Garden Beauties That Stand Up To The Summer Heat

A hot summer day can wilt the sturdiest among us: We fade. We droop. We’re dull and listless. We gasp for water.

Your garden’s no different. The heat of summer can make the perkiest garden fade fast. Summer can sizzle in New York and Connecticut, even though it’s not the Sahara.

But some flowers love the heat. Like those pristine Southern belles who never seem to sweat or droop, they take the heat and keep on smiling.

You, however, might want to grab a sun hat and a tall glass of lemonade. Feel free to sip it while we share a list of heat-loving flowering showstoppers — both annual and perennial — for your New York or Connecticut landscape.

The Allure of Annuals

Strawflower

Perfect for hot, dry places in the yard, this annual forms a low mound about 6 inches tall, with a cap of bright yellow flowers covering the gray-green foliage. Provide water until the plant is established. After that, it hardly needs any irrigation.

Vinca

Prolific, colorful flowers plus high heat and drought tolerance make annual vinca a garden staple. This low-maintenance plant offers bright color all season.

Profusion Series Zinnias

These beauties offer great resistance to diseases and insects and more colors than traditional zinnias. With names like Cherry, Orange, Apricot and Profusion Fire, they’ll keep your beds looking lively.

They bloom profusely, even in the heat and humidity. Bonus: No need to deadhead.

Mexican Sunflower

Three-inch, bright orange flowers on a medium-green bushy plant are heat tolerant, plus they attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Win, win.

Perky Perennials That Can Take the Heat

Russian Sage

A super tough plant, it offers fragrant silvery foliage and impressive plumes of violet-purple blooms. It grows to 6 feet tall, so it’s perfect for the back of the border.

Rudbeckia

Fondly called black-eyed Susan, these robust plants put on a show of daisy-like blooms, especially in the summer’s dog days, tolerating both heat and drought. Lots of varieties — pick one you think is pretty.

Blanket Flower

This stunner is a regular on lists of heat-tolerant plants. Lots of great cultivars, so choose your favorite color. A tough prairie plant, it blooms all summer and into fall with flamboyant blooms.

Yarrow

Not only does yarrow tolerate heat and drought like a champ — and it’s fun to say! — but this easy-growing perennial is also a great cut flower. It comes in a number of varieties with blooms in shades of yellow, orange, red, pink, and white. Bonus: deer, rabbits, and most other pests won’t touch it.

You Planted Your Sturdy Showstoppers — Now What?

Watering deeply every three to five days is better than a shallow daily watering.

Water in the early morning, so foliage has time to dry.

Add a 2- to 3-inch layer of mulch to aid in water retention and help keep the roots cool during hot weather.

Need Help? Neave Knows Flowers

Neave Landscaping offers a large selection of heat-resistant annuals and perennials, and our experts can help you choose what’s right for your landscape.

We want to set your garden up for success, so we take extra care to prepare the soil for your beauties.

Worried about deer and badgers treating your garden like a salad bar? Our friends at Neave Carpentry build beautiful fences to keep the critters out.

If you’re in the Hudson Valley, call us at (845) 463-0592. If you’re in Westchester County, call (914) 271-7996; from Connecticut, dial (203) 212-4800. Or, fill out our simple web form, and we’ll contact you about setting up your free consultation.

It’s getting hot out there. But don’t sweat it — you’ll have a garden full of Southern belles.

Image credits: Strawflower, Russian sage