What has survived in your garden with minimal or no watering?

Weeds, Thistles and Rats …Rats because of some thicko neighbour leaves scrap food and rabbit food lying about
5ft high Thistles whole field covered, because farmer can’t be bothered to maintain… all seed blowing over and hundreds starting to grow without a drop of water..
Joy of the country, I think not, sooner I can get back to a town sit in my garden & normal life the better ….

Thriving: privet, thrift, hollyhocks, roses, verbena bonariensis, border daisies

Struggling: heuchera, sedums, clematis, hydrangea, michaelmas daisies

Ok: ferns, griselinia hedge, conifers, bush tomatoes, apple and pear trees

Dead: new hydrangeas, new lavender [despite watering

Locally the bindweed, brambles and nettles are going mad.
South West, clay soil.

Dandelions !!

In my part of Surrey this is the 46th day with no rain.
My grass is yellow/brown and 'crunchy' underfoot.

The first flush of roses was glorious but since then buds have been scorched, turned brown and therefore not flowered.
Everything in the garden is struggling and I have a hosepipe ban so can't help.

According to the BBC weather forecast no rain is expected in the next two weeks.
My garden normally gives me a great deal of pleasure but this year I just don't even like to look at it!

All mine a doing well but I water every day ( or family or neighbours do) ...no hosepipe bans here in NW and unlikely ....if there were I would ask for an exemption

Azalea99 I agree. Come autumn I shall re read this thread and have a plan for the future. I would love to have a gravel garden, but with 2 large horsechestnuts it would be impossible to sweep up the tons of conkers and leaves.

I’m glad you started this thread as I suspect many of us will have to rethink our planting schemes. I’m on London clay. Have probably lost a sambucas niger, buddleias and hydrangeas suffering, but the pleasant surprises have come from dianthus and fuschias. I’ve been contemplating planting some purple lantana to fill gaps for next year as they’re Mediterranean but oh boy - they’re not cheap!

My salvia Nachtvlinder is doing good, I've got her in pots as well as a couple in the ground and they're all flying. I love that plant

Next door's wisteria is also going mad. Very green and lush and from 2 tiny tendrils peeping and waving over our wall in April it now has smothered the entire wall and has long tendrils waving on top of thick green growth. The rest of my garden is a yellow desert.
Its roots must be deep into the shade of their garden and maybe well watered, but the hot relentless sunshine hasn't dried it at all. Everything not actually in watered pots on my side is shrivelled.

So wisteria is a survivor.

I'm south of Edinburgh. We had some rain but I haven't watered except for pots and my greenhouse.

Roses and sweet peas flowered earlier than usual. Hollyhocks are fine as are rosemary and lavender. Pinks and sweet William are not as vigorous as usual. Nigella and scabious are tiny. Honeysuckle is not as lush as usual.

Ferns are fine as are the weeds. Evening primrose and mallow are tall.
Some shrubs have died but perhaps they were sickly. I've lost a buddleia and a potentilla.
There's not a single pear on either tree but apples and plums are fine.

My Wisteria is going ballistic and has spread to a neighbours tree diagonally across the back gardens to me! they don't seem to mind as they have never tried to cut it back

Geraniums

Oooooh I adore Japanese Anemone! I loath Alstomeria though 😁

Lavender is dead. Evening Primrose doing well.

Strangely, three hibiscus have just flowered

We have a walnut tree that always has lots of potential but the nuts never get to ripen fully. Looking good so far. Perhaps this heat will ripen them.

My grass is dead and the weeds are thriving in my garden. They are mostly nettles and other prickly ones and I can’t use weed killer until after it rains.

You all sound like proper gardeners to me.
I am not at all proper in that department but my clematis in the front of the bungalow has bloomed beautifully. People going by tell me how beautiful it is. The rest of the garden not so much.
I waited for ages to plant the seeds I was given after my best friend's funeral. She loved her garden and often gave me cuttings and the reassurance that I couldn't fail. Ha ha.

I put all the seeds in one large pot and the little darlings are starting to sprout. I have had to move them to higher ground as my little dog is far too interested in them.

I think I should split them up before they get too big and try to plant them in my front garden. It's like a rock at the moment but I am willing, if not terribly physically able, to do the preparations.

Terry would have laughed about all of this. I miss her so much. Friends for 58 years.

The weeds are thriving

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202608/medium-3gv6a6-image.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202608/medium-4vgtoc-image.jpg

My passion flower has gone mad, there’s a double door shed under there somewhere, it’s started creeping up the lawn , not watered at all , must be 5 weeks at least since it rained

Weeds <LOL>

My peonies which should be dying back by now are vigorously green, as are the sweet peas and the winter jasmine and the broom. Rambling roses are not flowering, but are still producing a lot of new shoots (I have watered other roses)

Weeds and Bill and Ben.

Almost everything I have is in pots as I only have one small planting area, containing just a rose and lavender. For the first time ever my lavender is dying, perhaps old age as much as lack of water and probably better replaced.
In my pots the salvias, roses and trained pear trees have done well despite little watering. I use large pots for everything and only water once or twice a week, apart from my tomatoes which are regularly tended with loving care!
I'm trying "Coral Crush" tomatoes this year and have some really lovely big fruits growing, three of which should be ready to pick tomorrow.

The xyz Japanese anenome that has done hundreds of £ of damage to our house. Since we moved in last year, I have sprayed it, dug up bucketsful of the huge roots that criss cross the garden about 6 inches down, but still it rises!

Asters, more in the shade are doing well. As are Echinacea Fuchsia's, Sedum, Crocosmia, Lavender. Helenium managing to survive.
The most beautiful plant in my garden is Salvia Hot Lips. It's grown so big and and kept in flower.
Potentilla shrub flowers and buds keep drying up. Geum dried up and all the rest of my plants are looking weary.
Six tomato plants are not looking very well at all. There's a few tomatoes but not many. Cucumber plants in the same condition.
Grass like straw.
There's been no rain here in Northants for weeks now and none forecast for next week either. Should be cooler for the end of next week thank goodness.