Plants that thrive in full sun like dry conditions
Create water-wise gardens by featuring cactus, succulents, yucca and natives such as monarda, echinacea, asters, yarrow, little bluestem, grasses. You can incorporate shrubs that fit the bill for layering like spirea, buddleia, beach plums and rosa rugosa while filling gaps with long blooming, tried and true annuals such as purslane, cleome, lantana, nasturtiums and more.
Plants that thrive in full shade also need less watering
Be sure to expand texture, foliage, and blooms beyond hostas! You can use Aquilegia, Heuchera, Solomon's seal and for early bloomers for pollinators & hummingbirds you can use reblooming bleeding hearts, astilbe, lady's mantle, brugmansia, and anemones to name a few. Don't forget to incorporate shrubs that fit the bill for shade, layering, laurels, big leaf hydrangeas and more.