Plants that like it hot: when summer sizzles, these plants keep performing

摘要

When the going gets hot and the sunbelt turns into the sweat band, smart gardeners avoid the heat by working outdoors during the cooler morning hours. The plants they tend, however, don't have that luxury. They must endure the heat of summer all daylong, even if the gardener does not. Fortunately, there are some hotshot plants, typically grown as perennials in the South and as annuals in cooler climes, that blossom with aplomb during the dog days of summer. Some gardeners have to contend with humidity or excessive rain, but here in the South, we have heat. I'm not talking about Fourth of July picnics, beach balls, and sunbathing weather, but rather the nastier fry-an-egg-on-the-sidewalk type of hot. There are plenty of plants that will tolerate some extreme heat, but they usually can't tolerate several months of such conditions. Moreover, the very warm night temperatures (upper 70's and 80's) accompanying the hot days really take a toll, since there is no respite for suffering plants at night. Nevertheless, we would all like our gardens to perform unflinchingly during the heat of summer, yielding floral color despite the inferno, and they can if we prepare our beds properly and choose the right plants.