Progressive Plants

Plants for a Beautiful Garden in Extreme Heat

By Progressive Plants

Living here in Utah, we have to contend with some extreme temperatures well below freezing during the winter months, and over 100 degrees in the summer. Our challenge is to find plants that can thrive in both of these extremes. You select plants for your yard based on their hardiness rating, but that rating only tells half the story. A plant’s hardiness is determined by its ability to withstand the cold, yet not all cold-hardy plants can handle the hot, dry, months of summer in Utah. Summer heat is one thing, but magnified summer heat is altogether different.

Every yard has microclimates. Some areas are cooler and more protected from the sun and other areas are hot. But almost every landscape has a few spots that feel like the devil himself couldn’t tolerate living there. Typically, these are areas that are not protected from the summer sun, and places where heat is magnified by a nearby structure.

Identifying Hot Spots

Because we live in the Northern hemisphere, the sun is always at least slightly south of us in the sky, even at noonday. That means that the sun beats down on the south side of your house and other structures year-round. That heat reflects from your house and radiates into any planter beds you may have near the wall even after the sun has set. If you have rock mulch in those planter beds, it will be even hotter and less hospitable because those rocks will also absorb, reflect, and radiate heat. Other hot spots include west-facing walls of structures, buildings with metal walls, and reflective vinyl fences.

Most of the time, there isn’t an instant solution that will make hot places cooler, so we need to find plants that are strong enough to handle that intense heat plants that could grow in the depths of Hades. Luckily, whether your yard is hotter or colder than Hades, you can find stunning plants that will thrive in your garden. We’ll share a few of our favorites with you today.

Juniper Trees and Shrubs

Junipers are designed to live in regions like ours where water is scarce. They can handle almost any soil type and are adaptable to dry soil. In fact, they don’t like to be left long in standing water. Their soft, scalelike leaves are a perfect adaptation for our hot, dry summer days. They also develop healthy root systems that allow them to glean the water that they need. You’ll want to water yours consistently for the first couple of years, but once they’re established, they’ll thrive on just a sip of water now and then.

Yarrow

Yarrow is wonderfully heat and drought resistant. It grows easily in Utah with very little water. Pollinators love it, and it produces flowers all summer long in a wide variety of colors. It will spread by seed, so you may need to pull it out of places where you don’t want it to grow, but it’s a fairly simple thing to do once or twice a year.

Agastache / Hyssop / Hummingbird Mint

Clusters of longblooming, tube-shaped flowers grow in a wide range of colors above beautiful light-green foliage. These eyecatching, droughttolerant flowers are best when planted in mass for a stunning patch of color in your garden. They are pollinator favorites, attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Hyssop is great in any garden but it’s especially wonderful in waterwise gardens because it requires so little water once it’s established.

Buddleia / Butterfly Bush

You may think you already know what butterfly bushes are, and you may already have your own opinion of them. However, buddleia is so genetically diverse that whatever image you have in your head is just the beginning. They grow in a wide array of sizes, from 12 feet tall and wide, to 2 x 2, and every size in between. Some may be described as gangly, while others would be considered neatly compact. They’re widely adaptable, tolerate various soil conditions, occasional drought, and even the nasty water from Utah Lake. Plus, they attract pollinators in droves, including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

Caryopteris / Bluebeard Blue Mist or False Spirea

If you really want to attract pollinators and support your local bee population, you’ll want to grow caryopteris. They are a bee’s absolute favorite plant. Incredibly waterwise and stunningly beautiful with their clusters of blue, pink, or white flowers, they’ll add long-lasting color and interest to your landscape for years to come. And at a size of roughly 3’ x 3’, they’re ideally sized for any garden.

Dianthus / Carnations

Dianthus are amazing flowers that manage well in hot, dry conditions. You may be surprised to learn that the carnations you buy at the floral shop are actually just a Dianthus cultivar. That probably explains why your carnations are some of the longest-lasting flowers in the vase, even after the rest have wilted. Today’s cultivars will outshine anything your mother or grandmother used to grow. They’re available in almost any color imaginable, and they’ll grace your garden for years to come.

Cytisus purpureus, Purple Broom

Lovely pea-like flowers in shades of pink and light purple grow in clusters along Purple Bloom’s wiry branches from spring into summer. Tough and durable with an open habit, it makes a simple filler plant when not blooming. Purple Bloom prefers dry soil and will likely die in standing water. It’s ideal for Utah because it thrives in alkaline clay soils, tolerates environmental salts, and is highly tolerant of urban conditions. It’s hardy to zone 4, prefers full sun, and will reach roughly 1 foot tall and three feet wide. It’s great for low borders and filling park strips.

