Plants for Dry, Hot, Windy, Salty Locations

Wow. Dry, hot, windy, and salty?  Is there any bigger recipe for garden disaster than that? Yet, many people who live along boulevards or roadways where streets get cleared and snow and road debris gets dumped in their space deal with this every spring. What to do?  Spread rocks and thumb your nose at the mess? Now, I don't have anything against rocks (unless it's called mulch, but that's for another article), but we can do better than that.

I will add one disclaimer here - different cities have different rules for boulevards, so before you start your project, make sure you know exactly what you are allowed to plant in the area.

While no living plant can survive having its crown buried in road debris for the long term, there are a number of grasses, perennials, and shrubs that are somewhat forgiving of the hot, dry, windy, salty conditions often prevalent in those locations. While the ones named below are not the only options, they are plants that I know to be tough as nails and bred to do well in our zone 4, rather inhospitable climate.

Most lawn grasses do not do well in hot, dry, and salty conditions, but there are some beautiful ornamental grasses that are more forgiving.

Panicum virgatum "Heavy Metal" switchgrass (internet photo)

Panicum virgatum, or Switchgrass, is a native perennial species of the tall grass prairies. It is moderately drought tolerant, probably more so once the root system is fully established, and tolerant of salty soil conditions.

It is a warm season grass with lacy, reddish purple seed heads that form in late summer. Bright green summer foliage turns a lovely bright yellow in autumn.  It does spread by rhizome, but has not been pesty in my yard.  

Miscanthus "Purpurascens"  (internet photo)

Panicum is one of my favorite grasses, as the plumes wave softly in the breeze and give a nice, soft, airy look to the garden.

Miscanthus, or Maiden grass also becomes quite drought tolerant once it is fully established and tolerates almost any soil conditions we have to offer. Miscanthus "Purpurascens" is hardy to zone 3 and there are other varieties which, while classed as zone 5, have proven to be somewhat hardier than that, but it can be hit and miss. Purpurascens forms an upright clump of dark green leaves, which turn flame orange and then bronze in the fall. The tall spikes of soft-pink flowers turn into soft, silvery plumes, which stay on the plant for winter interest.  

Big Bluestem (internet photo)

The Bluestem grasses are also tolerant of pretty inhospitable conditions.  Androgpogon geradii, Big Bluestem, is another tall grass prairie native, so it's no surprise that it becomes very drought tolerant once established. Big Bluestem is big - it can easily grow six to eight feet tall, and it spreads by rhizomes to form a solid clump. The tall, bluish green stems change color to a deep reddish bronze with first frost. The distinctive three- toed seed heads are what earns Big Bluestem its common name of "Turkey Foot Grass".

Little Bluestem's scientific name is Schizachyrium scoparium. It is in the same family as Big Bluestem, but not the same species. Little Bluestem is very ornamental, with nice, finely textured foliage that forms dense mounds at about two to three feet tall. It has the same blue-green summer color as Big Bluestem, and in the fall it turns a deep mahogany red with shiny, white seed tufts.

Schizachyrium scoparium summer color (left) and autumn color (right)  (internet photo)

There are also a number of perennials that will tolerate the hot, dry, and salty conditions of boulevards and road ways.

One of my favorites is daylilies (Hemorocallis).  They are tough and beautiful and come in such an amazing variety of colors, sizes, and even shapes, that it is hard not to find one that you love. Daylily varieties come in one of three types of foliage:  dormant, semi-evergreen, or evergreen. For tough conditions in the northern climates, the dormant foliage type is the hardiest. All of them have hearty, grass-like green foliage that make a nice, flowing statement in your garden beds. You can choose a number of varieties with different bloom times, to give you flowers through much of the summer; or you can choose re-blooming varieties such as Stella d'Oro, Purple d'Oro, Rosy Returns, Happy Returns, or many other that will give you blossoms throughout much of the growing season, with just a little bit of deadheading time.

Paeonia "Sarah Bernhardt" 

For a brilliant boost of spring color, Paeonia or peonies are hard to beat. There is a reason that when driving by old, abandoned farmsteads, you will often still see stands of peonies, blooming even after receiving no nurturing for years and years - they are tough!  While we are accustomed to seeing the old fashioned white, light pink, and deep maroon varieties of our grandmother's beds, there are about 33 named varieties that are available, and all are tough and beautiful.


