Although winters in the Limousin area can be cold and wet, when the summer arrives the gardens can become very dry and if you don’t want to be a slave to watering your plants, think about growing plants that are drought-tolerant. These are called xerophytes and have developed a number of characteristics which enable them to cope with a lack of water. Some xerophytes have a deep or tap root system which searches out water at greater depths in the soil, eg Eucalyptus. Other plants have leaf adaptations to reduce water loss. Silver-leaved plants are actually covered in masses of tiny hairs which trap moisture and increase humidity above the leaf surface which reduces the need for the plant to transpire, eg Artemisia. Smooth, waxy leaves, usually blue or blue-grey in colour, like Rue, perform in a similar way. Grasses and pine trees have rolled leaves which are greatly reduced in surface area and these have evolved to reduce water stress. And there are plants with no leaves at all ! Over the years these have developed to such an extent that they have permanently shed their leaves and in some cases they have developed into spines or prickles. Other groups of plants have reduced their leaves to just scales on flattened stems called cladodes, such as Ruscus.

An obvious adaptation to tolerate dryness can be seen in succulent plants which store water in the leaves and stems. Cacti are the most obvious example but it is surprising how many hardy plants - like saxifrage and sedum - have the same fat parts. Plants with underground storage organs are also able to tolerate dry conditions. These are species with some sort of swollen stem or root system such as bulb, corm, tuber or rhizome. Dahlias, potatoes and daffodils with their subterranean stores of food, are able to hide underground during the hot, dry weather, conserving energy but maintaining the power to shoot up into flower as soon as the first drops of rain fall.Using drought-tolerant ground cover plants is a good idea too. These sprawling or spreading plants help suppress weed competition and keep the soil surface shaded and cool which helps to reduce evaporation.