Kathy’s Gardening Guide: Beat the heat plants for your landscape!

“Some of the best memories are made in flip-flops."”

— Kellie Elmore

The summer months in Northeast Florida can be hot and humid! Plants must be hardy enough to withstand these sometimes-harsh conditions.

For heat tolerant plants in areas of full sun, look for black-eyed susan, blue daze, bush daisy, coleus, dune sunflower, gaillardia, gazania, lantana, melampodium, milkweed, ornamental peppers, pentas, portulaca, purslane, Texas sage, vinca, zinnia and all types of sedums and succulents.

Carolina jessamine, otherwise known as yellow jessamine, grows as a vine, so it is a great choice for climbing up a landscape feature such as a trellis, arbor or pergola.

These yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers release a sweet fragrance and are very heat tolerant. Blue daze is salt tolerant and grows beautifully in eastern exposure. Once established, it requires little care other than extra water during dry weather. The plants are covered with small blue flowers that close during the afternoon heat. No deadheading is required!

Vinca is a great annual flower that comes in a variety of colors for hot, dry weather. Their needs are minimal: low water and fertilizer.

Other beautiful plants for the summer heat are bulbine, bush daisy, butterfly bush, firebush, firespike, hydrangea, Mexican heather, plumbago, salvia and shrimp plant.

Heat-tolerant plants for shady areas include begonias and impatiens, both annuals.

Also consider agapanthus, alternanthera, alocasia, arbicola, caladiums, foxtail fern, Hawaiian ti, ornamental sweet potato and stromanthe.

Happy planting!

Flower of the Week: Gaillardia

Please email Kathy at kcg.pvr@gmail.com for any questions or gardening tips you would like to see in the future. For more information and ideas, visit Kathy’s Creative Gardens & Nursery, 196 N. Roscoe Blvd. The phone number is 904-655-7373.