Best drought-tolerant perennials? Joepye and swamp milkweed?

15 years ago

We had to have a few trees taken down in our yard and now have some more sun. I have a long, narrow lot and this area is at the back - farthest from the rain barrel and the hose. (I don't do much supplemental watering anyway, except my roses)

I'd like to try Joepye weed, swamp milkweed (asclepias incarnata), and Thalictrum (rue) but I am not sure how much water they need. I grew butterfly weed (a. tuberosa) last year and it did very well with no extra water.

The area already has lots of phlox, and I have monarda and stokesia that I can move back there (even though I am not a big fan of the stokesia, I think that the plant itself is ugly and it's impossible to deadhead).

I also have two extra 2 caryopteris shrubs (blue mist shrubs) I could move (they seeded themsleves). Are they much use? Usually I only see bees on the caryopteris and the stokesia. I'd like to try agastache, but I assume it needs a lot of water because I've never seen it growing well anywhere - it always looks crispy?

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Comments (11)

PRO
Nell Jean
15 years ago
Gaillardia is very drought tolerant, and attracts variegated fritillaries for nectaring in my garden.

Nell
perennialfan273
15 years ago
Here are some drought tolerant perennials:
Yarrow
Artemisias (artemisia spp)
Russian Sage (perovskia spp)
Anise-Hyssop (agastache spp)
Red Valerian (centranthus ruber)
Echinops (echinops spp)
Tickseed (coreopsis spp)
Carnations (dianthus spp)
Hyssop (hyssopus officinalis)
Lavender (lavendula spp)
Penstemon (penstemon spp)
Salvia (salvia spp)
Santolina (santolina spp)
Goldenrod (soldidago spp)
Lambs Ears (stachys byzantina)

This is only a partial list. There's literally HUNDREDS of drought tolerant perennials!! If you want to learn more, type in xeriscaping in google. You'd be surprised what you can learn with a little research...

