| A Good Time for Plants That Don't Need a Lot of Water |
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By Douglass Oster
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Because of low amounts of rainfall last summer and fall and not much snow this winter, stream and groundwater levels are at an all time low across huge areas of the eastern portion of the U.S. following a months-long drought that has ranged from Maine to Georgia. For gardeners who are just now preparing to order seeds for the spring, it's a good idea to think about plants that endure and in some cases thrive in dry conditions. Denise Schreiber, horticulture/design manager for Allegheny County Parks in Pennsylvania, orders many seeds each season. The first plant she mentioned for dry conditions was the Dahlberg Daisy. "It's drought resistant (and it) has pretty yellow flowers and a nice citrus scent and ferny foliage, one of my favorite plants," she says. "It's a short plant that's good for the front of a border, growing only to about 12 inches." Other plants she recommends include ornamental grasses, achillea, purple coneflower, Russian sage, Wave petunias, portulaca (moss rose), and salvia. The salvias are members of the mint family and include a diverse variety of plants, most will tolerate drought. One of the most popular is 'May Night', a perennial. Perennial plants come back year after year and usually bloom for a shorter time than annuals. The leaves of 'May Night' are slightly blue-gray in color. Flowers are indigo with purple bracts. When mature, this plant will be 1 to 2-1/2 feet tall and spread a foot or two across. The main flowering time is in May and June, but it sometimes can be extended into July by deadheading. Schreiber oversees the greenhouses in the county parks. "You have to prepare; in this business we don't work from day to day, we look at trends and plan ahead. We've been hearing that El Nino is back and that means hot and dry." In other words, she, like many others, is planning for drought and hoping for rain. Across the East coast more than 100 counties are under drought warnings, watches or advisories. Schreiber advises gardeners to water early in the morning, saying it gets the plants off to a good start. Evening watering, on the other hand, can cause disease problems. And always water deeply, giving plants a good soaking. Mulching also works wonders. As the spring rains subside it's a good idea to cover planting areas with a thick layer of organic matter such as bark mulch or mushroom manure. Schreiber says two to three inches is good and warns not to use fresh mulch just chipped from trees, saying it robs plants of nitrogen as it decomposes. The advantage of mushroom manure is it conserves moisture and releases nutrients to the plants with each rain. In her vegetable garden she uses newspaper as a mulch. After laying out thick sections, she wets it down and then covers it with straw for a good look. This keeps the weeds down and keeps the soil moist. Don't use glossy color pages, however; the color inks can contain things your plants won't like. Hopefully, the coming weeks will bring lots of precipitation. But it's a good idea to prepare for ways to garden in less than ideal conditions and, of course, pray for rain. (Douglass Oster is picture editor and garden columnist at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.) (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)
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