What better environment to prove the mettle of some of our favorite water-wise, drought-tolerant plants than a scorching hot rooftop garden?
 | Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus') and Alum Root (Heuchera villosa 'Autumn Bride'). Both plants are native to the Eastern United States. Coneflowers are a favorite food source for finches; the seedpods may be left on the stem to dry - also providing winter interest in the garden. |
 | Adam's Needle (Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard') and Little Bluestem Grasses (Schizachyrium scoparium 'Standing Ovation'). Yucca is native in the southeastern United States and is evergreen. Bluestem Grass is native to prairies all across North America, the 'Standing Ovation' cultivar is noted for its flop-resistant upright habit. |
 | Kalimeris incisa 'Blue Star' and Blue Fescue (Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'). While neither of these plants are natives they are not without merit! Each thrives in hot, dry, poor soils. The 'Blue Star' Kalimeris is a reliable mid-summer bloomer (its aster-like flowers are just getting started here), and the 'Elijah Blue' Fescue persists as a tidy blue-grey clump all year providing great winter interest when other perennial grasses are dry and brown. |