Oh, by the way, don't try the monarda or the phlox. They like evenly moist soil, and in an area that doesn't get a lot of rain, they won't be happy.
Related Discussions
OT: What plants tolerate really wet soil best?
Q
Comments (6)
Andrea, here's a link to a thread from last year. I was/am planting an area that is very wet, to the point of standing water, and I posted a very detailed post, which, thank goodness, got lots of responses, and so I had a ton of help from many people. I think it's only right that I should pass it along in case it can help you too. Be sure to note the link in the first post, which will bring you to the original thread. There's lots of good info in there too, and I think some great photos, if I remember correctly. Good luck! :) Dee Here is a link that might be useful: Planting a very wet area
...See More
Milkweed in containers
Q
Comments (19)
I usually leave any cutting back to late spring (May) when I tidy up my front garden. Many butterfly species winter over in our gardens on those very stems. The stems do not need to be cut back at all. The only reason you would want to cut them back is to tidy up your garden. A friend in Ohio wrote this about transplanting milkweeds: " Fall is an ideal time for planting. If you have milkweeds to share, or plants needing to be rescued, fall is a great time to transplant milkweeds. Milkweeds such as butterflyweed (A. tuberosa), swamp milkweed (A. incarnata) and common milkweed (A. syriaca) can be transplanted in the fall, after they are done producing seed and have begun to senesce (die back) for the winter. Swamp milkweed is probably the easiest milkweed species to transplant. The roots of swamp milkweed form a ball, similar in appearance to the head of an old-fashioned mop. Dig 1-2 feet deep and 1-2 feet wide around the base of the plant, depending on its size. A good rule of thumb is to dig as wide as the crown of the plant is wide. Always, water your plants before digging them up, this will help the soil adhere to the roots, and give the plant a thorough drink before disturbing its root system. After digging up the plant, place it in a pot, bag or a bucket of water in a part shade area for a few days. This will help the plant overcome transplant stress. If you must plant it in its new home immediately, you can do so, but keep the plant well-watered for a few weeks. Choose an early morning or cloudy day to do your transplanting, to protect your new transplants from the harsh sun. Butterflyweed is a bit more tricky to transplant. Butterflyweed transplants best in late fall or very early spring. This milkweed species has a deep taproot that is thick and knobby, reminiscent of a carrot. Again, it is important to water the plant before digging it up. Dig deep, usually 2-3 feet deep and 2-3 feet wide around the base of the plant. Place the plant in a pot, or move it to its new home immediately. You can place the transplant in a bag, but often sandy soil will fall from the roots or the taproot will break, using a pot will work best. Make sure to plant the milkweed at the same depth it was previously, to avoid rotting the taproot or exposing too much of the taproot to winter heaving. Be certain to place the plant in a site with well-drained soil, and keep it watered well for a few weeks to help it through the transplant stress. Common milkweed can also be transplanted, but it has a very deep taproot. You will need to dig 2-3 feet deep, and 1-2 feet wide. Make sure you dig up a section of the root that includes the horizontal rhizome. The rhizome is the horizontal root that runs out like a tendril from the stalk, or ramet. When you dig up the ramet, you will need to cut the rhizome with your shovel blade, leaving a portion of the rhizome still attached on either side of the ramet. Essentially, you will be digging up a section of the root system that will look like an upside-down “T.” Digging up a “T” section of the root system will greatly increase your transplant success. After digging up the plant, place it in a pot and move it to its new home. Keep it watered well for a few weeks to help it through the transplant stress. Milkweeds can be transplanted in early spring as well. Follow the same steps as described previously, but dig the plants up shortly after they break ground, when they are about 4-6 inches tall. Never dig up plants when they are blooming or going to seed, doing so will cause significant transplant stress and may kill the plant. Do not dig plants from the wild, and always get permission from the property owner if it is not your property! Finally, keep your transplanted milkweeds watered regularly for the first year, and then leave them on their own. They are native, after all!" Here is a link that might be useful: Container Gardening
...See More
Tough Perennials
Q
Comments (43)
Pat, This is one of the worst years ever to be a gardener in Oklahoma, so maybe next year will be better. Your soil sounds a lot like mine and some of the plants you've tried and lost, like nepeta and penstemon, only grow well for me and return consistently if I grow them in raised beds that are at least 4-6" above grade level. That helps keep them them from becoming waterlogged and dying during the wet springs. Our soils are highly variable here and it can take some experimentation to figure out what will grow well in your specific combination of soil/climate conditions. I planted and lost lots of stuff as I learned what would tolerate heavy, red, highly-alkaline, slow-draining clay in a climate where rainfall can be 19" one year and 52" the next, but summers are invariably hot no matter what the rain is or isn't doing. It's just a matter of whether the summer is hot and dry or hot and humid. With heavy clay, look to native prairie flowers as your inspiration because they have adapted to the poor drainage and the wild swings from wet, soggy, pudding-like wet clay to hard-as-concrete dry clay. Often, flowers that survive wet clay don't survive dry clay but most prairie-type natives do. One salvia that works well for me is the common Texas Hummingbird Sage. Not only does it survive whatever the weather throws at it, but it reseeds itself vigorously so if you plant it once, you have it forever. Laura Bush petunia is another. It reseeds right out in our pastures where it gets nothing but rainfall. These are the kinds of flowers I've learned to appreciate--tough ones! Hibiscus muschuetos grows very well for me. I have the common white (with a red eye) swamp mallow growing on the edge of our big pond (it is about a half-acre when there's water in it though there's no water in it now), our spring-fed swamp and in the buttefly garden outside my kitchen window. Down in the border around the veggie garden I have 'Disco Belle' and 'Dixie Belle'. They are blooiming now. I water them about once a week since no rain is falling. You asked about gloriosa daisy. I have been able to keep it alive for 2 or 3 years, but can't keep it going longer than that. I suspect it needs soil that drains better than my red clay. However, clasping-leaf coneflowers and native brown-eyed Susans grow wild on our property. We have some of them every year, although some years they do much better than other years. In our red clay, Sweet Autumn clematis was not invasive, but I suspect Betty's area has much nicer soil than we have so I can see how it would be invasive there. I had one here for 7 or 8 years, but it died in 2009 after 12.89" of rain fell in one day, followed by 6 to 8 more inches of rain over the next 6 weeks. It just couldn't tolerate staying that wet for that long. Gypsum works with some types of clay and not with others. It doesn't work with the kind of clay I have. You can check with your local ag extension service or Natural Resources Conservation Service office to find out what kind of clay you have and whether or not it would work there. The only thing that has worked for me is to add copious amounts of organic matter. I added 8 to 10 inches the first year (not at once, but in several rounds of soil improvement) and rototilled it into the soil. Now, I add it from the top down as mulch and I still add tons every year because "heat eats compost." We all need to compare notes this fall after we see what survives Don't get discouraged. Eventually you'll figure out what likes your soil and tolerates our weather and it won't be nearly so frustrating. I never absolutely, positively decide that a specific plant "won't grow here" until I've killed it 2 or 3 times. I've found that most things described as invasive aren't invasive for me and instead they struggle to survive in our dry clay. I guess in an odd way that's a bonus. In order for something to be invasive in clay, it has to be very, very tough. As you've already found out for yourself, pink evening primrose is one that can tolerate our soil and our wild weather. I have 'Pink Lemonade' honeysuckle on the cedar arbor that serves as an entryway to my veggie garden. There's one plant on either side of the arbor. They grow just fine and are lovely but haven't escaped and run wild. I just love the 'Pink Lemonade'. It looks very similar to goldflame, which isn't surprising, since both are coral honeysuckle (Loniera x heckrotti) types. The flowers that are blooming right now look great, but the water bill arrived today (ugh!) leaving me pondering how much I can cut back on watering them without completely losing them. Dawm
...See More
Asclepias perennis-White Swamp Milkweed
Q
Comments (76)
Hi Mary, Hope this finds you doing well and that you had a very good growing season. These seeds did really well. They have been in flower for the past three months. I've never had a milkweed bloom so much. The first batch never did germinate. I have had tons of insect visits during this time but only two small pods that have not really developed much. I had three Monarch caterpillars on the plants and they pretty much stripped(ate) most of the foliage but the plants put out more leaves after the caterpillars molted.. I still have them in a 12" pot but will probably divide them once they stop flowering and plant them in the garden. I was wondering how your seed production has been this year? I would like to get a bunch of seed from somewhere to grow and distribute to all the folks here in my area who are into this like you and I. Any chance you might have some to share again or know someone who does and/or somewhere I can purchase some. Thanks for any help. Regards, Mark
...See More
ericwi
15 years ago
I grow Asclepias incarnata in our yard, and it seems to weather the summer drought OK. We have soil that is high in clay, so it retains water well. I'm not sure that swamp milkweed would do as well in soil with better drainage, though. I think that Asclepias tuberosa is better adapted to dry conditions in the summer, once the tap root has developed.
sergeantcuff
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the advice, everyone.

