| Some plants just wilt miserably in the hot afternoon sunshine and then quickly recover when the sun goes down. If this is what's happening to your plants, it's natural and no amount of water will change their wilty appearance. If, on the other hand, they are dying off instead of recovering, you can amend the soil with organic matter to help it hold moisture, and apply 2"-3" of mulch over the top of the soil to reduce evaporation. If neither of these sounds like a real solution, you might want to plant annuals and perennials that thrive in hot, dry conditions. Some such plants include Cotoneaster, Cytisus, Juniper, Lantana, Lavender, Myrtle, Rosemary, Salvia, Tecoma stans (Yellow Bells), Agapanthus, Amaryllis belladonna, Artemisia, Coreopsis, Centranthus ruber, Desert Marigold, Gaillardia, Kniphofia, Liatris, Linum, Watsonia, Marigold, Stonecrop and Zinnia. |
