Flowers that Beat the Heat


As the summer heat kicks up, you should landscape with annuals that are genetically wired to beat the heat! Often, our gardens and planters look tired and weather-beaten by the middle of summer, but they won’t if you pick flowers designed to take the hotter temperatures.

Brian Lloyd, with Olson’s Greenhouse shares his favorite flowers designed to beat the heat.


Some of the most popular annuals in Utah, like pansies and snapdragons, thrive in the cooler nights of Spring. However, come June when the nighttime lows reach the 60’s and daytime highs are in the 90’s, the cool-season annuals tend to look pathetic. By sticking with these summer survivors, you can enjoy great color all summer long.

Vinca (Catharanthus roseus). When the heat kicks up, pansies get stretchy and stop blooming, and petunias can split apart and fall over. For masses of color in the summer there is nothing better than annual blooming vinca (not to be confused with the perennial ground cover vincas). Also known as Madagascar Periwinkle, this bright-colored annual has a glossy, tropical-looking foliage and puts on its best show in the hot, dry Utah summers.

Angelonia. When your spring snapdragons stop blooming and go to seed, move on up to angelonia, often referred to as “the summer snapdragon”! This native of Mexico puts up spikes of color all summer long in deep purple, pinks, and whites.

Wave Petunias. Normal petunias tend to stretch and fall over in the summer. The solution is the low-growing, spreading wave petunia. These high performance petunias spread low and hug the ground and fill an area with mass amounts of bright color.

OTHER GREAT SUMMER ANNUALS:

Blue Salvia

Gazania

Portulaca

Celosia “Fresh Look”

French Marigold

Lantana

MY FAVORITE DROUGHT-TOLERANT PERENNIALS

English Lavender

Coreopsis

Sedum Angelina



Olson’s Greenhouse provides plants for all Walmart and Home Depot stores.

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