Shade- & Drought-Tolerant Plants
- Epimedium (Epimedium spp.), a ground cover, can tolerant shade and dry conditions. Epimedium grows about 10 inches tall and produces white, red or pink flowers in late spring. Hardy begonia (Begonia grandis) grows 18 to 24 inches tall and produces pink blooms. Great bellflower (Campanula latifolia) produces a profusion of white or bluish-purple blooms on 3- to 4-foot stems. Corydalis (Corydalis lutea), which grows to about 1 foot tall, has an abundance of green foliage that is speckled with yellow blooms in early to mid-summer.
- Add color with these annual plants that are both shade and drought tolerate. Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima), growing less than 6 inches tall, is a fragrant ground cover. White or pink blooms appear in early summer and last into fall. Capable of reaching 3 to 5 feet tall, spider flower (Cleome hassleriana) produces large pink or white blooms that will self-seed. For height, try spikes (Dracaena indivisa). Spikes, resembling the top of the pineapple plant, can grow 6 to 8 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide.
- Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) shrub reaches about 6 feet tall and produces purple berries that standout against bright red leaves. Northern bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera) grows to about 4 feet tall and produces yellow blooms reminiscent of honeysuckle vine. For a short, spreading shrub, try snowberry (Symphoricarpos --- chenaultii 'Hancock'), which reaches about 2 feet tall and can spread up to 10 feet.
- The shiny green leaves of mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia and cvs.) are the perfect backdrop for its white or pink blooms that appear in late spring. Mountain laurel can reach a height and width of 6 to 10 feet. Alexandria laurel (Danae Racemosa), a short shrub, also has green leaves. This evergreen shrub grows 2 to 3 feet tall and wide. Himalayan sarcococca (Sarcococca hookeriana) grows 4 to 6 feet tall and wide and produces white blooms in the spring. The leaves Himalayan sarcococca of can reach over 3 inches long.