I often refer to right plant right place when talking about garden design. The reason is that when you put a plant where it has all its needs met (air, food, soil) that plant will thrive.

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This means that the gardener needs to be familiar with the site conditions where the garden will be, or is, when making plant decisions.

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The following seven ornamental plants are all drought tolerant an ideal for gardens where water is scarce or where the gardener seeks to reduce water use.

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These plants can be grown in containers or as part of a rock garden and they will also attract pollinators so can be handy near a vegetable patch.

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1-      ‘Magic Carpet’ Thyme- Thymus serpyllum ‘Magic Carpet”. This thyme will reach a height between 5 and 10 centimeters and is covered with tiny lemon-scented blooms through the summer. Works well between paving stones in a garden pathway, for example.

2-      Red Penstemon, Penstemon barbatus’Coccineus’ the crimson, tubular blossoms are bright beacons calling hummingbirds as they bloom from late spring to early summer; Height between 45-60 cms.

3-      Red Hens and Chicks, Sempervivum, this plant’s small rosettes of succulent leaves forms colorful evergreen mounds and will continue to multiply; makes a perfect ground cover or works well in a container.

4-      Kiss Gazania Blend, Gazania splendeds, The Kiss Gazanias have been specially bred for vigorous bloom while maintaining a uniform height of 25 cms. The masses of daisylike flowers are open all summer through. Works well in containers and in sunny borders.

5-      Lewisia ‘Little Plum’ Lewisia longipetala hybrid ‘Little Plum’: the pale pink star-shaped blooms will appear from late spring to mid-summers and grow from 10-15 cm tall. Great in rock gardens and borders.

6-      Sedum ‘Summer Glory’ Sedum spurium ‘Summer Glory’. This is a great ground cover as the low growing 10-15 cm plants with their succulent dark green leaves will develop a reddish tint in fall love difficult sites.

7-      Starburst Ice Plant, Delosperma ‘Starbust’ This is a hardy ground cover that grows between 5 and 10 cms tall has succulent grey-green foliage and daisylike blooms. The orchid pink blooms appear from early summer to frost.

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These seven plants will give you beauty throughout the growing season and are ideal for gardeners who have to or want to keep their watering to a minimum. So if you live were water is often scarce or where the summers can get hot or simply want a rock garden then these plants will get you started.