Perovskia (Russian Sage) is a woody perennial that seems to thrive in the poorest of conditions and often languishes and struggles if treated too well. It's gray-green leaves and lavender to deep purple flowers add a nice touch to plantings with denser, spikier leaves, such as daylilies. Russian sage is much loved by bees and butterflies both, and there are a number of varieties available to provide a size for nearly every location.                                                           

Nepeta "Kitten Around" (internet photo)

If you don't care for the look or the smell or Perovskia, Nepeta (Catmint) is a similar looking plant that is also loved by bees and butterflies. Many of the newer hybrids of Nepeta are sterile and do not present the problem of spread by seed. All Nepeta will bloom heavily in early summer and, if trimmed back hard after that initial bloom, will reward you with another flush of purple blossoms late into summer and early fall. The fuzzy, heavily veined leaves of Nepeta and the airy purple flowers are a nice contrast. Nepeta does have a distinctive fragrance, which people seem to either hate or love. Some people also find that the neighborhood cats find it irresistible, however, I have found that the cats around my place give this plant pretty wide berth - they apparently are in the "hate the smell" camp.

Salvia "Sensation Rose" (internet photo)

Salvia (Garden Sage) is another similar looking plant to Nepeta and Perovskia, but tends to have a smaller growth habit, staying at about 18 to 24 inches tall. Blossoms appear in mid to late spring in variations of purple, rose, and white. May Night and Sensation Rose are two popular varieties here. The downside of this plant is its relatively short bloom time and inconsistency of rebloom, even with hard pruning after initial flowering. It also has a tendency to "collapse" mid-season and leave you with a large, gaping hole in the middle, while the stems of your salvia have fallen over to cover everything around it. I will often times walk out to the garden and see the salvia covered with bees and butterflies, so I am willing to keep some of it around to draw them to the yard.

Coreopsis verticillata "Zagreb" (internet photo)

Well, it seems like that's enough purple for now! Let's take a look at some lovely yellows for these tough locations.  One of my favorites is Coreopsis verticillata, commonly known by the names Threadleaf coreopsis or Tickseed. This is another plant that is tolerant of nearly anything our garden spots might decide to dish out. The ferny foliage of Coreopsis verticillata is a nice textural difference for the straplike foliage of daylilies, or the coarser texture of the sages and nepetas.

Solidaog "Little Lemon"  (internet photo)

Solidago, or Goldenrod, is a native plant to the prairie regions. Or, at least some of them are native. And, I can tell you from personal experience that those native solidago are probably not the plants you want to put in your garden. They spread voraciously by rhizome and make every great effort to take over the world! They also do not like to die for any reason, including from exposure to most herbicides available to the home gardener. That said, there are some "tamed" varieties that make lovely additions to the garden, especially if one wants to attract pollinators. Their lovely yellow or gold colored flowers are highly attractive to bees and butterflies in late fall when many of the other pollinator favored plants have finished their blooming for the year. Little Lemon and Fireworks are two varieties that I have found to be pretty well-behaved in my garden.

Asclepias tuberosa (internet photo)

Asclepias tuberosa,(Butterfly weed) is a form of milkweed that is attractive to butterflies, and its leaves serve as a food source for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Its bright orange and yellow flowers make quite a statement in the summer garden. The plants emerge late in spring and sometimes need two to three years' growth before they first come into flower, but they are worth the wait. This is a plant that you will want to plant where you know you want it to stay - it has a very long tap-root, and while the plants are very easy to start from seed, they are very difficult to transplant once the root is established.

Armeria (internet photo)

For a nice touch of pink in the garden, Armeria, or sea thrift, is an option for those difficult areas. This is a very compact, low-growing plant for right at the front of the border. A mound of bright green, grass-like leaves is topped with clusters of tiny pink to white flowers on long, slender stalks in mid-spring. It is critical to get the debris off the top of the thrift plants before growth starts in the spring. If they set in wet, moist areas, the center of the plant tends to die out and become very unsightly.

