We are entering the hottest period of the garden year, and it is very hard to predict whether it will be hot and dry or hot and wet.
If it is dry, then water-shedding will become as much a fact of life as load-shedding. This will call for careful, waterwise gardening, and selecting only the most heat-tolerant plants.
Fortunately there are plenty of heat-tolerant plants. If they are planted in the right position, in soil that has been enriched with compost for good aeration and water retention, and are watered correctly, it is still possible to have a glorious summer garden.
Flowers that beat the heat
High heat tolerance: angelonias, celosias, euphorbias, gazanias, marigolds, portulacas, petunias (in dry coastal areas), salvias, vincas
Medium-to-high heat tolerance: begonias, chrysanthemums, dianthus, lobelias, marigolds,…
