10 drought-tolerant plants that survived a heatwave with no water

I’ve landed back in blighty with a bump and a very crispy looking garden.

A garden I’ve been growing in 20 minutes a day for the last 14 years, so forgive me if i shed a tear for the plants that have not fared well with no water and temps of over 30°C/ 86°F for the last two weeks.

We had friends that came into feed and water our hamster Bobby while we were away but asking them to water the garden too felt like too big of an ask. They are after all busy mums too and the scientist in me wanted to see what would happen if I left the garden to its own devices. So I crossed my fingers for rain and tried not to panic while I saw the temps climbing back in the UK from my french sun lounger.

We spent the most blissful time at Rêve retreat being throughly spoilt with Jammer’s delicious food and cared for so well by Gem and the team. The kids trotted off to forest school each morning, spent the afternoons jumping in the pool and the evening frolicking in the meadow with their new found friends (absolutely as idyllic as it sounds). While Dave and I read books, did a little bit of work, sunbathed, spent time together and chatted to the other likeminded parents with a glass of something cold in hand.

On our return I was pleasantly surprised to see not all of my plants had withered in the heat, although don’t let this article kid you, there were plenty that did.

So I thought i’d share the ones that bloomed in the heat, because let’s be honest these hot temps aren’t going anywhere and unless you want to waste a tonne of money on plants then you need to pick things that can stand the heat.

There’s definitely more brown leaves than before we left and the floor beneath the pergola is littered with shed crispy leaves, but this vine keeps on growing. The grapes are plumping up and the canopy is still thick enough to provide some gorgeous shade if the sun returns!

The clue is kinda in the name, this native of Mexico and central America is used to a bit of heat. So it’s no great surprise that it’s flourishing here on the steps to my greenhouse.

It has been growing here for at least 4 years but I was pleasantly surprised to see that even the cuttings I took earlier in the season seem to have survived!

This is the plant version of the cockroach. I planted 3 plants years ago that still come back each year and now it’s also spread into the gravel at the edge of our driveway.

I never water this plant and yet it looks glorious from July until October. A must add to your drought tolerant garden.

You can’t go wrong with grasses. I grow these for 3 reasons:

1. They’re a sensory dream- moving so beautifully in the wind, creating a lovely wooshing sound and stroking the seed heads is super soft and relaxing.

2. They self seed and grow of their own accord without any assistance from me. Time saving hack for ya!

3. They are a fab ingredient for clients to use in their Christmas wreaths at my annual workshops.

I gave these a good cut back before I went on holiday as the first flush of flowers had gone dry and crispy. And. despite the lack of water, I’ve been rewarded with this second flush of flowers. A bonus is that these beauties come back year after year with minimal effort from me.