By Lynette L. Walther
As the summer goes by, the heat can make an impact, and not just on people. Heat can also be a problem for garden plants. Warmer and cooler colds, droughts and flash floods all seem to be commonplace these days as everyone begins to overcome and become aware of the challenges of climate change.
Whether you believe it is real or not, our weather is warming, hence climate change. While this doesn’t always indicate warm temperatures, it does affect the weather enough to make wild fluctuations an integral part of what we’re experiencing right now.
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It’s time to make things easier by choosing durable plants that are a good fit for your home. First of all, we want to choose the right plant for the right place. Let’s take a look at some plants suitable for this area that can withstand heat and a little drought or humidity.
Many now want to regenerate and beautify annual plantations or sunny beds. If you’re looking for plants that can withstand the heat, here are some new varieties of 10 hard plants (annual and perennial) from Proven Winners that should be on the gardening radar:
caladium
For many, caladium is the basic summer foliage plant, definitely a “southern thing”. But it’s time to take a look back at these favorites with a new caladium, Heart to Heart. Use it to conjure up a splash of tropics in any garden.
Unlike traditional shadow caladies, Heart to Heart handles the whole day as easily as shadow. Just make sure the soil is moist. There are 20 different options, you can choose from a wide range of colors, sizes and leaf shapes. Come down, lift, dry and store the tubers for next year.
Stage
Called the Egyptian star flower, the pentas have a new group of newcomers: Sunstar. These new pentas boast extremely large bunches of flowers that are almost as large as the hydrangea flowering on top of well-branched plants. You can expect excellent summer durability, which can withstand high heat and humidity, and makes ideal bedding and container plants.
These medium-sized plants are excellent for planting in the middle of beds and can be thrillers and / or fillers in combination seed drills. Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds are all attracted to brightly colored flowers that provide additional color and movement.
Sunstar pentas are available in four colors: red, rose, pink and lavender. These plants, which can be perennials in this area, are grown in full sunlight.
Scaevola
This Australian native annual, also known as a fan flower, is as hard as they come. Fanflowers have been grown in North America for about 25 years, but the varieties available have long rarely bloomed and had long, clumsy branches.
Enter Whirlwind, a sophisticated, colorful flower full of flowers. The plants have a beautiful shape. They love the heat, don’t mind low humidity or moderate drought, and don’t need a lot of plant food to thrive. Look for Whirlwind Starlight with blue and white two-tone flowers and the pollinators will be grateful. It grows all day.
Euphorbia
A new, fuller Diamond Snow euphorbia may look fine, but it is durable and durable as it can withstand heat and gives a reliable heap of color even in standing pots or as a landscape plant.
Like all our euphoria, diamond snow can easily withstand heat, humidity and drought. Increase this annual portion day by day.
Gaillardia
Heat It Up is an amazing new series of sunny gaillardia in the United States and Canada. This variety is available in two colors – yellow and scarlet fever. Heat It Up Yellow creates bouquets of fresh, sun-yellow flowers, while the orange-red flowers of Heat It Up Scarlet have slightly yellow ends.
It blooms for a long time, it lasts for a long autumn even in a warm, humid climate. They have very uniform habitus, the plants are vigorous, bloom early, and do not have to perish in order to bloom profusely.
Use in landscape or container plantations. They are attractive to pollinators, especially bees and butterflies. It grows all day.
Yellow helianthus
The ever-blooming sunflower, the Suncredible boasts a well-branched, bush-like habitus that is perfect for the back of a bed, an annual screen or a fence. The flowers are about 4 inches in diameter and do not need to be beheaded to continue flowering.
Suncredible can also be a great cut flower. Suncredible blooms several weeks longer than similar sunflowers. This one-year-old attracts pollinators, especially bees and butterflies, and blooms throughout the season and blooms until autumn. Use in the landscape or in large containers in full sun.
Ipomoea
The ornamental sweet potato grape, Sweet Carolines boasts rich foliage, good vitality and perfectly matched, well-behaved plants.
Their strength blends well in the combinations without suppressing the other plants in the recipe. As a dense and evenly spreading ground cover, they perform beautifully in sunny and shady conditions. And they show better color retention throughout the day than older varieties.
The sweet Caroline Medusa Green with its unique crown-shaped, multi-fingered foliage is not like the sweet potato in the vineyard. The plants are convex, less dry with overlapping leaves. This selection can also be perennial here, partly growing day by day.
Lantana
One of the larger plants in this group of heat-tolerant plants, landscape-sized lantana, offers a variety of colors. Succulent lanthanes have large, densely branched, convex growth patterns and are expected to bloom non-stop throughout the season without dying. This lantana does not bind seeds and does not spread.
If low-maintenance, heat- and drought-tolerant, long-blooming, pollen-friendly, deer-resistant flowers are on the list, Luscious lantanas is your plant. The flowers of the Luscious Royale Red Zone are red and orange in two colors and then turn into pure glowing red. In addition, it is considered sterile and does not spread. Increase this perennial all day.
Salvia
The Rockin ‘salvia collection varies slightly, with a number of different types. The latest addition has rare, cold blue flowers that represent a breakthrough in the breeding of this Salvia guaranitica hybrid.
The large, crisp blue flowers held by the black goblets form above the foliage, attracting all sorts of pollinators from spring to autumn. Like Rockin ’Deep Purple and Rockin’ Fuchsia, it is a sophisticated, well-branched salvia that looks beautiful in containers. It tolerates heat and some drought stress. Each is a dusting magnet. Grow this plant, which can be perennial, in part day by day.
Hardy hibiscus
The large, fluffy flowers of the hardy hibiscus are quite well known. Nevertheless, these perennials are still extremely underutilized for the landscape. The Summerific series is incredibly heat-resistant, surviving the summers in Zone 9, but also winters well in the cold Zone 4.
The summer varieties are 3 and 4 and a half feet tall and produce plenty of huge flowers – up to 8 inches wide – from mid-summer to fall. Look for Summerific French Vanilla with creamy pudding yellow, ruffled flowers and striking red eyes. It has a fantastic garden presence and blooms richly with 7-8 inch inflorescences with its full canopy of lush dark green leaves.
Increase instead of shrub to provide structure in your sunbathing garden. Or choose Spinderella, whose flowers and dark green foliage have a new wild wheel pattern. Eight-inch flowers cover the round, dense habitus from top to bottom. Plant in full or partial sunlight.
Juniper
Montana Moss juniper is a low-growing evergreen juniper that provides an attractive texture wherever it is planted. Its soft-touch bluish-green foliage is reminiscent of moss or even something from under the sea.
It is an excellent edging or ground cover and fits nicely into all colors of buildings and plants. This perennial plant is resistant to deer and loves the sun. Plant in full sunlight.
Lynette L. Walther is the GardenComm Gold Medalist for writing and the author of the GardenComm Silver Medal of Achievement, the National Garden Bureau’s Exemplary Journalism Award, and the author of the book “Florida Gardening on the Go”. He is a member of GardenComm and the National Garden Bureau. Its gardens are on the banks of the River St. Johns.