I’m not an expert gardener, but I have been toiling away at it for 20 years and so I think I’ve picked up my knowledge from experience. That includes from trial and error—the way most gardeners probably learn what they know.
My love for gardening came much later in my life. You could say I was a late bloomer 😄.
My mom introduced me to gardening (read as “weeding”) when I was in my teens living in south Texas. Nothing will make you hate gardening/weeding more than having to pull weeds in 98° temperatures with 98% humidity. Mom would garden in her bra and underwear, but only in the backyard where most people couldn’t see her.
Many years later, I moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where summer temperatures were 90° with 98% humidity. Combined with mosquitos the size of monster trucks, gardening in Minnesota was a loathsome experience.
In 2005, I moved to Idaho. Summers where I live are hot—temperatures can get to 104°, but there’s essentially no humidity unless it rains. The growing season is fairly long with lots and lots of sunshine. My second house here had a very large garden and somehow I managed to get over my dislike for gardening. Even though I had a brief spat with pocket gophers (in gardening years, that’s about a decade), I came to enjoy watching my plants grow and thrive.
Of course I made mistakes and bought plants that weren’t right for my soil and sun conditions, but I learned. My home was even featured in the local Botanical Garden’s Garden Tour one year!
Part of my front garden
My brother introduced me to the practice of planting drought tolerant perennials, which makes a ton of sense if you live in a dry climate where conserving water is critically important. It’s so rewarding to see your plants popping up after a season of sleeping in the cold of winter!
A garden full of perennials is a gift that keeps on giving back to me and back to Mother Nature’s creatures. I strongly recommend that you plant bee, butterfly and bird friendly perennials. These pollinators are vital to our ecosystem.
Why Pollinators Are Important
Without the actions of pollinators, agriculture along with our food supply, would collapse.
Birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, and other small mammals that pollinate plants are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food.
Benefits of Pollinators
🌼Enable the production of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds that form the basis of human diets
🌼Aid in the reproduction of many plant species, which contributes to an ecosystem rich in biodiversity
🌼Contribute to agricultural production and support the people whose livelihoods are related to food production
🌼Enable the production of a wide range of crops
🌼Contribute to healthy soils by supporting the plants that anchor the soil
My Best Three Pollinator Loving, Sun Loving Perennials
Penstemon
Penstemons attract bees, hummingbirds and butterflies. There are about 280 species of penstemon native to North America!
Penstemons adapt well to different environments and will bring color to your garden from May through July. I grow these varieties: Rocky Mountain, Dwarf Shrubby, Pineleaf, Sunset Glow, Rock Candy Blue and Electric Blue.
Agastache (Giant Hyssop; Hummingbird Mint)
This plant is in the mint family and most of them are native to North America and Mexico (and some from Asia). Agastache are long-blooming perennials with the most amazing fragrance! You can find them in many colors. I plant these ones: Blue Boa, New Mexico Hummingbird Mint and Sunrise Orange.
Echinacea (Coneflower)
My massive bees love this flower! The coneflower is native to the prairies and open woodlands of North America. You'll find it in shades of pink, purple, orange, green, white, peach and coral.
Coneflower blooms later in the summer here—around early July. It's a very hardy plant that isn't really bugged by bugs, or the heat, or dry soil. I love coneflowers so much that I created a tea towel featuring it!
Of course, this brief list isn't intended to shade (pun intended) the other gorgeous perennials that I grow in my garden. The wonderful advantage of having a garden is the variety of subject matter that grows right outside the door. And, as someone who strives to treat nature with respect and kindness, providing food for pollinators makes me feel like I'm doing my part to live a more sustainable life.
Where to Buy or Obtain Drought Tolerant Perennials
I've found a few online nursery sites that are reliable and offer quality plant products. I'll list a few here, but I also want to encourage you to make friends with gardeners because these folks are usually very willing to share seeds or starts. And you'll probably get free advice, too.
High Country Gardens They have a nice search engine with lots of different filters to choose from
Fast Growing Trees They don't just sell trees. High quality products, packaged well.
Bluestone Perennials A family owned nursery that has been in business since 1972. They offer more than 1,000 perennials, shrubs, trees, and grasses.
Be sure to try your local nurseries (and I don't mean the big box home remodeling/hardware/nursery stores. The quality is not there and the diversity is limited).
I enjoy discovering and trying out new nurseries in town. Sometimes I'll find some very nice treasures there. It's a nice way to spend a beautiful spring morning, too.
Happy Planting!