Drought-tolerant plants for your landscape

Drought-tolerant plants are low maintenance and can make attractive additions to any home’s landscaping and curb appeal.  Here are some things to know when considering adding drought-tolerant plants to your landscape:

• This Echinocactus grusoni (or Mexican cactus) has long eye-catching spines that can make a statement in any season.
  

• Decorative grasses native to New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona are often hardy enough to grow in more temperate climates. Most grasses tolerate dry conditions. They vary in color, texture and height, adding interest to your landscape.
  

• Not all drought tolerant trees look like desert plants. Consider the oak, hickory, red maple, honey locust, sumac, mugo pine, Leyland cypress, American elm, and ginko biloba.
  

• The shagbark hickory is dry-weather tolerant and adds visual appeal in every season with its shaggy dog appearance.
  

• You can add color to your landscape with hardy flowering shrubs like the drought resistant flowering crab or the hawthorn, which comes in several shades of pink and red.
  

• Other plants that have a high tolerance for dry conditions include the portulaca. This hardy annual adds color in flower beds. Portulaca is a low plant that grows in clusters and is available in many attractive colors.
  

• If you are a fan of aromatherapy, lavender is a good plant for dry conditions.
  

• The hardy purple flowers can be used to make tea, cookies, and sachets for drawers and bathrooms.
  

• If you are looking for taller plants for a drought-resistant flower bed, Russian sage is an eye-catching choice. It can resist cold and frost, and it thrives in rocky areas where the soil is poor
  

• A hardy plant that thrives in dry conditions and has some bright color and texture is salvia.  It blooms all summer and into the fall on plants that may be anywhere from eight to thirty inches high.