Best Plants for Your Idaho Garden

Photo credit to Gardens Alive.

Located in Sunset's Climate Zones 1-3, Idaho presents gardeners with a unique set of challenges and opportunities. With hot summers, frosty winters, and limited precipitation, succeeding in the art of gardening in this region requires careful selection of plant species that can thrive in such conditions. Whether you're an experienced gardener looking to refine your techniques or a beginner planting your first plants this spring, this selection of beautiful plants is best suited to flourish amidst Idaho's unique climate.

Native & Drought Tolerant Plants and Flowers:

Photo credit to Gardenia.net. 

• Great Blanket Flower. This western native plant is a beautiful perennial wildflower with daisy-like flower heads and a vibrant red and yellow coloring. These flowers bloom from late spring to fall, providing a continuous splash of color to your garden. It thrives in the full sun and average or dry to medium soils. 

• Yarrow. These flowering plants are native to the West and are characterized by their flat-topped bright yellow blooms. This plant is easy to grow, has high drought tolerance, and can handle a variety of soil conditions. It is perfect for naturized areas, rock gardens, and borders in the garden. 

• Wood’s Rose. This shrub is a native perennial plant that features deep green leaves with pale purple and deep pink flowers in the summer months. They make an excellent hedge plant in an Idaho garden, tolerating full sun in the summer and up to -10 degrees in the winter. Once established in the soil, they are extremely hardy and drought-tolerant. 

• Rosemary. This landscape plant is native to the western states and makes a beautiful addition to a yard. It is extremely drought-tolerant and feeds bees in the summer. Rosemary needs a little help to get through the winter, and finding a south-facing, sunny location will lead to a better chance of survival.

• Common Snowberry. This thicket-forming deciduous shrub is a great garden addition with its ornamental, pure white berries. In the early summer, this shrub blooms with bell-shaped white to pink flowers. This plant also attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators. Low maintenance, this plant tolerates full sun to partial shade, and a variety of soils.

• Salvia. Salvia is a stunning plant that features deep purple flower spikes. These plants bring pollinators in and rebloom multiple times over the summer. They are especially effective in mass plantings but also work well in containers and mixed borders.

• Iris. Garden Iris are hardy, long-lived perennial plants that are very low maintenance. They bloom into beautiful blue and purple flowers in the months of May and June. They can live through drought and severe cold, making them a great choice for your yard.