Waterwise landscapes are becoming increasingly important. Fortunately, low-water perennials abound to stand up to challenging sites and conditions, particularly natives for our region and their cultivars. As an added benefit, many are also low-maintenance, making for durable growers with seasons of easy color.

While newly transplanted selections will need moisture as they establish healthy roots, they mature into tough specimens that don’t rely on supplemental irrigation. Yet they don’t sacrifice visual interest or ecological value (insect support, soil improvement, stormwater management).

Low-water perennials yield a diverse display of dynamic foliage, form, and flowers to enliven the garden for years.

Russian Sage

Needs sharp drainage and thrives in heat and sun.

Russian sage is sun and heat-loving. This low-water perennial shines with silver leaves and sprays of petite blue-purple tubular blooms from summer through frost. The bright, aromatic foliage lends a fine texture and contrast among green and dark foliage selections.

Russian sage thrives in dry situations with reliable flowering. The award-winner received the Perennial Plant Association’s Perennial Plant of the Year accolade. ‘Blue Spires’ is a compact variety with dense blooms and Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit status. 

Russian sage needs well-draining soils. In areas with high humidity or heavy seasonal rains, disease-resistant varieties show the best performance. ‘Denim in Lace’ and ‘Crazy Blue’ are good options to defend against fungal problems.

Creeping Phlox

Spreads into a fragrant, low carpet each spring.

Creeping phlox is a rugged, low-growing spreader with dense foliage and purple-blue blooms. The low-maintenance groundcover is versatile, suitable for everything from drought-prone sites to erosion stabilization zones.

In the spring, small, fragrant flowers emerge in clusters for a blanket of color. Needle-like, semi-evergreen leaves create a loose carpet and fine texture for interest even when not in flower.

‘Sherwood Purple’ is a top performer with lilac blooms on short, erect stems above the foliage. It grows vigorously and uniformly with good color and dense foliage. ‘Fran’s Purple’ is slightly larger and boasts mildew resistance. ‘Home Fires’ is a robust, pink-blooming variety with matching disease resistance to stave off fungal issues in the crown in damp situations.

Lavender

Harvest blooms twice to extend color and fragrance.

Lavender brings its fragrance, silvery foliage, and velvety leaves to brighten drought-prone sites and the senses. The low-water perennial needs little, if any, supplemental irrigation. The edible bridges the ornamental border and herb garden with its versatile uses and landscape beauty. Use it as a companion plant to deter pests with its aromatic foliage while attracting beneficial insects with its bloom spikes.

Lavender grows naturally in arid, warm summers and cool, wet winters. In cold climates, opt for hardy varieties like L. angustifolia ‘Munstead,’ an early bloomer with a compact habit. Or, grow the herb in a container to overwinter in a sheltered spot. In humid climates, choose varieties with good disease resistance like ‘Phenomenal.’

The waterwise selection needs a sun-drenched location and well-draining soil. Water during the first growing season until they establish. Harvest the fragrant blooms in spring and again later in summer for optimal scent and color, and to promote further flowering.

Sedum

Fleshy leaves and late blooms need little attention.

Sedum, or stonecrop, prefers dry growing conditions, or at least soils that drain quickly and dry out between watering sessions. The succulent foliage brings unique shapes and forms with visual interest, from thick paddles to small buttons in a range of hues. From low-growing and spreading to tall and upright, they thrive with a bit of neglect.

‘October Daphne’ has low, mounding, blue-green leaves with pink edges that get brighter in the summer heat. In late summer, little pink flowers emerge among the color-changing foliage in pink, orange, yellow, and red. More upright is Hylotelephium ‘Autumn Fire’ with tight branching, bright, rosy pink blooms, and large, padded leaves. Stout stems support numerous flat-topped flower clusters in fall.

Sedum’s late-season flowers support pollinators and other beneficials as a food source, followed by seeds for birds. They persist on the stem into the cool season for extended interest as seedheads.

Switchgrass

Handles both drought and occasional flooding with ease.

Switchgrass and many other ornamental grasses are optimal low-water perennials. They withstand high heat and variable conditions, adding texture and movement to the landscape with little tending.

Switchgrass is a North American prairie species with structural interest, colorful foliage, and showy plumes. It grows across soil types, moisture levels, and light exposures. ‘Northwind’ has a strong upright habit and a columnar form. ‘Cheyenne Sky’ begins blue-green and transitions to wine red in early summer, with plumes to match.

