Feature Article - for release the week of May 25, 2008

Angela Sachson - Extension Horticulture staff

The Color of Summer

Florida is a great place to grow stuff.  We all know that.  Especially in the months from October to May.  Those other months, the really hot and humid ones, not so much.  In my family, we always used to plant annuals in the spring for a continuous display of color all season.  It was required. 

When I arrived in Florida it was April and it was not long before I went shopping for annuals to plant.  Did I have a lot to learn! 

 I believed the little tags in the pots.  If they said full sun, I complied.  Only much later did I realized that those tags are written by folks in Minnesota.  Our full sun is more intense, our humidity is more intense, and then add to that our alternating heavy rains or drought!   It takes a pretty tough flower to thrive all summer in our sunny beds.

It took me a few years and lots of dollars to really understand this.  I also learned that many of our perennials have a longer season of bloom than those up north, and annuals aren’t quite so important in Florida Yards.

Annuals you gotta Love

Still, every spring I see empty spots and want to fill them with pretty annuals.   Here is a short list of tough annuals for the hot sun. 

*       Marigold—Big, small, yellow, orange, they grow quickly from seed.  You can also buy bedding plants.  I like the smell.  Also, save seed and re-plant.

*       Portulaca—All kinds of beautiful colors, these are succulent and store a little drink in their stems.

*       Vinca or Periwinkle – This is not the one that grows up north.  Vinca looks tender but it is not.  It can take the hottest weather looking refreshed and will even seed itself in the heat.  The reason you see so many of these as bedding plants in stores is that it is a top producer in hot weather.  Plants are easy to come by and inexpensive— and it grows quickly into a good size plant (about two by two feet).

*       Zinnia—My personal favorite.  It comes in all sizes and all colors.  You can throw the seeds on the ground with the expectation that plants will appear and you can save the seeds from spent flowers and scatter those too.  These are my tried and true sun lovers.

  

Perennials for Longer Color

Many suggested sun-tolerant flowers are listed here with some reservation:  

*       Pentas – These mounding plants get covered with star-shaped flowers.  Butterflies love the red and pink colored “star clusters” but the white flowered ones may also break up a green flower bed.  They need to be chopped back every few months, and may last a few years before they lose their appeal.

*       Blue Daze – This slowly creeping mound of light blue flowers takes the heat very well, but watch out for overwatering. This is also a butterfly magnet.

*       Gaillardia or Blanket Flower – These clumps of foot tall daisy like flowers come in combinations of red and yellow.  They will need dead heading once the flowers fade to keep tem in color.  Or, just pull up the old tired plants, shake well, and you have re-seed a new “Blanket of Flowers” in your garden.

*       Salvia and Verbena - these are generally annuals, but act like perennials because they can also re-seed themselves.  They form spikes that are covered with colorful small flowers.  Some are native; others are types that have been “civilized” by plant breeders.  With many different colors available, a custom blend of color can be added to those sunny hot spots in your summer garden.

 I plan to try some of these this summer in my all-day hot, hot bed.  I’ll let you know how they did by Labor Day.  But in all cases, be sure to water well for the first weeks.  No newly installed plant is drought tolerant! 

I’ve placed more information on our Okeechobee web page, http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu.  If you need additional information on summer flowers, please email us at okeechobee@ifas.ufl.edu or call us at 863-763-6469.  Local residents can stop by our office at 458 Hwy 98 North in Okeechobee, and visit our Okeechobee County Master Gardeners from 1 to 3 PM on Tuesday afternoons.  Go Gators!

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