We can agree that it’s hot outside. It is probably no hotter than last season, but last summer was still COVID-esque, and we really didn’t venture out much. However, this summer I have been to Memphis, TN, Macon, GA, and Montreal, Canada, as well as Galveston, TX, Glen Arm, MD, and Gainesville, GA. They have all been hot. Even Edmonton, up in the northlands of Canada, was in the 90s.

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.

For the Landscaper Who Doesn’t Want to Take Chances

• Lantana — There is no end to the Lantana breeding, but one thing they all have in common is heat tolerance. A dozen colors, forms, and heights are easily produced and make a show all summer. Throw in the fact that deer don’t touch them, and what’s not to love?
• Crepe Myrtle — Now that breeders have made this delightful summer flowering tree into a delightful summer flowering shrub, this absolutely begs for more use. It is a landscaper’s dream — successful in containers, successful in the landscape, and flowering profusely for months in the summer.
• Hibiscus — I was debating which of a half dozen other no-brainer summer-exciting plants to include, but this one is available in extraordinary colors and heights. Once planted in the landscape, in containers or in the ground, they will impress anyone who walks by. Hibiscus is tropical in appearance, but temperate in habit.