Plants not needing irrigation

[xeric]

In my south-facing, sunny, front yard, the plants that do the best with no supplemental irrigation are: Apache plume, littleleaf mountain mahogany, ephedra equisetina, Texas red yucca, hens and chicks (sempirvivum), pinemat manzanita (arctostaphylos nevadensis), poppy mallow, various sedums, Mexican evening primrose, and Utah or New Mexico agave (can’t remember which). There are some others that seem to do fine with no extra irrigation but they are on the edges of the yard so their roots may be getting some water from the neighbors.

[LHS79]

The whole point of Xeriscaping is to not use any additional water than what nature provides in the area you live in once the plants are established.

I did my whole yard and if you do it correctly there is always a bloom of color every month from the different plants.

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by Landy

Russian thistle is an invasive weed, which turns into the ubiquitous tumbleweed when it dies. I think ABQ convict meant Russian Sage.

Yes! Russian Sage.I knew I put the Latin name down for a reason.

At any rate you can't accidently buy Russian Thistle at a nursery.

[Phil P]

I've had luck with irises growing out in the open with no irrigated water in black forest. Lilacs will work too, if you can get a little drainage ditch. There's an asparagus that came from somewhere and started growing out in the wild too. You could try to grow some of those in the wild for a challenge.

[EastwardBound]

I have replaced my entire yard with xeriscape and water it once a week when there is no rain. Others above have given good suggestions for plants.

One good site to check out is https://www.highcountrygardens.com/p...RoCnIMQAvD_BwE

Some of their stuff runs on the expensive side, but it's a good place to get some suggestions. One can also divide almost all these plants in the early spring.

My primary plants are:

-Russian sage
-Sedum
-Black eyed-susan
-California and oriental poppies
-Salvia
-Basket of gold Alyssum
-Snow in summer
-Sage
-Rabbit brush
-Yarrow
-Agastache
-Allium
-Thistle
-Lavender
-Penstemon
-Prairie cone flowr
-Echinacea
-Lambs ear
-Iris

[TCHP]

My Grandparents had one large corner of their lot that they called the rock garden. It had about a dozen large rocks gather from throughout the region, a few yucca plants, a few russian sage plants, and a whole lot of sedum everywhere else. They did have a few larger trees nearby that kept the area from being completely scorched daily, but it got semi-direct sun everywhere at some point of the day. They never watered the area and its only irrigation was what fell from the sky. It was basically maintenance free except for each year when they needed to dig up a few new yuccas that had sprouted. They didn't want them taking over. Didn't look half bad either. Not sure if I'd want a whole yard that way, but, if you redoing your place, you can certainly set up zones that are like this with others that may need an occasional water and a small area of grass or rocks, or whatever. Variety is what keeps it from looking bleh.