Heat Lovin’ Plants

The heat in our Southern California area has been brutal. For the past two weeks it has been in the high 90 to low 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It was also very humid. I was out there watering every day before I go to work. Luckily the plants survived and have been given me the best flowers I’ve ever seen this spring and summer.

Hibiscus

After three years of growing hibiscus with very little flowers, I finally realized that these bushes needed to be trimmed in order to flower. They flower on NEW WOOD! I lost three years of their beauty! The hibiscus tree below is growing nicely now to about 8 feet tall with variegated leaves on half of the tree. The leaves are half white and speckled green. It has about a million red flowers as you can see here.

This Hibiscus tree below is a different kind of red. It is more of an orange red but in real life it is a beautiful deep red, one that I love anyway. I recently trimmed it so I am expecting a big show soon.

This pink hibiscus was trimmed recently and have been producing these vibrant, deep pink flowers. I love hibiscus and I think I have about 20 different varieties in my garden right now.

Gloriosa

This little gloriosa is amazing! When it first opened it was a light greenish-yellow but after a few days it turned into pink. Gloriosa has become one of my new favorite flowers this year. I would love to find more of them to grow. I have them all in pots right now and water every 2 days or so in the heat. These plants don’t like to be too wet so I let them dry out first. I have a red one of these gloriosas and it flowered earlier in the spring. This one was planted later.

Cannas

I didn’t like cannas before when I see them growing everywhere around office buildings or commercial properties. They are drought tolerant and very low maintenance that’s why they were growing by the dozens around commercial properties. One day I saw them growing around a cottage-y looking house nearby, with 6-7 feet tall spikes of orange and yellow flowers and I fell in love with them. They are strange looking flowers that doesn’t resemble anything, unless like a softer-looking birds of paradise.

Nicotiana

This one has been growing since last spring but this summer it has really taken off with a constant stream of flowers. They are a beautiful vibrant purple color. It seems to be doing well in full hot sun too.

Lisianthus

This one grown from seed at the same time as the nicotiana last year. It has been producing flowers non-stop since spring. They remind me of mini roses.

Bougainvillea

This bougainvillea is one of my favorites because of their pink and white flowers. The bush is really pretty but it needs constant trimming. The spikes on the branches poke out everywhere. I have the bonsai version of this bush also. I hardly water this thing and it does pretty well here.

Mexican Petunias

I have this prolific bloomer in a pot because I read they can be invasive here in my area. It grows really fast so I have been keeping them in the container. It flowers every morning and closes in the afternoon before I get home. I love these pretty pink flowers.

Alliums

Well, these are the alliums that have been growing for almost two years. The first year I had it in the hot sun against the front of my house, in a pot. It wasn’t producing as many flowers but then I moved the pot to afternoon shade, under a tree and it has been really happy. I never knew these alliums can have so many cute flowers like this one. I’ve always thought of alliums are like chives that have ball-like flowers. These alliums have pretty flower characteristics. I may have to put them in the ground as a filler under the trees.

That’s all the flowers for this week. The weather is cooling for us this coming week so I’m looking forward to planting and doing some garden cleanup. Have a great week!