Leaf adaptations such as fleshiness, furriness and waxiness allow plants to withstand heat and drought well. The dark leathery leaves of the Mahonia and Fatsia, and the silvery hairy foliage of the Phlomis and Pseudodictamnus, reduce the water lost from the foliage.
The Phlomis and Hylotelephium form ground cover, which suppresses weed growth and helps to cover the soil. Keeping ground covered reduces soil erosion and the loss of water from the soil surface by evaporation.
Using an organic mulch, preferably homemade compost, while the plants establish can help to provide the same benefits.
Several of these plants will also attract vital pollinators to your garden, helping to improve biodiversity.
1 – Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’ is an upright evergreen shrub with long, spiny compound leaves with leaflets in opposite pairs. Spikes of small, fragrant, bright yellow flowers in winter are followed by blue-black berries.
2 – Salix lanata is a small, bushy, slow-growing Deciduous refers to plants (mainly trees and shrubs) that lose their leaves seasonally, usually during autumn. This is a natural process triggered by the season's shorter days and lower temperatures and allows plants to conserve energy during the winter months.
3 – Fatsia japonica is an open, spreading evergreen shrub, with large lobed leaves and rounded clusters of pollinator-friendly small white flowers in autumn, followed by small black berries. The leaves have a shiny, waxy surface and contrast well with other foliage types.
4 – Phlomis russeliana is a hairy Perennials are plants that live for multiple years. They come in all shapes and sizes and fill our gardens with colourful flowers and ornamental foliage. Many are hardy and can survive outdoors all year round, while less hardy types need protection over winter. The term herbaceous perennial is used to describe long-lived plants without a permanent woody structure (they die back to ground level each autumn), distinguishing them from trees, shrubs and sub-shrubs.
5 – Hylotelephium spectabile ‘Stardust’ is a clump-forming perennial with fleshy grey-green leaves. White flat-topped flowerheads are produced from mid-summer to autumn, with the seedheads persisting to provide winter interest and habitat.
6 – Pseudodictamnus mediterraneus is a low-growing dwarf evergreen sub-shrub with hairy, rounded leaves and hairy stems, with small pink flowers borne in whorls near the stem tips.
7 – Hylotelephium ‘Ruby Glow’ is a herbaceous perennial forming a low clump of spreading deep red stems to 25cm in height, with purplish-green fleshy leaves and flat heads 6cm across of starry, deep crimson flowers.
8 – Hylotelephium telephium ‘Xenox’ is a mounding, clump-forming perennial with fleshy, purple-green leaves that deepen in colour with age to burgundy-purple. Heads of pink flowers open from dark red A bud is a small, undeveloped shoot that contains the potential for new growth. Buds are typically found on stems, where they can be apical (found at the tip) or axillary (found between leaf axils) and may develop into leaves, shoots or flowers.