Heat-tolerant varieties that keep the garden blooming all summer

This is not a complaint, it is simply a fact. But it is a fact that needs a solution. We cannot seed the clouds with ice crystals, but we can seed our stores with plants that are successful in the heat.

While petunias, marigolds, and calibrachoa may be all my daughter needs (if she remembers to water them), other gardeners and landscapers may want something a bit more interesting. There are at least a dozen I could share, but space does not permit, so here are a few plants that cool down the landscape.

For the Landscaper Who Wants to Make a Statement

• The Taros: Alocasia, Colocasia, Xanthosoma — All of these are known as taro, although I suppose the main taro we deal with is Colocasia. All of these are definitely tropical-looking possibilities for designers trying to make a statement. They are handled in the greenhouse or landscape similarly. They eat up heat and humidity and are guaranteed to make people stop in their tracks.
• Caladium — Certainly there is nothing rare with this old-fashioned shade lover, but the advances in Caladium breeding have been nothing less than shocking. In fact, a good many caladiums can be grown in full sun. They are tubers, so they must be forced in a warm greenhouse, but this is not a difficult thing to find at this time of year. They suck up heat, and make a brilliant show in the summer — just ask Disney World.

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Source: Greenhouse Grower