Achillea (photo from Bluestone Perennials catalog)

Achillea (yarrow) is another tough as nails plant. Its feathery leaves and brightly colored flower clusters are a thing of beauty. Its rhizomatous root structure, on the other hand, might not be. Couple that with the fact that it also reproduces by seed, and you have to do a pros and cons study to decide if it belongs in your garden plot. It is a plant much beloved by pollinator insects, and is a preferred food plant for the Lepidoptera order of butterflies, moths, and skippers. As is usually the case, the newer hybrids are better behaved in the gardens, but in some cases, the jury is still out on whether or not these hybrids are as beneficial to insects as their ancestors. Achillea also comes in a variety of colors from white to the most vivid reds, pinks, yellows, and oranges.

Echinops "Veitch's Blue" (internet photo)

For a great structure plant, Echinops (Globe Thistle) is one of my favorites. It doesn't necessarily have the colorful blooms of a lot of other plants, but it adds interest with its spiny foliage and blue or white spiky, sphere-shaped flower heads. It is a perfect pollinator plant, and its seeds are also much loved by many birds.

Xenox sedum (internet photo)

People often ask me what my favorite plant is. Boy, that's a tough one - sort of like asking me which one of my kids is my favorite. If I am forced to choose, though, the sedum family is going to be in the top five for sure. It is tough, beautiful, and comes in so many different sizes, colors, and  leaf variations. It is very low maintenance, and grows well as long it doesn't get too much water. In those locations that get inundated with road dirt, the taller growing varieties are more practical than the ground cover ones, only because it is easier to clean the dirt away from the crown, instead of trying to untangle and unearth the ground cover stems each spring. Some of my favorites in the upright sedum are Xenox, Matrona, Purple Emperor, and Autumn Joy.

Viburnum "Blue Muffin" in bloom on left; berries on right
(Wilson Bros. photo)

If you have a larger space and want to use some shrubs, there are some of those that fit the bill for the hot, dry, windy, salty locations. 

Viburnums produce masses of white blooms in late spring. Height and overall size is dependent on the variety, and can range from just a few feet tall to eight or more feet. The scent of their flowers is attractive to birds, insects, and people. Arrowwood is the hardiest variety, but virtually all varieties are hardy to zone 4.  Mohican, with its huge white snowball flowers, and Blue Muffin, with its bright blue berries after flowering, are winners in my yard.

Rugosa rose "Roseraie De L'Hay"

Rugosa roses are tough cookies.  Their native habitat is on sand dunes along the coasts, so as long as it's a variety hardy to zone 4 or lower, it will do well in our climate in these tough spots. Rugosa roses usually are quite thorny shrubs with lots of deeply-veined leaves. The flowers are large and may be single or fully double. Rugosa flowers are shades of pink to white, and they are highly fragrant, so this rose will attract bees, butterflies, birds, and other wildlife to your garden.  They also have a long bloom season and will reliably re-bloom if the hips are kept trimmed off. If flowers are left to turn to hips from about mid-August on, deer, pheasants, and other wildlife will enjoy them in the winter.

Potentilla "Pink Beauty"

Finally, let's talk about Potentilla, or gas station shrubs, as some people like to call them. It's not an accident you often see these planted in those little islands between gas pumps or along the perimeter of parking lots. Potentilla are as tough as they come. Potentillas are members of the rose family, and are sometimes called bush cinquefoil. They are small, growing anywhere from one foot to four feet tall and wide. Flowers come in yellow, white, pink, and orange. Dakota Goldrush and Dakota Sunspot are two varieties that were developed at North Dakota State University specifically for the conditions of North Dakota growing. They obviously do well in northern climates, but so do many other varieties, such as Abbotswood, Goldfinger, and Pink Beauty. These shrubs are easy care and bloom almost the entire growing season. 

Given this wide selection of grasses, perennials, and shrubs, there isn't really any reason to fight the battle to keep lawn grass alive in those tough areas, or to resign yourself to just looking out at a patch of rocks. With the right type, color, and texture choices, you can have a beautiful, hardy garden, even in those hot, dry, windy, and salty locations.