Rosemallow Hibiscus and Rose of Sharon Hibiscus

Hibiscus starts late in the spring, usually about three weeks after you’ ve convinced yourself it died over the winter. It blooms profusely from summer until frost, requiring only a moderate amount of water. Rosemallow Hibiscus produce large 8-inch diameter flowers that look like they belong in a tropical forest, but they are content right here in our dry, mountain desert landscape. Rose of Sharon hibiscus are available in an assortment of sizes and shapes. They can be grown as a shrub or in tree form. Their flowers are about 4 inches in diameter with a variety of colors and pedal counts. They’ll make a stunning statement in your hot spot garden.

Echinacea / Coneflower

You may be surprised by the wide variety of colors and flower structures you ’ll find in echinacea. These beautiful flowers are famous for their drought tolerance and bold colors. We feel strongly that every garden should have a few.

Iberis (Candy Tuft)

This nearly evergreen plant is one of the first to bloom in the spring. It loads itself with small white flowers that last for weeks. When it isn’t in bloom, it provides a nice, textured patch of green in your garden. It is truly one of our favorites. Iberis, or Candytuft, is hardy to zone 4 and will reach 6 to 12 inches tall and 12 to 24 inches wide, depending on the cultivar. They’re fantastic, full sun plants that will thrive in your yard!

Heliopsis / False Sunflower

Celebrated for its remarkable coloration and extended flowering duration, Heliopsis will grace your garden with bold, daisy-like blossoms in deep, vibrant hues complemented by mahogany centers. Its tall, slender stems, adorned with rich, dark foliage, offer an intriguing visual contrast against the striking flowers. This plant is a magnet for butterflies, and it serves as a welcomed food source for songbirds who are drawn to its seeds.

Whirling Butterflies

This waterwise plant has been gaining popularity over the years and for good reason. Masses of small, butterfly shaped flowers hover on sturdy stems above a mass of neatly rounded foliage. In the breeze, it looks like butterflies are dancing above your garden. It’s a wonderful way to add color and motion to your landscape.

Sedum / Stonecrop

Sedum, or Stonecrop is an amazing family of plants that adds outstanding interest in the form of foliage color and texture from late spring through the frost of fall. Many varieties bloom in the fall with a stunning display of color while most other plants are heading toward dormancy. Sedum provides eye-catching interest almost all year long. They’re a great way to fill empty spaces in borders and parkstrips.

Roses

You may be surprised to learn that roses are one of the most waterwise flowering shrubs you can plant in your yard. They’re incredibly versatile and easier to grow than you may have been told. In fact, the University of California Davis has a fantastic list of Blue Ribbon Drought-tolerant roses, most of which are available at Progressive Plants. Because we’ve been growing roses here in the Salt Lake Valley for decades, we can share several outstanding waterwise varieties with you.

Penstemon / Beardtongue

You will love Penstemon, or Beardtongue, for its durability and beauty, even in the height of summer. It is available in a variety of sizes and colors and features clusters of small, colorful flowers that stand out nicely against its bold foliage. It’s definitely one of our favorite heat resistant, drought-tolerant flowers.

Lavender

Add amazing color and fragrance to your hot spot garden with beautiful lavender. Look through our online catalog and discover the many new varieties available. You’ll find lavender in shades of purple and blue and blooms that range from tiny to quite large (for lavender).

Salvia

Salvia, also known as Meadow or Woodland Sage is an outstanding way to bring long-lasting color to a hot spot in your landscape. It’s drought tolerant, deer resistant, thrives in various soil conditions, and even tolerates water from Utah Lake.

There are several new salvia cultivars that put the more common varieties to shame. We aren't talking about just a couple of plants, but several series of them: Marvel, LYRICAL, Color Spires, and more. These cultivars grow sturdier and more upright than the older varieties, they bloom much longer, and come in a wide range of colors! It’s time to rediscover salvia for its newfound beauty, vigor, and strength.

Pincushion Flower

You can see why Scabiosa columbaria are called Pincushion Flowers. Its blossoms feature an outer ring of frilly, flat petals and a domed center of smaller petals that resemble cushions. Tiny stamens that rise up from the center of the flower resemble little pins. They are hardy in the cold to zones 3 or 4, and can still handle the heat of summer beautifully. They begin blooming in the spring and hold their color well into the summer. Beautifully suited for Utah, they’re waterwise, deer resistant, and tolerant of water from Utah Lake.

This is just a small taste of the plants that will thrive in your hot spots. You can find hundreds more by visiting ProgressivePlants.com. Create a free account with us and use our Garden Planner tool. You’ll find wonderful plants for your hottest areas by selecting plants that require full-sun exposure and are also waterwise. Good luck, and happy gardening!