Perennials that manage on little water once established, so they cope better with a summer hosepipe ban. Even these need watering for the first year or two.
52 plants from our verified database, by name. A plant is only listed when the data this list relies on is not in doubt. How our data is made
Salvia greggii 75 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
A small-leaved, aromatic subshrub that carries red, pink, white or purple lipped flowers from early summer until frost and copes very well with heat…
Gypsophila paniculata 90 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
In summer its much-branched, wiry dome turns into a cloud of tiny white or pale pink flowers, which makes it ideal for hiding the gaps left by…
Iris × germanica 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
The large-flowered, often scented star of late spring and early summer, in almost every colour and colour combination, with sword-shaped leaves held…
Gaillardia aristata 60 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
From early summer until the first frosts it carries yellow, orange and red, often two-toned daisy flowers, and it shrugs off heat and drought. Most…
Geranium sanguineum 30 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A tough ground-covering perennial that forms a low mound of finely cut leaves, dotted with magenta-pink flowers from late spring into summer, and…
Baptisia australis 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A shrub-like, very long-lived perennial that carries lupin-like spikes of indigo blue flowers in late spring above blue-green, clover-like foliage,…
Echinops bannaticus 1.2 m × 60 cm after 10 years
A tall, architectural perennial that carries steel-blue, globe-shaped flower heads on stiff greyish stems in midsummer: bees and bumblebees work it…
Hylotelephium × hybridum 55 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
The upright autumn stonecrops sold by cultivar name: clumps of fleshy stems and leaves that carry flat flower heads from late summer to late autumn,…
Dianthus carthusianorum 50 cm × 25 cm after 10 years
The pink of dry grasslands: thin, wiry stems rise in summer from grassy evergreen tufts and carry tight heads of small magenta flowers that…
Nepeta × faassenii 50 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
A loose mound of grey-green, aromatic foliage that carries clouds of lavender-blue flowers from May to September and is a favourite of pollinators.…
Nepeta × faassenii 'Walker's Low' 75 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
This grey-green catmint brings lavender-blue flowers and plenty of pollinators to sunny borders, path edges and rose plantings. Once established it…
Salvia officinalis 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
An aromatic subshrub with grey-green, velvety leaves that works both as a kitchen herb and as an ornamental, and whose bluish-purple flowers draw bees…
Achillea millefolium 80 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
A tough native perennial with finely cut, aromatic foliage and flat flower heads that bees and butterflies visit all summer; garden cultivars also…
Helichrysum italicum 60 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
A silver-grey evergreen subshrub with needle-thin leaves that give off a strong curry scent in sunshine and after rain, and mustard-yellow flower…
Euphorbia polychroma 45 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A perennial that forms a neat dome and glows sulphur yellow around April and May, then turns red in autumn. It suits a sunny, dry border, also on limy…
Iris pallida 90 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A bearded iris with sweetly scented, pale lavender-blue flowers and grey-green sword leaves that stay tidy after flowering; the striped forms are…
Hemerocallis × hybrida 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Garden daylilies are almost indestructible, long-lived perennials: above a clump of arching, grassy leaves they carry trumpet-shaped flowers for weeks…
Lavandula angustifolia 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
An evergreen, grey-leaved, scented subshrub covered for weeks in early summer with purple, blue, pink or white flower spikes that bees and butterflies…
Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote' 60 cm × 1 m after 10 years
'Hidcote' forms a compact mound of silvery foliage topped with fragrant, dark-purple flowers that attract bees. It works well along sunny borders,…
Achillea filipendulina 1.2 m × 75 cm after 10 years
A tall, stiff-stemmed perennial whose flat, golden yellow flower plates last all summer and keep well cut or dried, while its spicy-scented, ferny…
Gaura lindheimeri 1 m × 60 cm after 10 years
An airy, long-flowering perennial whose thin, swaying stems carry butterfly-like white or pink flowers from early summer until the frosts. It takes…
Agastache × hybrida 80 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
An upright perennial with anise and mint scented leaves that carries dense flower spikes from midsummer to the frosts and is among the best plants for…
Aster ericoides 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A densely branched aster from the North American prairies with tiny, heather-like leaves, covered in September and October by clouds of very small…
Hyssopus officinalis 60 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, aromatic, woody-based subshrub that draws bees and butterflies with spikes of blue, or less often pink or white, flowers from early summer into…
Aster amellus 60 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, bushy aster with large lavender, violet or pink daisies with yellow centres from late summer well into autumn, always busy with bees and…
