FIVE DROUGHT TOLERANT HEROES

1 LAVANDULA STOECHAS

A French lavender with 40cm stems carrying stocky purple flower heads topped with short pink bracts, above.

2 CRAMBE CORDIFOLIA

Seen around our coastline, sea kale produces mounds of wavy-edged, blue-green leaves that are topped with sprays of white flowers.

3 EUPHORBIA MYRSINITES

Creeping, cylindrical stems clothed in silvery-blue leaves terminate in clusters of limegreen flowers in spring and early summer.

4 PHLOMIS ITALICA

Balearic Island sage is a spreading, evergreen shrub up to 1m tall that produces whorls of pale pink flowers in early summer.

5 STIPA TENUISSIMA

Forming a compact clump, Mexican feather grass boasts soft foliage and 1ft stems of feathery flowers in summer.