In recent years we've seen so much crap written about "drought tolerant" plants its not funny! ( Every bloody nursery you go into has plants for sale with "drought tolerant" or "water wise" on the label. For the most part, the claims are pure BS! Paul told me that he even went into a joint that had petunias labelled as "drought tolerant" !

Of course the truth is that all plants need some water to survive & more water will make them flourish

My question is; what plants would you consider to be "drought hardy"? As in plants that may not be as good as you may like during the drought, but will survive & prosper in times of more rain.

As a starter, I'd like to nominate the following;

Dianellas
Liriopes
Canna Lillies
Elephant's Ears
Tree Dahlias
Sugar Cane (YES, SUGAR CANE!)
Dwarf Date Palms
Philodendron
Spider Fern
Roses
Golden Diosmas (the green ones die without water lol!)
Cocos Palms
Common Rushes
Agapanthus (I like the dwarf ones)
Callistimons
Lillipillies


Anyone else like to continue on?........................... (please don't nominate Grevillias, or Correas, or any conifers; they were amongst the first to die in our current circumstances here. Even Australian Myrtles are dying at the moment)

What I reckon one should try to establish as far as buying plants from nurseries mores so than the BS labels Kevin is complaining about is the conditions in which they were raised. Many of the plants I have bought lately have been raised "under local conditions" and I have found these generally have been hardier, and easier to establish.

Heres a few of my favourites Kevin:
Yucca elephantipes
Agave attenuata
Eremophila biserata
Eremophila glabra (erect form)
Eremophila maculata
Eremophila glabra 'Kalbarri Carpet' (One of my favourite ground covers)
Eremophila bignonifolia
(In fact most Eremophilas you'll find will do well, there are 240 to choose from)
Robinia psuedoacacia (Mop Tops) all look pretty good at the moment where I have seen them
Alyogne hakeafolia (Native Hibiscus)
Dodonea viscosa (try to get the SA forms I have read that it also exists in NZ)
Templetonia retusa (I love these for a tall shrub bright red pea-like flowers)
Lagerstroemia indica (Crepe Myrtles)
Berberis thunbergii atropurpurea (Japanese Barberry - I cut one of these down back in November to the ground drove past there the other day and it grown back already with no irrigation)
Leucophyta brownii 'Silver Nugget' great compact form of this coastal plant and tough as)
Eucalyptus kruseana (I planted 6 of these back in October and they still looked great last time I went past with minimal irrigation)
Orthorosanthus multiflorus (awesome alternative to Dietes or Lomandra Kevin if you want to try one of these I have just divided one and potting it up tomorrow

Well theres a few of my suggestions.