If you like having a flowering garden but don't like spending your entire weekend caring for it, you might be surprised at the great number of plants available that don't require a lot of water are known as drought-tolerant. Some will require weekly watering, others can wait even longer than that for the watering can.

Verbena

Verbena makes it look as if you spend every waking moment of your weekend in the garden, but really requires little care. A hardy annual, it will bloom in mostly pink shades, but you can find verbena in red and white as well. Verbena likes lots of sunlight and not a whole lot of water. In fact, too much water may cause fungal disease on the plant, so you can definitely get away with watering the verbena only once per week.

Butterfly Weed

A type of milkweed, this is the plant that the Monarch butterfly depends upon as a food source for its offspring. So, as an added bonus to the lovely orange or yellow flowers and drought-tolerance, you will get a butterfly garden. Butterfly weed thrives in sandy soil in full sun or partial shade and needs water only once a week.

Chocolate Daisy

The chocolate daisy is a small plant that blooms with bright yellow daisy-like flowers that fill the air with the scent of chocolate. This plant has it a bit backwards, as the flowers will bloom in the evening and be open for you to admire early the next morning. Not particular about soil, the chocolate daisy needs full sun and water just once a week.

Purple Coneflower

The purple coneflower is native to the Midwest and Southeast regions of the United States. A very drought-tolerant plant, it blooms from early summer to late fall. The flower colors range from a light to a very deep purple with orange, coned centers. They make wonderful cut flower arrangements and add a splash of color when planted in groupings in the garden. Give them sunshine, fertile soil and water only once a week.