In Mediterranean climates where summer rain is uncommon, it can be time-consuming and expensive to keep flowering plants. Many require supplemental water many times per week or even each day under these circumstances. To get easy-care floral interest on your garden, then select drought-tolerant plants that will not need additional water after the initial summer. Planting flowers that grow in any type of soil eliminates the need for soil amendments, which makes them much easier to take care of.
Flowering Vines
Lavender or purple trumpet vines (Clytostoma callistegioides) along with Mexican flame vines (Pseudogynoxys chenopodioides) bloom from spring through fall with minimal maintenance. Lavender trumpet vines grow in any soil with good drainage and some other sunlight exposure. They climb to a height of 15 to 25 feet with 3-inch long, purple, trumpet-shaped flowers. Mexican flame vines grow to a height of 10 feet and then create 1-inch diameter, orange, daisy-type flowers. They’ll grow in any type of soil in full sun or bright colour. For your first summer, both kinds of vines must be watered once or twice per week. They’re drought-tolerant and hardy at U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 to 11.
Summer-Flowering Perennials
Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) and large-flowered tickseed (Coreopsis grandiflora) are easy-care flowers that bloom from spring through autumn. Butterfly milkweed grows to between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 feet tall and blooms in orange. It’s hardy in USDA zones 4 to 10 and will grow in almost any type of soil that drains quickly in full sun or partial shade. Large-flowered tickseed grows to a height of 1 to 1 1/2 feet tall and produces yellow sole- or double-form blooms. They are hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9 and grow in any soil that drains quickly in full sun. Both plants have been drought-tolerant when they get established.
Fall-Flowering Perennials
Autumn sage (Salvia greggii) is just a low-maintenance, fall-flowering perennial that’s hardy in USDA zones 7 to 9. It grows to 3 to 4 feet tall and produce flowers in many different colors such as coral, peach, pink, purple, yellow and white. Most soil types with good drainage are fine for this plant, and it will grow and bloom in full sun or shade. The showy stonecrop cultivar “Autumn Joy” or “Herbstfreude” (Hylotelephium or Sedum spectabile or telephium “Autumn Joy” or “Herbstfreude”) is a succulent that’s not hard to treat and blossoms in late summer and autumn. It rises to a height of 1 to 2 feet, has pale gray-green foliage and produces miniature flowers in 3- to 6-inch diameter clusters. It’s hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9 and thrives in many soil types. Full sun is best however glowing, partial shade is fine. Autumn sage and showy stonecrop are drought-tolerant.
Spring-Flowering Perennials
Pink or white evening primrose (Oenothera speciosa) and Gray’s tears (Billbergia nutans) are easy-care plants that bloom in the spring. Both of them are drought-tolerant and will thrive in almost any type of soil so long as it drains well. Pink evening primrose, also known as pink ladies, grows to a height of 8 inches to 2 feet with medium-green foliage. In spring and early summer, it produces 2- to 3-inch diameter, bowl-shaped flowers that are white at first and switch to pink as they age. The plant is hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9 and will grow in full sun or with afternoon shade. Nutrient-rich, uniformly moist soil could result in aggressive, invasive spreading. Queen’s tears, also called friendship plant, is a epiphytic bromeliad. It rises to a height of two feet with gray-green, strap-type foliage. At the spring, it produces a 6-inch tall stalk with a group of 2-inch long flowers that are pink, green and blue surrounded by pink bracts. It thrives in partial or full colour in USDA zones 8 to 11 and can be grown with no dirt in any way, when preferred.