Put your faith in these resilient plants that will survive even the harshest of weather!
If you live in a spot where the weather is unpredictable, it would help if you had resilient plants in your garden!
With how bizarre the weather patterns have gotten in the last couple of years, it is better to know what you can plant and grow that will not fall prey to the capricious nature of the weather!
No matter where you are located in the United States, you could be faced with some sort of weird weather or even a weather crisis; be it that we are talking about cold, heat, flooding, drought, fire, or winds, all of them can be a hard challenge for your garden.
The best way to make sure that you are not going to lose all your plants in the event of a weather crisis is to incorporate some resilient plants into your landscape.
Be it that they are going to be useful in your day-to-day life or they are going to be purely decorative, we have gathered some of the best plants for all types of weather issues you could have so that you can have your very own resilient plants!
From veggies and herbs to flowers and trees, make sure you keep on reading to discover them!
Did you plant any of these? Which one of them surprised you? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Surviving the cold
When it comes to the cold, the zone that gets most affected is zone 10 of the United States. And to be able to enjoy your plants from one year to another, you may have to rely on perennials when it comes to resilient plants.
However, other types of plants that are going to fare quite well in the cold are a number of veggies.
There are numerous types of crops that you can plant that are going to tolerate the cold and that you can plant in the fall in order to be able to harvest them the next spring.
Some of them are those vegetables that need to be planted and are already in the ground anywhere between August and October.
The hardy vegetables you need to add to your rooster include the likes of broccoli, cabbage, corn salad, garlic, kale, leeks, onions, rhubarb, spinach, Brussels sprouts, arugula, collards, fava beans, mustard greens, and turnips.
They can easily live even in temperatures that reach below 28°F, and you will not have to worry about your plants.
If your area is not that cold, but you still expect to get temperatures around 28 to 32°F, but not lower, you should also look into semi-hardy plants. Some of our favorites include carrots, chard, celery, lettuce, radicchio, beets, cauliflower, chard, enduve, Chinese cabbage, and garden peas!
Do not panic if your winter veggies get covered in snow; it is actually good for them as they slumber. If you want to protect them a little bit more, you can always cover them with high or low-plastic tunnels, row covers, or even cloches!
Surviving heat
You do not have to give up on vegetables if you live in the part of the country that is mostly hit by heatwaves!
There are plenty of heat-tolerant varieties of plants and veggies that are not going to wilt under the scorching sun, and the easiest way to start is to look for veggie seeds that are labeled as heat-tolerant!
The ones we set out to try out and have been a success have been sweet potatoes, Southern peas, okras, and yardlong beans.
If you are a tomato lover, you should not get discouraged if your region generally goes over 90°F since there are some hybrid species that can thrive in hot climates and produce fruit too!
The tomato varieties you should be looking for include Florida 91, Sun Sugar, Summer Set, Sun Leaper, Solar Set, Heatmaster, or Solar Fire.
If you work with open pollination, then Arkansas Travelers and Romas may just be the best for you.
And if you want to beat the crowd but still want to grow your own tomatoes, you should try the early maturing cultivars like the 4th of July and Early Girl tomatoes.
Drought resisting plants
When it comes to dealing with drought, then you are going to want to set out to have as many perennial plants that are drought-tolerant as you can.
These types of plants conserve water, and it is actually recommended that you plant them as far away from any irrigation system or source, and they are the best for an arid climate!
If we are talking trees, you are going to love to plant some river birch, American smoke tree, Goldenraintree, Ginkgo, Kousa dogwood, lacebark elm, catalpa, and a variety of different types of oaks!
If you’re more into shrubs, then the likes of panicle hydrangea, ninebark, cotoneaster, Aronia, spirea, and pearlbush are going to be amazing once they are established in your garden.
To get them to become established, you will have to water them regularly in their first year to ensure proper rootage!
Other perennials you can add to your drought-safe landscape include hollyhock, echinacea, gaura, iris, sedum, daylily, Agastache, coreopsis, candytuft, and gaillardia.
Likewise, if you’re looking for annuals, dianthus, pentas, rose moss, lantana, and cosmos are considered to be fight-tolerant, but you will also have to give them about a half-inch of additional water each week to ensure their survival.
Standing tall against powerful winds
High winds, while many tend to ignore them, can be a true pest to work against when it comes to maintaining a nice garden.
This is why you should aim to get some amazing wind-resistant plants that have well-spaced limbs, along with a strong branch structure!
Pine trees, along with other conifers, do amazing against high winds, along with juniper, Chamaecyparis, and cypress. Dogwood and oak trees are other varieties that are going to do well even against extra-strong winds!
The best practice for resilient plants against winds is to go for shrubs and trees that can create a barrier around your property, so you can also protect the other plants in your garden.
Other plants you can count on include pittosporum, cotoneaster, and California lilac!
Living even through floods
There are quite a number of plants that can tolerate wet conditions, and most of them can end up surviving a flood, given that the soil does not end up being waterlogged for more than one week.
If the water persists for more than a week, then the roots will begin to die, and you’re going to lose your garden pretty soon after! If you live in an area that is prone to flooding, then you should look towards shrubs, trees, and perennials that are flood-tolerant in order not to lose them.
Some of the best trees include the Canary Island date palm, river birch, crape myrtle, Dahoon holly, bur and pin oak, bald cypress, black cottonwood, boxelder, and common hackberry.
For shrubs that tolerate wet soils, Virginia sweetspire, Douglas spirea, American elderberry, bottlebrush, common pussy willow, and red twig dogwood are the best choices.
If you’re looking for tough perennials, then muhly grass, bougainvillea, perennial milkweed, and gardenia.
Outliving fires
If you think your area is going to be encountering fires in the months to come, then you should make sure you have some foundation plants included in your landscape.
These fire-resistant plants end up having supple, moist leaves and a non-aromatic sap, which will make them less prone to burning fast.
Shrubs that are considered fire-resistant include camelia, lilac, azalea, forsythia, rose of Sharon, viburnum, butterfly bush, and spirea.
In terms of trees, deciduous ones are the best, including redbud, oak, dogwood, and maple, and you should make sure you do not plant any conifers close to structures; they are considered highly flammable and can easily fall when fires are involved.
Perennials that are great to use include iris, echinacea, columbine, bulbs, daylilu, hosta, and coreopsis.
As a rule of thumb, you should avoid plants that have aromatic, resinous sap, and papery bark, contain oils, and leave dead, dry material since they are all flammable and can put your garden and home in more danger. Yes, that includes dry, ornamental grasses!
If you are worried that your plants are not going to survive this coming winter, then you know there are ways to protect them and keep them healthy, no matter how cold it is outside. Make sure you check out this article: 14 Winter Gardening Hacks to Keep Your Plants Healthy.
