It was nice to see some things thriving no matter how hot it was, but the weather also cut short the lives of many beautiful plants.

Every year, the Young’s Plant Farm team uses landscape beds to illustrate current garden trends, how homeowners can accomplish them, and how to make plants thrive.

Temperatures were in the 90s for a long stretch this summer, but occasional downpours brought some relief. Here are the plants that stood out this year.

This year’s trials put more attention into houseplant varieties, with different forms to show customers how they look as they mature.

This year the trials team at the Dallas Arboretum did plantings in both spring and summer to observe whether or not the time of establishment affected the plants’ survival rate.

A number of upgrades brought improvements to the trial garden this year.

Trial managers say they are seeing a growing trend in the number of annual flowers that are bred for containers, which is likely due to the rise in consumer demand for container annuals.

Michigan State University Extension picks four plant cultivars or combinations at each trial garden participating in the Michigan Garden Plant Tour.