The area already has lots of phlox, which does well, so maybe I'll give the swamp milkweed a try. My soil does have good drainage though, I think gardeners have lived here since at least the 1930s. Maybe good drainage can allow really deep roots?

Perennialfan - Nice list! I have many of those. I am really interested in adding plants for butterflies, especially host plants for monarchs. Everything here HAS to be drought tolerant (except for my 30+ roses. That's all the watering I can handle).

Any comments on the Rue (Thalictrum - is this one good for the butterflies)?
docmom_gw
15 years ago
Maureen,
Your A. tuberosa should come back bigger and better than ever. That's one of the best Monarch host plants you can get. I love New England Aster as a nectar plant for Monarchs, and it's very drought tolerant.

Martha
jrcagle
15 years ago
Howdy, neighbor! I'm in Fred. Co. on the Piedmont ridge

The Coreopsis works really well in my garden, as do Plumbago, A. tuberosa (nectar for many species; hosts for Monarchs), and Coneflower (Echinacea). I don't have much success with Black-Eyed Susans, but most people do. The latter two are hosts for the Silvery Checkerspot, and great nectar plants for Fritillaries and skippers.

I have fennel as hostplants for the Black Swallowtail.

Swamp milkweed went into my garden last year and it was a HUGE hit with the Monarchs.

And in general, I do "dry-farming", watering only in severe drought conditions.