Coreopsis grandiflora 60 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A bushy perennial that produces large, golden yellow daisy flowers from early summer into autumn and is good for cutting too. It is happiest in a…
Veronica teucrium 40 cm × 40 cm after 10 years
A low, bushy perennial that is almost hidden under spikes of vivid gentian-blue flowers in May and June, to the delight of bees and butterflies. It…
Lavandula × intermedia 90 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A bigger, more vigorous hybrid than true lavender: a grey-green, aromatic subshrub that carries long-stemmed, strongly scented flower spikes in summer…
Calamintha nepeta 45 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, bushy perennial that wraps itself in a cloud of tiny white or pale lilac flowers from midsummer until frost and is then one of the busiest…
Salvia verticillata 75 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A loose, bushy perennial with soft, hairy leaves that carries whorled spikes of smoky purple flowers from June to September, constantly visited by…
Salvia pratensis 70 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A violet-blue wildflower of dry meadows: from late May slender flower spikes rise above a basal rosette of wrinkled leaves and draw bees and…
Euphorbia characias 1.1 m × 90 cm after 10 years
An evergreen sub-shrub with blue-grey leaves and a sculptural shape that carries huge lime-green flower heads in spring on two-year-old stems. It…
Origanum vulgare 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Oregano is a wildflower and a kitchen herb in one: from midsummer its pinkish-purple flowers are busy with bees and butterflies. It is happy in sunny,…
Allium × hybridum 90 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
Tall ornamental onions flower in late spring and early summer: their purple, white or pink globes on bare, straight stems fill the gap between…
Sedum telephium 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A fleshy-leaved, upright succulent perennial with flat heads of pink, purple or reddish flowers from late summer into autumn, when it is covered in…
Centranthus ruber 80 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A bushy perennial with fleshy, blue-green leaves that carries clusters of small, fragrant crimson, pink or white flowers from late spring to autumn…
Lychnis coronaria 80 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
Above rosettes of silver-grey, felted leaves it opens vivid magenta (in some forms white) flowers on branching grey stems in early summer. It is…
Perovskia atriplicifolia 1.2 m × 1 m after 10 years
A subshrub with silvery, aromatic foliage that carries a haze of lavender-blue flowers from midsummer into autumn and is very popular with bees. It…
Limonium latifolium 70 cm × 70 cm after 10 years
From a rosette of broad, leathery leaves it sends up wiry, much-branched stems in midsummer that carry a cloud of tiny lavender-blue flowers,…
Armeria maritima 20 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A low, dense evergreen cushion of grass-like leaves, topped in late spring by pink or white flower globes on thin stalks. Use it in rock gardens, as…
Sedum spectabile 50 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A succulent perennial forming a neat clump of fleshy, blue-green leaves, with flat, hand-sized flower heads from late summer into autumn that are…
Saponaria officinalis 70 cm × 1 m after 10 years
An old cottage-garden perennial with pale pink or white flowers from midsummer into autumn that are strongly scented in the evening and draw moths. It…
Lychnis viscaria 40 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A native wildflower that sends up spikes of vivid magenta-pink flowers in May and June from tufts of grass-like leaves; the stems are sticky below the…
Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude' 60 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
Plant it in a sunny perennial border or gravel garden for late-summer and autumn flowers that attract bees and butterflies. Once established, it needs…
Oenothera fruticosa 50 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
An easy, sun-loving perennial whose bright yellow, four-petalled flowers open by day, unlike most evening primroses, and follow each other for…
Inula ensifolia 30 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A low, dense, dome-shaped perennial with narrow sword-like leaves, covered for weeks in summer with golden yellow daisies. It suits sunny, dry, even…
Artemisia dracunculus 75 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
A bushy herb with narrow leaves that comes in two very different forms. French tarragon has a strong anise flavour, hardly ever flowers and sets no…
Phlomis russeliana 90 cm × 75 cm after 10 years
Turkish sage makes a dense, weed-suppressing carpet of large, heart-shaped, felted leaves, and in summer its stiff stems carry tiers of soft yellow…
Satureja montana 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A low, woody-based, semi-evergreen herb with glossy, narrow, peppery-scented leaves that you can use fresh or dried in the kitchen. From midsummer its…
Salvia nemorosa 60 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A tough perennial of dry loess grasslands whose garden cultivars carry dense, upright spikes of violet, blue, pink or white in early summer, always…
Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' 60 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
Deep purple flower spikes and almost black stems work well in sunny borders, alongside ornamental grasses or in larger pots, and attract…
Lavandula × chaytorae 50 cm × 60 cm after 10 years
A hybrid of woolly and English lavender with silver-white felted leaves that look good all year and deep violet, scented flower spikes in summer…
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