Know Your Plants’ Heat Tolerance

As with real estate, outdoor plant survival depends on location, location, and location. Some plants like hydrangeas and New Guinea impatiens do well in shade with just a little vitamin D from Mr. Sun in the morning. Watch them in the afternoon sun, however, as they may start to droop and need water to perk up. (Ferns and hostas also do nicely in shade.)

Increasingly, however, it’s getting harder to find that shade as summer – and climate change – heat up, along with water restrictions. Fortunately, there’s a great variety of flowering plants that thrive in sunlight, beginning with the appropriate name sunflower, which has been trending because it is the national flower of Ukraine. (Though the sunflower is beloved of Europe – think Vincent van Gogh’s paintings – it is actually native to the Americas and was introduced to Europe through colonization.)

Staying in a similar color family, black-eyed Susans do well in sunlight, adding daisy-like charm to the garden and attracting pollinators (although the “black eye” is a misnomer, being more purple-brown.) Another daisy cousin, the coneflower, is a sun-field winner as are daylilies, which despite their name and shape are not actual lilies; hibiscus, which make a fabulous tea, their tart flavor particularly lending itself to ice in the summer months; marigolds; peonies; the hardy petunia; and the ever-versatile zinnia.

With careful observation and preparation, you can savor a color-filled garden that is also adaptable to our ecologically challenged times.