The Drought Survivability Study

Happy Fourth of July from the D.S.S Research Team! We are happy to announce that the The Drought Survivability Study is published on the Texas Water Resources Website! Check out the results of the study and find out which plants are most drought tolerant or would work best for your landscape. We hope these drought tolerant plants find their way to your gardens and give you as much joy as they did for us. Thank you for your continued support and we'd like to especially thank our volunteers for their commitment and hard work. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Happy gardening!

You can find the report here: http://twri.tamu.edu/publications/reports/2016/tr-495/

TR-495 | Texas Water Resources Institute The Texas Water Resources Institute provides leadership to stimulate priority water resources research and educational programs throughout Texas.

Salvia leucantha or Mexican Bush Sage is a hardy ornamental native of Mexico and Central America. It’s pest resistant, deer resistant, heat resistant, and drought resistant. Just about the only thing this plant can’t survive is a heavy freeze. This charismatic woody ornamental is a favorite of hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies, we’ve loved watching it bloom here at the Drought Simulator. Check out how it has done at our four different irrigation levels, here at the Drought Simulator!

Happy Thanksgiving from the D.S.S. research team! Hopefully you have some wonderful fall blooms in your garden today, if not, here are some helpful suggestions from SAWS! Four out of the five of these plants are blooming right now at the Drought Simulator!

SAWS: San Antonio Landscape Care Guide - Fall Seasonal Stars Fall Seasonal Stars for color all year round!

Mexican Dwarf Petunia or Ruellia brittoniana is an ornamental native to South America and Mexico. Dr Wayne Mackay, a former horticulture researcher at Texas A&M Dallas, first noticed Ruellia growing "in the neglected space between a sidewalk and the street in San Antonio." He guided its eventual inclusion in the Texas Superstar program because of its pest resistance and drought tolerance. Since then it has become widely available in nurseries around the state. One drawback of the species is that it can be an aggressive spreader. The Katie dwarf Ruellia is a less competitive alternative that requires limited control while not sacrificing aesthetics or hardiness. See how this ornamental did in our different watering regimes here at the Drought Simulator!

Here is a look at the arrangement of the experimental plots. All plant species were randomly arranged within each one of our irrigation plots. Our movable roof is positioned on a rail system. When it rains, the roof moves over our 0% and 20% ETO irrigated plots to ensure that they stay extra dry. Check out some of our earlier posts to see how these ornamental plants have fared here at the Drought Simulator!

What is ETO? Reference Evapotranspiration (ETO) is often used to estimate the amount of water a plant needs. It represents the amount of water that is lost through evaporation and transpiration.The Penman-Monteith equation is used to calculate a standard ETO based on current conditions: wind, solar radiation, humidity, and temperature. Here at the Drought Simulator, we use percentages of this standard ETO for the irrigation we apply to each of our experimental plots. For more information on Evapotranspiration and to see how you can use current ETO values to irrigate, check out the TexasET Network!

TexasET Network

Esperanza is an excellent central Texas native that is well adapted to the worst of our South Texas heat. This plant is a prized ornamental today but was also used historically for bow making and medicine. This cultivar, 'Gold Star' was selected by plant breeder Greg Grant from a private San Antonio garden for its heat tolerance and is now one of the Texas Superstar plants. Esperanza hasn't let us down and is growing in all four irrigation treatments here at the Drought Simulator.

Purple Fountain grass continues to grow and bloom magnificently even with no irrigation for months here at the Drought Simulator!

Here is another look at the treatment effect we have seen here at the Drought Simulator. After a 4 month establishment period, Firebush appeared to do well in our most conservatively irrigated plot.

Fall Aster is a bushy perennial, native to the Midwest and Eastern United States. It has been a pleasure watching this ornamental grow in our four different experimental irrigation plots. Here is a look at how this drought tolerant species handles adverse to well watered conditions.

Gregg's Mistflower was a butterfly favorite here at the Drought Simulator. This tough native perennial weathered months of little to no water. Check out this choice flower in our 4 different watering regimes!