Keith Hansen

Color in the landscape is something everyone enjoys. But, too often, the garden is planted so that most or all of the color takes place in the during the wonderful spring months when azaleas, dogwoods and spring bulbs are just about everywhere.

June, July and August may be hot, but your garden can be just as hot with bright colors during the dog days of summer. It just requires a little planning and proper plant selection.

Color doesn’t only come from annual flowers, although they are the quickest and easiest source of bright spots in a green yard. There are trees, shrubs, tender tropicals and hardy perennials which bloom or have attractive leaves in the heat of summer and early fall.

One of the most popular and reliable of the woody plants for summer color are crepe myrtles. Also called lilac of the south, this imported plant has been around a long time. According to garden historian Greg Grant, records at Mount Vernon imply that George Washington was one of the first to attempt to grow crepe myrtle in the U.S.

Old abandoned homesites are easily spotted in the summer when ancient specimens still faithfully bloom — a testament to their rugged toughness.

Crepe myrtles come in a range of sizes from 30 foot trees down to 3-foot shrubs, and all sizes in between. Large panicles of colorful blooms begin in mid-June with colors ranging from pure white to pink, rose, fuschia, and purple. Another feature of larger crepe myrtles is their multi-colored peeling bark.

Powdery mildew is the one downside to these summer bloomers, but can be minimized or even avoided by planting them only in full sun, and by selecting hybrid varieties known for their superior disease resistance.

Over-zealous pruners are another battle crepe myrtles have to fight, resulting in terrible disfigurement. The only pruning they need is to remove unwanted suckers to help enhance the display of their attractive trunks, and on smaller plants to remove the seedpods only.

A few shrubs can give heat-beating summer color. Althea, also called Rose-of-Sharon, is an old fashioned favorite in the mallow family. They faithfully bloom on the hottest days. This plant has been a southern standard since colonial times, and recently has received attention from breeders at the National Arboretum in Washington D.C. All are easy to grow. They flower best in full sun, but will also do well in partial sun.

Oleander is truly a heat-beater, thriving in hot, dry sites. It can be a bit cold tender in the most severe winters, but usually comes back to bloom again.

Several tropical plants, while being totally non-winter hardy, give so much summer color that they provide a great addition to the landscape. Savvy landscapers use them as annuals, knowing they will get a great color display throughout the hot gardening season.

Chinese hibiscus is one of the more popular tropicals with large, loudly colorful blooms set against deep green leaves. Like many tropicals, potted specimens can often be overwintered in protected areas. But even if you have to replace them yearly, they give you a lot of color bang for your bucks.

Mandevilla is another popular tropical plant. This fast-growing twining vine can be trained up pillars or lattice, or grown on a fence for a traffic-stopping, non-stop display of large, bright pink or red flowers.

Esperanza, also called yellowbells (Tecoma stans) stays covered in large, bright yellow, tubular flowers all summer. Native to far south Texas and central Mexico, this great small shrub can return for repeat performances following a mild winter. Perfect for full sun areas. Look for the variety “Gold Star’’ Esperanza, a Texas Superstar introduced by East Texan Greg Grant who selected it for its early blooming trait.

Other tropicals with outstanding summer color include the yellow-blooming allamanda, firebush (Hamelia) with its hummingbird-attracting orange-red trumpet flowers and attractive foliage, Mexican heather, and bougainvilleas which come in a multitude of colors.

Of course, there are many perennials and annuals that can be counted on to grace the summer landscape.

Examples of perennials to choose from include canna (many of which now have both attractive leaves and flowers) four-o’clocks (for great evening color and fragrance – but beware of seedlings), lantana, mallow hisbiscus, summer phlox, the many different kinds of salvias, purple coneflower, gloriosa daisies, Rudbekia “Goldstrum’’ and other black-eyed Susans, ruellia and veronica (especially “Sunny Border Blue’’).

Annuals which can be seeded or transplanted now include zinnias, bachelor buttons (also called gomphrena and globe amaranth), cockscomb, celosia, impatiens, moss rose, portulaca, marigolds, cosmos (both the hot red and yellow types and the cooler colors of purple and pink), marigolds, periwinkles and copper plant.

Finally, don’t overlook fast-growing vines to give vertical color on fences and trellises. Try moonflower (large, fragrant blooms open late in day), cypress vine, cardinal vine, hyacinth bean and morning glory.

There are many more options in all of the above categories. So, there should be no reason to have a dull, all-green yard this summer. Visit your favorite nursery for some heat-beating color plants this summer, and visit the IDEA and Heritage Rose gardens in the Tyler Rose Garden for more flowering ideas.

Keith Hansen
()