Drought tolerant or Drought adapted? What is the difference?

By Janett Warner, Wildland Nursery

wildlandnursery.com

A PLANT THAT IS ADAPTED TO TOLERATE DROUGHT

• DROUGHT ADAPTATION IS A COMPLEX PROCESS BUT IS EASILY

UNDERSTOOD.
• IT INVOLVES MUCH MORE THAN JUST CONSERVING WATER
• IT IS A PROCESS THAT TIES ALL THE COMPONETS OF AN
ENVIRONMENT TOGETHER AND IS GOVERNED BY CLIMATE.

SO WHAT IS CLIMATE?

• CLIMATE CONSISTS OF LIGHT INTENSITY, AIR AND SOIL

TEMPERATURES; WIND AND AVAILABLE MOISTURE

“CLIMATE IS WHAT YOU EXPECT, WEATHER IS WHAT YOU GET.”

A good analogy is comparing people and plants.

The people and plants living on the West Coast live in an environment that is mostly
consistent.
The temperature between summer and winter is only 20-30 degrees difference
Humidity is high
Sunlight intensity is low
Winds that blow off the ocean are usually moist.

The people and plants that live in the Intermountain West have extremely different
weather patterns.
The temperature between summer and winter can range from 100 degrees in summer to
minus 20 in the winter.
Utah is the second driest state in the nation. We get most of our moisture in the winter in
the form of snow.
The elevation in Utah is 4500 feet higher than the west coast. We even have to adjust our
cake recipes!

The effects of climate have a much broader influence than average temperature and
precipitation; dry winds accelerate moisture loss and blow away any leaves the plant
might happen to trap for mulch.
And then add this to garden demons- because we have limited rainfall; mineral salts are
not leached out of the soil so high alkalinity and salinity reduce the plants ability to
absorb water and nutrients.
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We here in the Intermountain West have to have a different strategy for protection against
the elements than the people who live next to the oceans. And then we have to change it
every half hour.
What are these measures?
1 sunscreen
2 hats
3 moisturizers
4 shorts
5 heavy coats, gloves etc.

Likewise plants living in the Intermountain West have a different strategy to survive in
this climate.

What are these strategies?

PLANTS STRATEGY FOR SURVIVAL

1. LEAVES
Shapes: Threadlike, small,
Texture: Thick, leathery, hairy, small scales or “dandruff”waxy coating
Color: Silver, blue, white to reflect heat
No leaves: Mormon tea.
Structure to store water Cactus

Some plants are drought deciduous and will drop leaves during dry
periods. New Mexico Privet may defoliate 3 times in a year.

Leaves on Fremont Cottonwood will droop to change the angle of the

leaf that is exposed to the sunlight.

Chokecherries will curl up their leaves as a response to sunlight and the

underside of the leaves are white.
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2. ROOTS

Fibrous and very extensive to catch large quantities of water

Oregon Grape Fringe sage
Deep tap roots to access deep water sources. Usually have a combination
of surface roots and tap root. Pinyon pine, Mountain Sagebrush

Large tuberous roots to store water. Elder berry, desert 4oclock

3. FORM
Daisies have a compact rounded form that reduces the over-all evaporative
surface.
Cactus will orient the growing tip toward the sun to create shade.
Funnel form on yucca and penstemon collect and direct water to roots.

4. CHEMISTRY. Stomata’s of some plants will close during the heat of the day and
will open at night. Typically this interferes with photosynthesis. But some plants
like cactus contain crassulacean acid, a substance that absorbs carbon dioxide
when temperature are cool and release it as temperatures rise. CO2 is absorbed
while stomates are open in the cool night hours, as daytime temps rise and the
stomates close , water vaporizes within the plant and the acid releases CO2 while
the light is available for photosynthesis. These are called CAM plants.

5. FUNCTIONS plants will increase available moisture by trapping leaves and

litter that will build up a pocket of mulch.
Plants establish a good strong root system before any shoot growth
forms. That is why it is almost impossible to transplant gambel oak
out of the wild.
Plants that are adapted will only grow when they have moisture and
nutrients available. Peter Lassig says that, “Native plants only live
on what is available in the bank. They don’t overdraw their account.”
We can water and over water plants but that sets them up for failure
when we run low on water because they haven’t adapted.
Plants won’t perform in an area if it doesn’t fit the site. A
Kinnikinick from cool elevations will struggle in full sun at the
foothill elevations but plant it in the shade and it will do fine.
A lot of native plants perform wonderfully in our alkaline soils. In
fact there are some that will die if planted in rich soil, i.e. Palmer
penstemons.
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Hopefully today I have given you strategies so that when you are shopping for plants
you can recognize the main characteristics of plants that are drought tolerant or can adapt
to drought.
Just like people who move from one climate to another- most- not all plants adapt. Some
adapt very well and thrive others just barely hang on. Plants not only need to be drought
hardy, they must be cold hardy and I think is most important adapt to our soil.

Something to remember when looking at plant tags for information: this is a general tag
that accompanies the plant where ever it goes. To Denver, to Flagstaff, to Salt Lake City,
to Newport Beach. This same plant is going to perform differently in each location and
have different needs.
California’s full sun will roast in Utah’s full sun.
California shade is really like part-shade in Utah.
Plants will rarely grow as big in the intermountain areas. The growing season is shorter
and the day to night temperatures are more extreme.