Jeff
terrene
15 years ago
One way that I gauge how much moisture a plant may need is to research the wetland status of the plant. The USDA plants database and other websites report a "Wetland indicator status" that tells you whether a plant grows in wetlands in its natural habitat.

Asclepias incarnata (Swamp milkweed) is an "obligate wetland" plant which means it always grows in wetlands in the wild, so this is a moisture-loving milkweed. In my gardens it grows reasonably well in medium moisture, and is surprisingly drought tolerant, but it does die back in late summer and I wonder if it would last longer in a wetter garden. Many if not most of the other milkweeds are well adapted to dry conditions, including A. syriaca (common) and A. tuberosa (butterfly weed).

For Joe-Pye weed, it depends on the species but many of them also prefer to grow in wetlands. You might look into Eupatorium purpureum, Sweet Joe Pye weed, or Ageratina altissima (former Eupatorium rugosum, Snakeroot) both of which will grow more happily in drier soil.

Most Phlox and Monardas will do well in medium moisture. Last year I grew Monarda punctata (Spotted bee balm) and M. citriodora (Lemon bee balm) from seed, and they are both very pretty and prefer dry sandy soil.

Many Aster and Solidago (Goldenrod) species are very drought-tolerant, gorgeous late bloomers, and mine had lots of pollinators all over them in September and October.
sergeantcuff
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for all the great advice!

Jeff - I am a neighbor! - Carroll Co. I have some plumbago growing on a hillside as a groundcover - i didn't know it was a butterfly plant.

I have started a whole flat (40 plants) of the a. tuberosa.

I am going to try to track down some a. incarnata.

Also will add some asters? Which ones would you recommend? The New York? I've had some that mildewed and died. The best aster I have is one that I dug up at a construction site.
terrene
15 years ago
Asters are one of my favorite genera (name changed from Aster to Symphyotrichum - ugh, what are those botanists thinking?). Actually, the New England and New York asters (S. novae angliae and S. nova-belgii) are both classified as "facultative wetland" plants, which means they are found in wetlands most of the time in their natural habitat. So these are moisture loving asters, although they will do okay in medium garden soil. As you noticed they are both prone to mildew.

Here are some upland Asters that I'm familiar with, which are quite drought-tolerant. They are easy to start from seed and even bloom a little in the first year.

S. laeve - Smooth blue aster - pretty lavender blue flowers, leaves are larger than most asters, have a smooth feel to them
S. oblongifolium - Aromatic aster - lavender/pink flowers, a short bushy aster
S. oolentangiense - Sky blue aster
S. ericoides - Heath aster - numerous little white flowers along the stem

Don't forget S. cordifolium and S. divaricatum, Blue wood and white wood asters. These grow quite well in woodlands, and I've got a lot of Blue wood aster in my yard which grows and blooms well even in the dry shade under maples. Both of these are abundant re-seeders.
jrcagle
15 years ago
I've only "grown" the weedy natives that pop up. Oh, and two bunches with purple flowers that my double-green-thumb mother-in-law gave me.

You might check the PLANTS database for the native asters and cross-check them with hostplants for the Pearl Crescent.

Jeff

Here is a link that might be useful: PLANTS search MD aster
ralleia
15 years ago
When I think drought-tolerant and butterflies, a few plants come strongly to mind:

Eryngium (long taproot, beloved by beneficial insects)
Echinacea (taprooted again, loved by butterflies)
Sedum (very tough, beloved by butterflies and beneficials)

I second the recommendations for solidago (goldenrod) and achillea (yarrow) above for drought-tolerance and butterfly attraction.

Parsley isn't an annual, but I planted it to feed black swallowtail larvae. Now it self-seeds and I've never had to plant parsley since. I also plant zinnias every year for nectar.

Best drought-tolerant perennials? Joepye and swamp milkweed?

Comments (11)

Nell Jean

perennialfan273

Related Discussions

ericwi

sergeantcuff
Original Author

docmom_gw

jrcagle

terrene

sergeantcuff
Original Author

terrene

jrcagle

ralleia

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Best drought-tolerant perennials? Joepye and swamp milkweed?

Comments (11)

Related Discussions

sergeantcuffOriginal Author

sergeantcuffOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

sergeantcuff
Original Author

sergeantcuff
Original Author