Hot and easy plants
The temperatures around here are still hot and surprisingly still record breaking. I hope this trend does not continue for the next 4 months. Super high temperatures call for super easy gardening. There are plenty of hot and easy plants, annuals of course but also perennials, bushes, vines and hardy trees that love the heat.
I am not writing a book here so will mention only a few. The market is full of great books and magazines on gardening in the summer. Gardeners who do not want to spend money, go to the library, go to plant sales and go to garden centers. You can browse in a garden center as well as a department store. It may not be as cool but it works. I sincerely hope a gardener will know to go before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m. to browse more comfortably. In fact, from now on, most days do everything that is outside during that time period. Well, not everything, the beach and local events can be fun to do also.
Coming home after a hot day of fun is extra special when you come home to a nice
colorful landscape. A landscape that you planted with your colors, your way. The right plant in the right place is still the gardener’s motto.
I am saying it is hot and sunny, not too much rain yet, so you need to pay attention to what you are planting where.
Put roses in the sun and water soil deeply at least once a week. Overhead watering is not required for roses. Why does rain work, only Mother Nature knows, and we wisely do not question her. We can grumble a little and complain among ourselves but must respect her capricious ways.
Diamond Frost euphorbia (E. hypericifolia ‘Inneuphdia’). That is the last botanical
name for today. This plant sports a mass of delicate white petals among its strong green leaves. This is not a dense green plant so whether you put it in the soil and let it grow several feet high and wide, or pot it up by itself, or even mix it in with some other plant, you will love its easy and carefree look. It is bush, so you may just want one in a bright blue pot, without anything else.
It likes full to part sun, nice well-drained, organic best, soil. Once established it will be almost drought tolerant. No deadheading, and will bloom all summer.
It is not frost tolerant. And only use some regular fertilizer when it starts to grow, just lightly, in the soil and you trim it to keep a good mounding shape a little more at that time.
I have had one or two for several years. I sometimes do not feed it for a long time.
Never even know why when I had one around the mailbox one time it died down and did not come back there in the spring but did show up about 40 feet away around the horticulture trash can.
Are you familiar with the Calibrachoa flowering plant? This pretty annual has tiny perfect flowers that will remind you of a petunia, however the beautiful Petunia does not do well with heavy rains, the Calibrachoa will. This plant is a cascading fool.
The blooms are nestled among pretty light green vining leaves, and they do not need any deadheading.
Some say there is a slight scent to blooms but I do not seem to notice it. It is also listed as a hummingbird favorite, however I would not be watching for any here. Yes, off and on there is a report of hummingbird sightings, just not enough to get us excited about.
Plant it in a sunny hanging basket, an empty birdbath, so it is high enough to be able
to cascade over the edge, or as a sister plant with a taller plant or two. It is not a good soil plant, likes moist, well-drained soil slightly acid for best blooming. A plant with some yellow leaves may need some worm castings sprinkled around soil to feed this one monthly. And when it is extremely hot and sunny in the middle of summer, if it looks somewhat bedraggled, lift up the trailing stems and you will see brown old stems that need to be cut off. Even cut off some of the tips of the outer stems to refresh plant. In extreme heat it needs to be having extra water.
It blooms best in full sun but it can do well with some afternoon shade.
I have a great patch of deep purple Salvia around the mailbox now. It is about a month old and is doing so well, much to my surprise. I have always just used a few spikes at a time within other beds to get some blue color. That is how this bunch started around Christmas when the red stuff was drooping I just left the few spikes there, and they just multiplied on their own.
I am sure they will not last too much longer but that is a good dependable plant that I will surely grow next spring.
You can grow some good hot color with the flashy Caladium bulbs. Pay attention, make sure you put the sun ones in the sun and shade in the shade. A pot full of those are beautiful also.
Do you like butterflies? Try butterfly bush, Lantana, or some perky Gloriosa daisies.
I like the many colors of Zinnias, the sweet Alyssum mounds and lemon color of the Strawflower.
Wow could go on forever. Go now and color up the landscape. Use sunscreen, and drink water while gardening.
I would like to mention that there will be a Native Plant Sale Saturday, the 18th, at Rotary Park, Cape Coral, open from 9 a.m. to 2 pm. You know you are getting a healthy plant there and plenty of growers to answer your questions.
Happy safe gardening till we meet again.
-H.I.Jean Shields is Past President of the Cape Coral of Garden Club.