Germany's garden classics face water shortage

Shrinking groundwater and longer dry periods in Germany are making the popular garden shrubs hydrangea (Hortensie) and rhododendron increasingly difficult to sustain. These plants require abundant water during hot summer days, and reduced irrigation leads to leaf browning, wilting flowers and premature drop.

Experts advise gardeners to replace these water‑intensive shrubs with drought‑tolerant alternatives such as lavender, cat‑mint, wolf’s‑milk, as well as hardy rhododendron varieties (e.g., Rhododendron alabamense, R. austrinum, R. canescens, R. minus, R. chapmanii). New plantings should also tolerate occasional heavy rain and wet winters, reflecting the broader climate‑change pattern of hotter, drier summers combined with intense precipitation events.