|
IN THIS SECTION:
Main
Seasonal Stars
Summer Care Checklist
Soaker Hoses
Summer Irrigation
Conservation Plant List
|
|
Summer's Seasonal Stars
|
Firebush
Hamelia patens
|
|
|
|
Firebush start growing and blooming once
summer begins. They thrive in sunny, hot, dry
places and are covered with orange-red tubular
flowers all summer long. Hummingbirds love
these plants! Firebush get larger each summer,
so plan their location carefully.
|
|
Plumbago
Plumbago auriculata
|
|
|
|
|
Plumbago is a root-hardy perennial that
will produce quarter-size blooms
(white and various shades of blue) all
summer long. The plant will reach three
feet tall and likes to spread. The foliage is
an attractive light-green color. The ideal
conditions for plumbago seem to be
morning sun or speckled shade, but it will
grow in more or less light. The denser the
shade, the fewer the flowers.
|
|
|
"Gold Star" Esperanza
Tecoma stans "Gold Star"
|
|
|
|
Esperanza or yellow bells begin to bloom in May.
The plant loves the heat, and full sun is a
necessity to produce blooms. The yellow,
tubular flowers appear in several cycles if spent
flowers are removed. On most sites, the stems
freeze back to the roots every winter and then
grow to five to eight feet tall the next summer.
|
|
Turk's Cap
Malvaviscus arboreus v. drummondii
|
|
|
|
|
Turk's Cap prospers in dappled sunlight under
trees, but blooms lessen as sun exposure
decreases. Its scarlet red blooms and nearly
evergreen foliage, make Turk's Cap a good
rambling groundcover under oaks on poor
soils. Hummingbirds love Turk's Cap but the
deer are not very fond of it.
|
|
|
Pride of Barbados
Caesalpinia pulcherrima
|
|
|
|
Pride of Barbados is a tall, heat-loving perennial that produces bright balls of orange-red blossoms during mid-summer. It needs full-sun and good drainage, but requires little other care beacause it is not bothered by pests or disease.
|
|
|
2-4 ft
2-5ft
