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

I think the topic of potential food shortage needs wider coverage than the Gardening forum, Ww.

I’m not trying to be awkward about a change of focus to this thread, I think that food shortages are a very serious problem and need to be much more widely acknowledged and discussed. On the Chat forum perhaps?

Actually ignore my above posts as they are nothing to do with the OP. It is just me letting my mind wander.

Yes I have sempervivums that have received zero water, and creeping thyme - watered once half heartedly. Everything else is struggling, except the Mediterranean types. So lavender, a little blue convolvulus, salvias etc are ok with watering, but phlox, and other plants who like it damp are struggling even though they are being watered.

Well, as everything we eat is grown, I’m not sure what you mean by “other things”.

The U.K. has sufficient food stored for a maximum of 3 weeks.

I’m not suggesting mass starvation, but I am suggesting that the U.K. turns it attention to our food security and addresses the issues.

We haven’t got a hosepipe ban as yet ! But I am careful I do water the allotment( just the bits that are growing) and I do a quick spin in my not very big garden every other evening

Then we ll eat other things for a while WWM2

Never mind about us fiddling in our gardens! Ask the farmers.

Apparently the harvest is about to collapse, and supermarkets are warning of a real food crises.

Everything on my patio has survived because I can water it easily but in the wild wood above my patio all the ground cover - a large-round-leaved plant I don't know the name of - has died, leaving only ivy and brambles. I suspect it will come back though.

young people seem unaware of the cost to environment of water waste

Yet they are the ones banging on about saving the planet, and blaming it on all of us oldies!

Lavender has done well with benign neglect, though the main plant has now gone over as normal. Heathers in the new bed at the side of the drive are holding their own though I have lost two. Salvias and pentstemons, lobelia cardinalis, agapanthus, heucheras and hostas also hanging in there. A lovely scabious I bought last year is as dead as a doornail in spite of watering.

Roses have struggled, and just about all the plants on my two rockeries went over so quickly they were hardly there. The butterflies are still enjoying the buddleia, though.

The fig tree

I keep seeing recommendations for drought tolerant plants. Great, how very useful, most listed as 'likes free draining sandy soil, full sun'. I've yet to find one list that says if you garden on heavy London clay that is waterlogged all winter and like concrete all summer these are the plants for you! In my garden, (heavy London clay in case you missed it!) roses are doing pretty well, along with white Japanese anemones, (the pink ones are struggling), rosemary, lavender (in a raised much improved bed) and surprisingly bedding dahlias, pelargoniums penstemon, and some fuchsia but not all. A well established pittosporum 'Irene Patterson' is doing better than usual and is needing frequent 'haircuts' to keep it within bounds.

Looking dreadful: tomatoes, Rosemary, Sweet Peas.
Looking ok: Roses, Penstemon, Cosmos, Pelargoniums.

My bindweed is doing what everyone else's is doing..thriving. also brambles and chickweed.

Happy: sweet williams, gerbera, roses, passion flower, olive trees, sedum

Dead delphiniums, clematis, myrtle. Blackcurrant.

Struggling: hydrangeas.

Doing a deep water every 2 days at night. It is stressful watching plants struggle!!

My agapanthus is fine but it's in a pot.

The bindweed is flourishing here too.

Madgran77

Agapanthus are flourishing

I had one split in Spring so I was worried but it's OK, I suppose being of South African origin helps.
Ground elder thrives but I keep digging it out, hopefully it'll take a hint!

Oh Gaura, I love this beautiful plant.
Mine is frothing happily away, regardless of the weather, its a delight.
My biggest problem lately has been getting plants to germinate in peat-free compost! Now I simply direct- sow, despite the risk -of predatory behaviour by ruddy pigeons & the like!
One chap I gardened for used to come-out with his shotgun and attempted to make the pigeons day... to paraphrase the flinty, snake-eyed
Mr Eastwood! 😶

South of France.
Bougainvillea, Agapanthus, Jasmine, Bignone, Oleander, plus Chillis and 2 nest fulls of Swallows.
Everything else is brown, shrivelled or deeply sad......even the Lavender....and the night temperatures are too high for them to rally.

Lots of apples on my trees. Fig trees flourishing better than ever. Hydrangeas doing fine. Bay trees looking very healthy.
Veg not doing well, and some things in pots not thriving, despite watering.

I felt rather virtuous last night - 3 grandchildren here and having showers- shower over bath. I asked them to put plug in to collect water. After 2 showered, I started syphoning water out using a hose out the window! Son helped to get it started. 3rd had a very long shower, and I'd say I collected a total of over 100 litres of water in a variety of containers for use in garden.

My own showers are much more frugal but young people seem unaware of cost to environment to water waste!

Dylis

Bindweed! How on earth does it mange to grow so quickly and remain so green. The rest of my garden is either hay or shrivelled plants.

Weeds don't need water, it seems

We cut our hay field in mid June. The only things that are green and growing in it now are docks and plantain. The grass is just short dry stems...

Bindweed and nettles are doing well in other places...

Bindweed! How on earth does it mange to grow so quickly and remain so green. The rest of my garden is either hay or shrivelled plants.

Agapanthus are flourishing

Gaura, hardy fuchsia, nepeta doing well (had occasional watering). A small-leaved hebe (sorry, can’t remember variety - not Golfball or Tom Thumb).

Bindweed😂 Every time I walk up the path I find it growing all the way across despite being pulled out the day before.

My grass is basically hay & I nearly lost my beautiful dainty acer but with the help of a little early evening hand-watering regime every thing in the garden is lovely.
Obviously the verbena bonariensis, Californian & Welsh poppies & lavandula love this balmy climate. My only problem has been getting the normally easy cosmos to do anything! It could have been too old, non-viable seed though!
A trying gardening year certainly.
One thing that has been impressive is the sweetcorn, currently standing at 5 feet 8 inches.
It certainly has been an interesting growing year & its amazing how we adapt to new methods & learn so much in the process too. 🌼

Salvia “Hot Lips” is doing wonderfully well with no watering for some weeks. A lot of the plants are just cuttings I grew on from last year.
Lavender bushes full of bees.
Geraniums look healthy.

Mine is a coastal garden, Devon, so I have been quite fortunate with lavender, agapanthus, roses, red hot pokers, verbena etc.

My pots however have all succumbed, but I have neglected them a bit.