{"id":16575,"date":"2020-08-18T17:55:19","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T21:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentgarden.com\/?p=16575"},"modified":"2023-05-25T17:31:43","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T21:31:43","slug":"top-plants-to-grow-in-the-summer-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentgarden.com\/blog\/top-plants-to-grow-in-the-summer-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Plants to Grow in the Summer Heat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cGardening is a long road, with many detours and way stations, and here we all are at one point or another. It’s not a question of superior or inferior taste, merely a question of which detour we are on at the moment. Getting there (as they say) is not important; the wandering about\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n in the wilderness or in the olive groves or in the bayous is the whole point.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n – Henry Mitchell – Gardening Is a Long Road, 1998.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I love to read Henry Mitchell, how he reminds me that the products of my\u00a0<\/span>summer<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>garden<\/span> are not alone what brings me satisfaction. There is mystery and intrigue along the way, elation and deep disappointment, character revealed, and hopefully character developed. Then there are the lessons learned that some\u00a0<\/span>summer\u00a0<\/span>flower<\/span>ing plants<\/span>\u00a0along the way are simply over-hyped hussies who shout at you from the nursery shelves and garden advertisements<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>but have very little to offer. Meanwhile, the hesitant, scrawny plants rescued from the bargain rack prove they are tough and resilient and remind me that I always have more to learn from my\u00a0<\/span>ever-changing<\/span>\u00a0garden beds<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n There are a few of these resilient toughies that deserve careful consideration for those who find themselves low on time and conscious of frequent\u00a0<\/span>water<\/span>\u00a0restrictions. While some avid garden folk look piously down on annual flowers, these\u00a0<\/span>seven\u00a0<\/span>underused<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>summer annuals have proven to be stalwarts of my\u00a0<\/span>summer plants<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>If you are wondering\u00a0<\/span>what to plant in summer<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>nnuals\u00a0<\/span>can be<\/span>\u00a0the variety of interesting characters that gardeners can meet along our laborious horticultural road. These plants enhance the beauty of existing perennials and carry the<\/span>\u00a0flowering display<\/span>\u00a0with consistent color from spring until frost. Like a complementing harmony, the perennials only accentuate the melody of t<\/span>he<\/span>\u00a0annual\u00a0<\/span>summer flowers<\/span>\u00a0whether in<\/span>\u00a0a<\/span>\u00a0flower bed or in\u00a0<\/span>pots<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n When I first saw\u00a0<\/span>Cuphea\u00a0<\/span><\/i>llavea<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>(also known as Bat-faced cuphea)\u00a0<\/span>in a big box store, I turned to my co-worker and said, \u201cWe\u2019re buying every one of these.\u201d She looked at me like I\u2019d just suggested<\/span>\u00a0we buy soil from Chernobyl. The plants were tall and spindly with barely a bloom on them. Fortunately<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>I had seen the\u00a0<\/span>Cuphea\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Flamenco series and\u00a0<\/span>Cuphea\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u2018Totally Tempted\u2019 at several trial gardens the year before and knew that they were simply an ugly duckling waiting to become a swan. Once put into the ground<\/span>\u00a0or in\u00a0<\/span>containers<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and given a few weeks to get established, this\u00a0<\/span>Cuphea\u00a0<\/span><\/i>will need little\u00a0<\/span>care.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>with<\/span>s<\/span>tood the harshest of conditions and never slowed down in its prolific blooming until our first freeze in October. This\u00a0<\/span>Cuphea\u00a0<\/span><\/i>is a great mid-<\/span>layer for your garden<\/span>\u00a0or pots<\/span>, though\u00a0<\/span>it provides a punch of color used all on its own<\/span>. These thrive best in the hot, blazing sun. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n