Best drought-tolerant flowers for full sun

The table calls it a tie: Coreopsis and Mexican Sunflower share the crown at 92 and 92 of 100, a gap smaller than the data can honestly split.

Every flower here is scored by the same 5 published rules, using one open table of 85 flowers. No taste, no sponsors: tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made it.

The picks

The flowers that won

The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.

Coreopsis ↗

Dry-soil regime: dry to medium soil · Documented drought proof: drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, clay soil, salt · Heat endurance: drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, clay soil, salt

Flaws, not dealbreakers: no vase data in the postharvest literature

Deer: rarely damaged (Rutgers A) Cat safe (listed non-toxic)

92/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, clay soil, salt

Heat endurance15 / 15drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, clay soil, salt

Set-and-forget upkeep15 / 15low

Bloom window10 / 106 months

Mexican Sunflower ↗

Dry-soil regime: dry to medium soil · Documented drought proof: drought, heat, sandy dry soil, poor soil, shallow rocky, clay soil · Heat endurance: drought, heat, sandy dry soil, poor soil, shallow rocky, clay soil

Flaws, not dealbreakers: no vase data in the postharvest literature

92/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, heat, sandy dry soil, poor soil, shallow rocky, clay soil

Heat endurance15 / 15drought, heat, sandy dry soil, poor soil, shallow rocky, clay soil

Set-and-forget upkeep15 / 15low

Bloom window10 / 104 months

Also great

Close behind on points. Neither beats the winner overall, but each is the better answer in a garden the winner would not suit.

Coneflower ↗

Dry-soil regime: dry to medium soil · Documented drought proof: drought, heat, humidity, salt, clay soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, poor soil · Heat endurance: drought, heat, humidity, salt, clay soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, poor soil

Flaws, not dealbreakers: no flaw on record

Deer: seldom damaged (Rutgers B)

89/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, heat, humidity, salt, clay soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, poor soil

Heat endurance15 / 15drought, heat, humidity, salt, clay soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, poor soil

Set-and-forget upkeep15 / 15low

Bloom window7 / 103 months

Yarrow ↗

Dry-soil regime: dry to medium soil · Documented drought proof: drought, heat, humidity, salt, air pollution, urban · Heat endurance: drought, heat, humidity, salt, air pollution, urban

Flaws, not dealbreakers: asks for some seasonal upkeep; toxic to cats

Deer: seldom damaged (Rutgers B) Not for cat households

85/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, heat, humidity, salt, air pollution, urban

Heat endurance15 / 15drought, heat, humidity, salt, air pollution, urban

Set-and-forget upkeep8 / 15medium

Bloom window10 / 104 months

The protocol

How the score is built

5 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.

Dry-soil regime30 pointslisted dry 30; dry to medium soil 22; medium 10; needs moisture 2-3 Read from: how much water it wants.

Documented drought proof30 pointsa drought tag in extension sources 30; no tag recorded 12 (absence is not proof of weakness) Read from: stress tolerances.

Heat endurance15 pointsa documented heat tag 15; none recorded 7 Read from: stress tolerances.

Set-and-forget upkeep15 pointslow 15; medium 8; high 2 Read from: how much upkeep extension guides report.

Bloom window10 points4+ months 10, tapering to 2 Read from: the months it is in bloom.

Not ranked here: not a full-sun plant. Scores are never sponsored and never sold. The full method ↗

The leaderboard

The top ten

The 10 highest of 73 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.

Coreopsis ↗

92/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, clay soil, salt

Heat endurance15 / 15drought, heat, humidity, poor soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, clay soil, salt

Set-and-forget upkeep15 / 15low

Bloom window10 / 106 months

Mexican Sunflower ↗

92/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, heat, sandy dry soil, poor soil, shallow rocky, clay soil

Heat endurance15 / 15drought, heat, sandy dry soil, poor soil, shallow rocky, clay soil

Set-and-forget upkeep15 / 15low

Bloom window10 / 104 months

Coneflower ↗

89/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, heat, humidity, salt, clay soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, poor soil

Heat endurance15 / 15drought, heat, humidity, salt, clay soil, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, poor soil

Set-and-forget upkeep15 / 15low

Bloom window7 / 103 months

Yarrow ↗

85/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, heat, humidity, salt, air pollution, urban

Heat endurance15 / 15drought, heat, humidity, salt, air pollution, urban

Set-and-forget upkeep8 / 15medium

Bloom window10 / 104 months

Catmint ↗

84/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, urban

Heat endurance7 / 15drought, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, urban

Set-and-forget upkeep15 / 15low

Bloom window10 / 105 months

Russian Sage ↗

84/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, salt, clay soil, sandy dry soil, urban, poor soil, air pollution

Heat endurance7 / 15drought, salt, clay soil, sandy dry soil, urban, poor soil, air pollution

Set-and-forget upkeep15 / 15low

Bloom window10 / 105 months

Daisy ↗

84/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, sandy dry soil

Heat endurance7 / 15drought, sandy dry soil

Set-and-forget upkeep15 / 15low

Bloom window10 / 104 months

Globe Thistle ↗

81/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, poor soil

Heat endurance7 / 15drought, sandy dry soil, shallow rocky, poor soil

Set-and-forget upkeep15 / 15low

Bloom window7 / 103 months

Lavender ↗

81/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, shallow rocky, urban

Heat endurance7 / 15drought, shallow rocky, urban

Set-and-forget upkeep15 / 15low

Bloom window7 / 103 months

Sunflower ↗

81/ 100tap for the breakdown

Dry-soil regime22 / 30dry to medium soil

Documented drought proof30 / 30drought, sandy dry soil

Heat endurance7 / 15drought, sandy dry soil

Set-and-forget upkeep15 / 15low

Bloom window7 / 103 months

Considered, not chosen

Not qualifying is a verdict too: the table simply says this job is not theirs.

not a full-sun plantHydrangea macrophylla, Anthurium, Azaleas and 9 more

The winner's badge

Generated by the ranking above, and re-scored whenever the table changes.

Coreopsis

The badge is generated by this ranking, not awarded by hand. When the table changes, it re-scores itself.

How we rank

We keep one table of 85 flowers, with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made it. A flower that does not fit a job is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is named. Nothing here is sponsored, and no score can be bought. When the table changes, every score and stamp updates itself. The full method ↗

All nominations The table behind the scores