Switchgrass prefers lean soils that aren’t overly rich. It tolerates fluctuating moisture levels, including drought and occasional flooding. 

Yarrow

Flat flower clusters draw bees, butterflies, and moths.

Yarrow is an adaptable North American native, drought-tolerant and flourishing in summer heat. The feathery foliage and large, flat flower clusters are pollinator favorites, attracting bees, butterflies, moths, and many more. The species boasts broad, yellow flower heads atop tall, upright stems.

Cultivars in red, apricot, pink, white, and purple offer improved forms and a range of sizes for dense, floriferous plants. Like many others on our low-water perennial list, yarrow isn’t picky about soil type as long as it’s well-draining.

Mexican Bush Sage

Blooms when many other flowers have faded.

Mexican bush sage is showy across hot, dry conditions. The salvia features spires of purple and white blooms in late summer through fall. The pollinator favorites produce nectar-rich tubular blooms late in the season when other blooms fade. Velvety gray, aromatic foliage lines the long stems.

Mexican bush sage blooms profusely with cultivars in shades of purple, pink, and white. They include ‘Danielle’s Dream’ with pink blooms and ‘All Purple’ with royal purple flowers. ‘Santa Barbara’ has a compact habit and fits in smaller spaces beautifully.

Black-eyed Susan

Self-sows freely and offers seeds for birds.

Rudbeckia offers a long bloom season with golden daisy-ray flowers from summer through frost. The classic low-water perennials have chocolate button centers and dark green basal leaves.

Black-eyed Susan is a native North American meadow and prairie wildflower that withstands dry conditions, heat, and humidity. Easy care, it adapts to various soils and light conditions.

Rudbeckia spreads as a clumping perennial and self-sows in the landscape. Birds enjoy the late-season seeds post-bloom. The seeds require cold stratification (winter chill) to germinate the following spring.

Sea Holly

Spiky flowers keep their shape in dried bouquets.

Sea holly brings architectural blooms to our list of low-water perennials. In silvery blue, the spiky, rigid flowers offer a spray of color. The silvery gray-blue foliage offers interest throughout the summer. The cut blooms are lasting in fresh florals and dried bouquets.

Eryngium is rugged, heat-loving, and tolerates coastal situations. It grows best in sandy loams and sun-soaked spots.

‘Blue Glitter’ is a hardy variety with loads of purple-blue flowers on silver stems. Multi-branched stems bear bunches of flowers that rise above the green basal leaves. E. bourgatii ‘Picos Blue’ is larger with deeper blue inflorescences and is an RHS Award of Garden Merit recipient.

Blue Flax

Each blossom opens in the morning and drops by afternoon.

Blue flax yields cheerful blue flowers in summer, with each bloom opening in the morning and closing or dropping in the bright afternoon sun. Each stem produces multiple flowers, and native bees and honeybees visit each five-petaled blossom.

L. lewisii is named for explorer Meriwether Lewis, who collected the specimens on his westward journey. The low-maintenance perennials thrive in dry, disturbed sites and work well on slopes and as erosion control. 

Lupine

Improves soil while stabilizing slopes against erosion.

Lupine is a charming wildflower with bell blooms in blue, purple, pink, white, and yellow. Graceful with a rugged constitution, they grow in variable sites, withstanding lean soils and moisture fluctuations..

Wild lupine (Lupinus perennis) is an adaptable native to eastern North America with striking sky-blue to purple flowers. Handsome palmate leaves are attractive even when not in flower.

Meadow lupine, or Lupinus polyphyllus, is one of the showiest species, with violet bloom spikes above a blue-green leafy cushion. In the West and Pacific Northwest, it serves a valuable role in ecosystem management by providing erosion control, soil improvement, and pollinator resources. Outside its native range, it can spread aggressively, particularly in the northeastern U.S. 

Santolina

Golden button flowers appear above silver mounded foliage.

Lavender cotton, or santolina, is an Old World herb with silvery foliage. The mounding groundcover tolerates drought, coastal exposure, and high heat. In the summer, it has masses of golden yellow button blooms.

The Mediterranean perennial needs well-draining soils that dry out between watering sessions. Lavender cotton adapts to different soil types, from sandy to clay to rocky. The arid herb struggles with high humidity, where fungal diseases become a problem.

Agave

Sends up a single bloom stalk in the right conditions.

Agave has broad, structural foliage. The stately native succulent has blue-green leaves with sharp spines along the margins and tips. Cultivars offer ribbons of color in greens, gold, and silver.