compost. I do have some raised beds, but...with clay soil, it is hard to grow many drought tolerant plants because of their need for good drainage, so far the raised bed is working better than when I tried some of these plants without one. Lavender and Penstemon, Dianthus and the Salvias come to mind as those fitting in that category.

terrene and kate...My Asclepias was planted with Joe Pye Weed and neither was looking happy at all. They both are only in their second season. I wonder if that is the difference? They are also near tree roots which I am sure doesn't help.

I did do a search on google and I came up with this neat list from the Chicago Parks Department and what I liked about it is it categorizes Very Low,Low, and Medium water needs of various plants...linked below.

Thanks very helpful hearing about all your experiences with these various plants! :-)

pm2

Here is a link that might be useful: Chicago List of Drought Tolerant Plants

The plants that I listed came thru our 2005 drought which was the worst in 75 years. No rain April thru the first week in Aug. The plants in the back beds got absolutely no supplemental water and they all lived--not thrived but lived including the siberian iris and heuchera. Of course that's not optimal for good bloom and healthy foliage but it does give perspective on just how much hand watering is absolutely necessary. To get the really spectacular bloom in the hottest months you have to water at least every couple weeks.

PM2, One thing I noticed you did NOT include on your list, that I seem to remember seeing a post from you about in the WSing forum, is hardy hibiscus. The only way I have ever gotten one to return over winter in my garden is by planting it in my bog. It loves moisture.

Am I right in remembering seeing pics of your hardy hibiscus? If so, you might want to put it with the moisture-lovers.

I'm probably the last person who should talk to you about drought tolerant plants since I garden in heavy moisture retaining clay and seldom water any perennials. Also you don't mention what kind of soil or other growing conditions (such as sun/shade) that individual plants receive and this can make a huge difference. FWIS, here are some notes on your list based on my experiences.

Viburnums tolerate damp clay soils well and are planted in full sun in my yard. After establishment they seldom need watering. Hydrangeas like it in my yard in somewhat drier areas in part shade. Roses like rich soil and sun, but seem fairly tolerant of dry conditions, especially the shrub ones I grow (no hybrid teas in my garden).

Joe Pye grows much taller and lusher in wet areas, often seen around the outside edges of ponds and such. Grows shorter and more manageable nearer my house (in drier soil) but would probably need watering in dry spells.

Clematis and hostas grow best with a nice steady water supply. Depends a lot on sun/shade amounts and the individual variety. Hosta Guacamole grows in hot afternoon sun on the west side of the house for me but others would fry in those conditions. Super vigorous clems like tanguticas and Sweet Autumn do fine in poor soil and little water for me, but most like really rich soil and some fertilizer along with adequate watering.

Clethra and Sambucus (a cutleaf all green variety) shrubs grow in my wet garden in full sun. Clethra is often listed as a shade/part shade plant for damp soils, but does great in full sun in my wet soil and zone 5 sun. Sambucus is tolerant of most soils but I have no idea how sensitive to water needs your gold and black ones are. Mine grows like a weed in quite wet conditions.

Astilbes like quite a bit of water. I grow some in part shade to heavy shade with drier soil & some in full sun in my wet garden.

Primulas vary by type. I can easily grow the water loving candelabra types, like japonica or the P. x bulleesiana & P. pubescens, but P. vulgaris wastes away for me in my wet soil, can't keep it at all.

Can't grow asclepsias at all. Hate my yard.

Lilies are mostly planted in the top garden near the house in as loose a loamy soil as I can give them. Don't seem to mind water during bloomtime, but like it dry over winter.

Asters love my soil and seed around in the duff everywhere.
I never seem to get any mildew on any, so maybe the extra wet soil makes a difference there. The same with phlox. I plant them in drier areas but in lightly amended clay soil which retains moisture well and seldom have mildew.

Ferns depend on type. Gray ones like Japanese Painted fern seem to like it on the dry side, while my Cinnamon Fern and Ostrich ferns like it really wet. I did have some burning on my Cinnamon ferns planted on the east side of the house in part shade this summer when we had no rain for five weeks. Ostrich ferns live in my wet garden & had no problem. Another favorite fern, Lady fern, is in shadier and somewhat drier conditions in my yard & appears to be in the middle somewhere in water needs.

Siberian Iris, although it likes water much more than bearded iris and can tolerate more shade, actually prefers the slighly drier spots in my garden. I had a bit of trouble finding just the right spot for them. I think I was giving them too poor a soil. They are currently going gangbusters in a RAISED full sun area with rich garden soil and getting some extra watering from overhead lawn sprinklers. So go figure...

I have three 10 plus year old hollies (Ilex) doing well in a raised, dry, full shade bed almost under the eaves. Ilex glabra (deciduous) likes the wet shrub area of the yard.

Virginia Bluebells are a great spring ephemeral for my type garden. Easily tolerates the wettish soil (not standing water) around my wet garden. I grow it in full sun, but it also likes woodland shade.

Japanese Maple (the cutleaf type) is somewhat iffy for my garden, having died out even in a raised bed here. Had a really large beautiful one in another house in an in-close suburb here that did beautiful. I'd said moderate only moisture.

Lady's Mantle loves my garden, in sun, shade, wet, dry, droughts, floods, everything. Also seeds everywhere. No problem at all in heavy soils that hold water, but have no idea how it holds up to drought in dry soils.

Lobelia, again, depends on the type. Red cardinal flower no variety name planted bare-root from a nature group, loves my wet garden, however a named nursery variety rotted out. Queen Victoria, a dark foliaged variety, lived quite nicely on the top of the hill above the wet garden in quite a dry spot, but again in amended clay soil. Various bedding lobelias (annuals) have also had mixed results in the ground here. Have not yet tried blue lobelia (syphlitica), supposed to like dampish soils.

Pulmonarias seem to like somewhat dryish soils in part shade, but I did have some small scorching on Excalibur, an almost all silver variety this year during the drought.

Shasta daisies only grow in my yard in very dry areas near the house. Mums also like it dry, especially over winter, but are not as fussy for me as is shasta daisy. Becky has done well for me, as has a small dwarf variety, both growing and spreading well. Alaska won't even return one year for me.

Hope this helps. Leslie