Low-Maintenance Plants for Cemetery Headstones

Q: Good plants for a 3.5' x 16' sunny cemetery plot with no water?

A: Tough perennials by height:

24": daylily, 'Phenomenal' lavender, 'Hamelin' fountain grass, yucca 'Color Guard', yarrow.

18": artemisia, dusty miller, 'Elijah Blue' fescue, 'Walkers Low' catmint, reseeding cosmos/zinnia.

12": creeping phlox, creeping raspberry, prostrate rosemary, dianthus 'Baths Pink', 'Fire Witch', coreopsis 'Moonbeam'.

6" or less: creeping thyme, 'Lime Zinger' sedum, 'Angelina' sedum, Star of Bethlehem, santolina, ice plant.

Designer Sara Henderson (Oakland Cemetery) recommends heirloom varieties: boxwood, abelia, prostrate junipers, snowball viburnum, arborvitae, hollies, oakleaf hydrangea, crapemyrtle, bulbs (Ipheon, Star of Bethlehem), old bearded iris, tall daylilies, heirloom shrub roses. Her go-to: boxwood flanking marker, iris/bulbs in front, crapemyrtle/arborvitae at back, 'vernacular turf' for the rest.

Artemisia can handle the toughest conditions and still look good.