drought tolerant - drought resistant? (plants)

Hmmmm. Leave it to you to ask something like this. Idont know but Im gonna sy its a matter of degree. Drought tolerant sounds like the plant has minimal water needs while drought resistant sounds like the plant could live in a desert and thrive.

Cycloptichorn

ice plant

ajuga

The farmerman is correct. If you need a list just Google your climate zone and "xeriscape plants".

But. . . . But, I thought you lived in Austin. That's like a rain forest.

Haha, yeah, no. It's really up and down there.

Cycloptichorn

Oh dys, I had the most beautiful ice plants 2 years ago, just ask shewolf.
I have this planter that about, um, 15 or 18 feet long, and 4 feet wide, and just 4 ice plants ended up filling up most of it, and cascading to the ground, over three feet down.

I just loved coming home in the evening and seeing hundreds of bees crawling all over it. There was a lizard that lived in their too.
The flowers where wonderful little stars of magenta and yellow.

Then, last summer was extra hot....

The planter was made of sandstone, and it literally baked the roots. They needed some water of course, but I think that just steamed the roots. This year the ice plants grandbabies are going to grow along the east side of the porch steps. They'll be happy there.

Right now my tuplips are just starting to decide to send their flower stalks up, I'm hoping to have some blooms by the weekend.

oh thanks everyone.

I've been looking at websites, getting ideas for replacements for the plants that just couldn't make it through last summer.

It's just that I see tolerant and resistant both used, and wasn't sure the terms were interchangeable.

farmer, that makes sense, I think resistant is hardier too.

I'm not one for cacti, I like to fuss over my garden too much. I enjoy walking around it when I come home from work, plucking off a dead leaf here, checking for bugs there, watching the bees and lizards....

Drought tolerant - "Plants which have been adapted (or been genetically changed) to survive short periods of drought conditions with small amounts of water. Not to be confused with drought-resistant plants, these plants are not true desert plants. Many have originated in semi-arid regions, the area around the Mediterranean, Latin America and sub-Sahara."

Read more at Suite101: What is Drought-Tolerant?: Drought-Tolerant or Drought-Resistent?

http://desertgardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_is_drought_tolerant_#ixzz0ho70V8im

There are many variations in plants' ability to withstand drought after first being established in the soil (or sand, as the case may be), including things like root depth and many others (particular evapotransporation rates). In my business and with others I worked for, we'd be looking at the immediate climate conditions, and specific plants that might or might not work in drought conditions. So, we used to check a variety of planting lists for specific situations, the starter-bible being Sunset Western Garden book, but only a start, as we had a lot of reference material around by various local and state experts. I just looked at my last edition of Western Garden, and I see it doesn't cover Texas. The Sunset zone system is different/more complex than the usual USDA hardiness zones. Perhaps there is a new edition that includes Texas.
(mine is 2001 copyright)

If I were in your area, I'd look around - online, a really good nursery/garden shop, in an art and architecture bookstore, university bookstore - for books or lists about gardening in Texas, with an eye to the word drought.

Chai, take a look at these sites that are specific for Austin:

http://gardeninglaunchpad.com/Aus.html

I found this 9-page list of Xeriscape plants put out by the city of Austin at the above link:

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/watercon/downloads/CommercialPlantList.pdf

And here's the link to the Travis County Master Gardeners. Lots of local resources there:

http://www.tcmastergardeners.org/index.html

not sure if you will be able to get kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos manglesii).
http://www.hotgardens.net/Kangaroo_Paw_Anigozanthos.JPG
it comes in a variety of colours.
They're a fabulous bird-attracting plant, drought tolerant as well cut back to the ground after flowering. fertilise in early spring

quite common here in albaturkey.

Like ossobuco says, take a look around. But look at the road sides, open fields and other natural areas in your region. That will give you a good idea of what will survive with little additional water a few days after the initial planting. My region has lots of coreopsis and butterfly weed (asclepias) growing wild so I grow these in my garden. Seeds have spread to untended areas and flourish with no extra water at all.

weve planted a lot of swamp asclepias to help with the monrch butterflies. Ive started a "get em free" spot where the township folks can come nd get free slips of these milkweeds. I got em for a rel cheap price from a native plant grower. He charged me like 10 cents a slip qnd I got 5 flat of 36 plants each. People have almost cleaned me out so I dont hqve to plant any leftovers by the creek side on my lower field