Gallery | No rain? No problem: 12 great drought-tolerant plants

Encephalartos ferox is a cycad with magnificient red (or sometimes orange) cones. The leaves are rather holly-like, complete with sharp edges. (Ferox means ferocious.) Plant in full or part sun. Sometimes called the Zululand cycad, the plant grows in a wet/dry regimen, with rain in summer, similar to our own. The female plants have cones that are rounder and larger; male cones are narrower. GEORGIA TASKER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Quercus virginiana, the live oak, like these in Matheson Hammock Park, might well be the basis of a garden. A live oak can grow to 60 feet. By creating a high, dappled shade, it makes an ideal microclimate for growing ferns, aroids or bromeliads beneath the canopy. It is host of a world of insects, birds and plants that grow on its long horizontal limbs. GEORGIA TASKER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Guaiacum sanctum, or Lignum vitae, grows to 15 to 20 feet. Native to the Florida Keys, this remarkable plant has extremely dense wood that once was used to build ships in World War II and, even earlier, for locks in the inland canal system. It once was believed by Europeans to cure syphilis. The tree forms a rounded canopy of compound leaves. Plant in full sun and give it excellent drainage. MIAMI HERALD FILE PHOTO
Stemmadenia litoralis, from Central and South America, is white-flowering shrub. It stays green all winter, likes full sun and well-drained soil. Grows to 15 or 20 feet. CHERYL A. GUERRERO / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Senna mexicana var. chapmanii, or Bahama senna, is a pinelands and coastal strand native that stays small in sun (about 3 feet) and grows taller in shade (to 9 feet). It has compound leaves and its yellow flowers are attractive to sulfur butterflies. GEORGIA TASKER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Sophora tomentosa, or necklace pod, grows to 15 feet. A yellow-flowering shrub that has hairy or tomentose leaves that help retain moisture and reflect sun. The grayish form is from the West Indies; the greener form is from South Florida. The flowers are on terminal spikes and attract hummingbirds and butterflies. This is a shrub that grows wider than tall, and usually requires pruning. Seed pods of this native shrub are like pop-em beads, giving it the name necklace pod. GEORGIA TASKER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Bulbine caulescens is a tough groundcover that provides winter colors of solid yellow flowers or yellow and orange flowers. The plant is from South Africa. Mike Davenport, the curator of living collections and garden landscapes at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, says bulbines can take irrigation or thrive without it. It has narrow, succulent leaves and the flowers are held above the foliage on slender spikes. GEORGIA TASKER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Thrinax morrissii, or Key thatch palms, like this one at The Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden, are quite wonderful when planted in groups. It also is called brittle thatch. The fronds are circular and silvery on the undersides. There is no crown on the palm; the leaves emerge from the growing point. Plant this palm in full sun, as you would the other native Thrinax or Coccothrinax palms. Then wait for many years for it to reach 10 or 15 feet in height. Because of its size, it can be used in small yards and in entryway gardens. CANDACE BARBOT / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Neoregelia Fireball is a small maroon plant when grown in full sun. This bromeliad is incredibly versatile and can be grown in trees, on rocks, in rocky garden beds. It spreads on rhizomes and pups often. CHERYL A. GUERRERO / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Aechmea blanchetiana, or 'Wally Berg,' a red-bronze cultivar of the orange A. blanchetiana. It is a large landscape specimen that achieves a powerful color through full sun and some water stress. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden has the 'Wally Berg' growing on a slab of rock called a capstone. (Use Gorilla Glue to keep a bromeliad in place on rock, but don't over-do it because the glue bubbles and spreads.) CHERYL A. GUERRERO / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Yucca rostrata is a tree-like yucca that reaches about 15 feet. Most often it is a single trunked plant and the blue-gray crown of leaves stand on end as if the plant has seen a ghost. Old leaves collapse onto the stem, forming a soft brown coat, or may be cut away. In the agave family, this plant is sometimes called the beaked yucca and comes from the American southwest and Mexico. There are online cautionary tales of bud rot setting in should this yucca be overwatered, so make sure to provide fast drainage. CHERYL A. GUERRERO / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
This Schomburgkia tibicinis, or live oak, grows in the parking lot of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. It is an orchid that can be left to its own devices and it will create tall spikes of flowers like clockwork every year at this time. Do nothing other than attach it to a tree or palm, and enjoy. Face it east for morning sun. GEORGIA TASKER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF