There’s nothing like a heatwave to make you appreciate exactly which plants are loving it. Here’s a list of 10 cracking plants that lap up the heat. They are chosen by Laura who knows a thing or two about dry summers!
I always think of Perovskia, or Russian Sage, as a rather more aristocratic version of catmint. It keeps its powder dry until mid-summer when it bursts onto the scene with tall elegant sprays of soft blue flowers.
It seems to then flower for months. Not really a proper shrub as such, it leaves a framework of slivery stems that can be pruned back in early spring to prepare it for the next seasons display.
‘Blue Spire’ is an old cultivar that has never been bettered.
- Exuberant even in poor soil and sun-baked positions.
- Powder blue flowers against silver stems make for a classy display.
Late flowering shrubs that perform well after a hot summer give your garden a welcome lift and this is one of the best.
Hibiscus syriacus actually needs a good blast of heat to flower well and I love the cultivar ‘Red Heart’ because the clean white colour of its blooms contrast dramatically with the dark red centres. It hardly needs any maintenance and grows slowly to a good two metres high after a few years.
- Happy in baking positions and poor soil.
- Tropical-looking blooms breathe life into a hot, tired late summer garden.
- Minimal maintenance needed.
Despite its rather exotic appearance, Trachelospermum appears to be a totally bombproof climber, revelling in hot, dry conditions.
It can be grown in the ground or in a pot, where its small leathery leaves seem remarkably tolerant of lax watering regimes.
Its evergreen, and its leaves sometimes flush an attractive red in cold weather. It flowers throughout the summer in several waves, its glorious, sweet perfume scenting the air around it.
The cultivar ‘Star of Toscana’ has pale creamy yellow flowers which I think are a nice alternative to the more usual white. It's happy to be pruned to fit the space available to it, whether this is five feet of 20 feet.
- Very easy and undemanding to grow.
- Delicious sweet scent
- Evergreen
This is my latest favourite plant!
Asclepias tuberosa is a very special milk weed that, as its name suggests, grows from an underground tuber, which makes it extremely drought resistant.
It's a perennial that just keeps improving with age, sprouting through the ground at the beginning of June it then covers itself with bright orange flowers which are irresistible to bees and butterflies. Crucially, Asclepias tuberosa doesn't have the running habit that makes other species of milkweed a nuisance in the garden - this one stays squarely where it is first planted.
The show goes on after flowering when you have the gloriously architectural seed pods, followed by beautiful silken seeds. All this is in a plant that only stands about a eighteen inches high and wide!
- Extended season of interest
- Late to sprout so can be preceded by spring bulbs
- Very attractive to butterflies
Helianthemums are from the same family as cistus and can really be thought of as miniature versions of the taller and shrubbier rockrose.
They flower for several weeks in early summer and absolutely love hot, dry positions. They come in a variety of reds, yellows, pinks and white.
I have chosen Helianthemum ‘The Bride’ as it possesses particularly fine glaucous grey foliage against which its white flowers look really stunning. Low-growing with a sprawling habit they look great at the front of a gravel garden or spilling over a stone trough.
- Cool colour palette
- Spreading habit
- Drought tolerance
Epimediums are such useful plants for tricky shady situations.
Once established they are remarkably drought proof and I grow them as much for their beautifully veined, heart-shaped leaves as much as their delicate and rather magical spring flowers.
I have chosen to recommend especially the hybrid Epimedium x warleyense as it leaves turn a beautiful russet over winter, giving this plant year-round reasons for growing it. It seems impervious to high temperatures going on around it and just continues to be a quiet but classy presence in those difficult spots of dry shade.
- Year round interest
- Beautiful foliage
- Drought proof
If you’re looking for an early-summer flowering, medium-sized shrub that revels in bright sunshine, a cistus, or rockrose, would be a really good choice.
Unlike true roses, whose blooms can wilt and scorch in really hot weather, a cistus is adapted to Mediterranean conditions and won't bat an eyelid.
Cistus creticus is a favourite and has been very long-lived in my garden, growing into a satisfying mound about 4 foot high and wide. Its mid-pink flowers tone beautifully against the slightly glaucous wavy-edged leaves. It's said to be slightly tender and to prefer alkaline soil, but its been perfectly happy in my slightly acid conditions and has sailed through several hard winters.
- Evergreen so provides an architectural presence all year round.
- Long flowering period
- Loved by bees
I think we all know that sedums, with their fleshy leaves, are excellent in hot, dry situations. But you may not know that there is one cultivar that is head and shoulders (literally!) above all others.
Hylotelephium 'Matrona' is exceptional in standing upright on sturdy stems up to two feet tall, with glaucous grey leaves and pink flowers. Its height makes it all the easier to study the bees and butterflies that flock to its nectar stores.
Its robust habit makes it a star performer in the late summer garden and if you leave it standing over winter it adds to your gardenscape of seedheads on frosty mornings.
- Tall straight stems
- Bee and butterfly magnet
- Winter interest
This fascinating dwarf euphorbia will add character and interest to a hot spot in your garden. Hailing from the Mediterranean, Euphorbia mysinites has prostrate radiating arms that bear pretty lime-green flowers in late spring. With fleshier stems and leaves than most euphorbias, its succulent nature means its very heat and drought resistant and makes an eye-catching garden statement.
- Slightly startling appearance
- Beautiful glaucous grey and lime-green colour palette
- Heat and drought tolerance
This beautiful statice deserves to be more widely grown. Enchanting, airy spikes of violet-blue flowers in late summer bring a magical and quite unique, hazy presence to your sun-baked borders.These gorgeous arching wands also make brilliant cut flowers and can be dried for everlasting flower arrangements.
Limoniun gmelinii originates from Siberia, so not only is it drought and heat resistant, it's also very hardy. Its fairly slow-growing so its best to buy a decent-sized plant to start with, so you get a good show sooner.
- Gorgeous filigree, arching flower spikes
- An ethereal feel in the borders
- Very hardy
2 replies on “10 great heat-loving plants”
Love your weekly post. I was forwarded it by a dear friend who sadly died, but feel she lives on in my reading it each week.
Ah Diana that is such a lovely thought. We do think that we have created a warm-hearted and like-minded community of followers and it’s very touching to hear that our writing keeps the memory of a dear friend in your heart. With very best wishes Laura