Plants native to the Carpathian Basin that are rated high for drought tolerance: once established, they get through a dry summer without regular watering.
33 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
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…
Prunus spinosa 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A native, very thorny shrub that is covered in white blossom in early spring before the leaves, and one of the best wildlife hedges: impenetrable,…
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…
Koeleria glauca 40 cm × 30 cm after 10 years
A small, hedgehog-like tussock of steel-blue blades that is native to the dry, lime-rich sand grasslands of the region, so it is happiest in full…
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…
Cytisus scoparius 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An upright shrub of whippy, almost leafless green stems that disappear under pea flowers in May: the species is yellow, while the hybrids sold by…
Juniperus communis 2.5 m × 80 cm after 10 years
A native, slow-growing evergreen with prickly needles and blue-black berry-like cones, planted in gardens mostly as its slender columnar cultivars for…
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…
Cornus mas 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A slow-growing, long-lived large shrub or small tree that covers itself in tiny yellow flowers at the end of winter, before the leaves, and is one…
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…
Euphorbia cyparissias 30 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A perennial whose fine blue-green, needle-like foliage makes it look like tiny conifer seedlings, covering a dry sunny bank or gravel patch in…
Acer campestre 4.5 m × 3 m after 10 years
A native, undemanding small to medium tree that copes with drought, lime and clay, city air and hard clipping, and turns a good yellow in autumn. Left…
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…
Fraxinus ornus 5 m × 3.5 m after 10 years
Manna ash is a medium-sized tree with a rounded crown that covers itself in creamy white, scented flower plumes around May and turns yellow to…
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…
Antennaria dioica 20 cm × 45 cm after 10 years
It weaves a ground-hugging mat of silver-grey, woolly leaf rosettes, topped in late spring by small white and pink flower heads that look like a cat's…
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,…
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…
Hippophae rhamnoides 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A large thorny shrub with silvery, willow-like leaves whose orange, very sour, vitamin C rich berries ripen in autumn and stay decorative into winter.…
Quercus petraea 5 m × 3 m after 10 years
A native tree and the main oak of hill and mountain forests: slow to get going but living for several hundred years, a giant that reaches 20 to 40 m…
Tilia tomentosa 7 m × 4 m after 10 years
Silver lime is a large shade tree with a regular crown; its leaves are dark green above and felted silvery white beneath, so the canopy shimmers in…
Cotinus coggygria 3 m × 3 m after 10 years
A large, spreading deciduous shrub known for the smoke-like, pinkish, fluffy plumes it carries in summer and for its yellow, orange and purple-red…
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…
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…
Acer tataricum 3.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A tough native small tree or large multi-stemmed shrub with a rounded crown and unlobed, toothed leaves that fits into small gardens too.…
Quercus cerris 6 m × 3.5 m after 10 years
A large oak with a broad crown, dark green leathery lobed leaves and distinctive acorns in shaggy, mossy cups. It is one of the most heat and…
Sorbus aria 5 m × 3 m after 10 years
A native small tree with a dense, rounded crown whose oval leaves are dark green above and white-felted beneath, so the whole crown flashes silver…
Sedum album 10 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
An evergreen succulent whose tiny cylindrical leaves knit into a low, dense mat that disappears under a haze of white flowers in early summer. It is a…
Ligustrum vulgare 3 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
Wild privet is a native, undemanding and very drought-tolerant shrub and the classic material for a clipped hedge: it grows fast, takes any amount…
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…
Euphorbia amygdaloides 60 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
An evergreen woodland perennial with dark green or purple-flushed rosettes and long-lasting lime-green flower heads in spring. It is one of the best…
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