What Flowers To Plant For HOT DRY Summers

Mostly this is to remind myself what to plant next spring, and what NOT to plant.

Summers in the Ozarks can be brutally hot and dry -- like this summer.

Two weeks ago we had 1/4" of rain, and it had been four weeks before that.

I am not a devotee of watering, so I have to choose plants carefully, especially in containers.

(And I try not to do many containers.)

This is one of a pair of containers that bookend our driveway.

I would like for them to be plush and welcoming,

 but it is tough since they bake in the hot sun all day.

The spikey purple flower was great and I would definitely do it again.

The purple potato vine struggled....

and the groundcover was an epic fail.

I had moved it from a shady planter to here, and it is not a sun worshipper.

Try to remember this next spring!

Here is a success -- mandevilla (but not the vining variety).

It is in the shade of a little tree for a few hours a day and that helps.

I planted lobelia underneath that and in several other places because I love the color --

it does NOT thrive with heat and neglect.  Avoid buying next spring.

I don't know what this pitiful twig of a plant was called.

It was something  different and interesting, with a pink stem and pink balls on the tips.

I did ask the nursery person how it did in heat and drought --

obviously she lied.

Avoid making impulse buys next spring.

What you see here is our old stone birdbath turned planter.

What you don't see -- the celosia that I planted in the center that died many weeks ago.

Say NO to celosia.  

The coleus held up very well for as much sun as it gets.

Black eyed susans that I planted two years ago.  Look great, take no watering.

This pic is to remind me to thin them out and maybe plant something else in the middle next spring.

The day lilies had a great season, even though they look a bit bedraggled now.

Next spring I would maybe take out the center one, and plant something different there.

This is just the first year for these orange coneflowers,

they have received no love.

But they still manage to hang on, a little shade from the basil might have helped.

I don't think I have any standard pink coneflowers here,

so that is something to consider next spring.

And you know what I can always count on?

Lanatana.

Loves the sun.

Loves neglect.

Loves the dry weather.