Dry to drought conditions shouldn’t keep you from having gardens bursting with color and bustling with pollinators.  In fact, southern gardens have long dealt with wet springs and dry summers.  Many native plants in areas where such conditions are prevalent have adapted to thrive regardless. If you hope to grow your own colorful garden in sunny, dry areas, choose drought-tolerant plants and place them to make the most of water accessibility and proper drainage.

Drought-tolerant gardens may present a rainbow of color when the proper plants are chosen, and this stands to give everyone who passes yours a burst of hope.  Many of the plants most tolerant of dry conditions are actually favorites for butterfly, bee, and bird habitat gardens as well.  Among the bright faces you might invite to join you in the garden are:

• 
  yarrow
• 
  butterfly weed
• 
  coreopsis
• 
  coneflower
• 
  bearded iris
• 
  hellebore
• 
  african daisy
• 
  black-eyed Susan
• 
  stonecrop (sedum)
• 
  lamb’s ears
• 
  butterfly bush
• 
  balloon flower

When this vibrant dozen comes together, your garden is sure to attract a host of pollinators and other wildlife, not to mention the applause of neighbors.  Where once perhaps nothing but sod grass would grow, now a garden springs forth to beautify, energize, and improve the landscape. 

The benefits of growing drought-tolerant gardens far surpass the eye-catching obvious as they become restful points for bees and butterflies who need nectar and pollen, birds who need seeds, nectar, and insects, and many other little creatures who need both need shade, food, and the moisture some plants will either harness or provide.

To ensure the health of this drought-tolerant garden, take care to plant where:

• 
  drainage is consistent
• 
  soil that has been prepared with compost
• 
  heavy fertilizers have not been used
• 
  full to part sun is available

Drought-resistant plants have adapted to handle dry conditions so overwatering them or placing them in areas where water sits will be counterproductive to their best growth.  Composting will help to amend certain deficiencies in dry soils, but heavy fertilizers tend to burn the delicate roots of drought-tolerant plants. Most plants need some sunshine, and most of these drought-tolerant plants thrive in bright rays.  A few will do better if they are planted in the shade of the others or in peripheral areas where hedges and trees cast long shadows.  Hellebore, or Lenten Rose, for instance thrives in part to full shade and other low-growing flowers, such as some coreopsis, appreciate cool shadows, too.

However you choose to group these beauties, your once thirsty-looking lawn will become an oasis where you have established their place in your yard. Dry, bald spots and other hard-to-grow spots become pleasant focal points instead of eye sores when color, texture, and life abounds.  In fact, thriving colorful gardens create points of respite to help those who tend them feel comforted in the heat of long summer days.  With a veritable rainbow at your fingertips, you’ll see each of these blooming citizens as a new ray of hope for deliverance from the heat.