For most of us, gardening is a double-edged sword.
On the sharp side, there is an inexhaustible mission to grow every plant on the planet. We long for the most amazing natives, but we also long for the aspirations of foreigners who live so far away. It only takes one picture of those light blue, Tibetan papyrus, and we lose everything, common sense and other emotions.
And on the spur of the moment, we want to have everything we planted … and not just to live, but to grow. Although we are well aware that those Tibetan popcorns hate anything worse than 75 degrees Celsius, we are still a little disgusted when they drink and dry in the Kentucky summer heat and drought.
So the challenge for this dog day season is that I have appointed a gardener to walk through the gardens of my Dell Garden, cover my eyes as my dog walks around my neighborhood and focus on driving around town and bring a handful. In Kentucky, plants that thrive in summer heat and drought.
Get rid of the cloudy eyes of all the unusual and unusual love, mystery and message-order-catalog-inspired and come up with a list of plants that do not require special care and still look good.
So here is the list – shade tree, shrub, evergreen, annual and annual / tropical. If you want to plant your first garden, these will give you a good place to start. If you have an existing garden, perhaps one of these is a good replacement for what you have been trying to kill for years.
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Kentucky Coffee Tree

In the best-of-all-summer-nothing-how-to-find-hot-and-dry-category, Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnastics Diocese) It’s hard to win. Growing up to 50 feet tall or slightly erect oval, it provides a shade, with a greenish tinge. Relatively deep-rooted species, easy to plant in the shade: no wild maple roots to withstand this. The color of the fall is bright yellow, and the bark is light gray, scaly.
For some people, the coffee tree is a stumbling block, like a young tree, it is a branch that does not grow much – not a little bit, but from the coat of arms of Fred Aster in the 1951 film “Royal Wedding”. “But with a little time and patience, you can easily grow a wonderful sample that will not be pierced in the heat of summer.
Shining Abelia

With gardening, this season and year after year, you won’t find many Abyssinian species (ohhh).Abelia xgrandiflora) Easily available performance. Growing like pure mounds at 3 feet and 6 feet tall (depending on the variety), they give small, shiny green or a variety of evergreen leaves that last well during the summer. Small, fragrant, pink flowers are widely produced in the summer and attract interesting pollen – bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and others. They grow well in the sun, but also work in the shade.
And as a bonus, everyone is known for their hard cuts. If they are too small for their shrubs, they may scratch the ground in winter and respond with a good new flow of growth next season.
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American Holly

Well, that was hard. American Holly (Alex Opaka), Once grounded, is one of the evergreen trees that we can grow. The specimens grow up to 40 feet tall, remain narrow enough to fit well in most home landscapes, and as long as there is a male holly in the area, female specimens produce those amazing berries for a great winter display. The berries are popular with many birds and can be used as an important winter food source.
But while American holly looks good in hot and dry summers, it takes a few seasons to form new planted specimens, and then there are those leaves … If you haven’t planted under a leafy holly, you’re in for a treat. Those gardeners who are unsure of the weeds during weed sessions have an annoying tendency to get soft skin on their hands and knees. But really, when did you see an American Holly being loved in the landscape?
Red hot poker

When I first learned about this plant in the second state, I received a red hot poker (Kniphofia hybrids) A generous lunch break. But recent breeding has produced some amazing new blends that have extended lunch time to three or four months! One of the very few species of African species that can be grown outdoors in the middle latitudes are markers of yellow, orange, red, and even some of the same color, with spectacular, architectural foliage in multi-colored vertical vases. inflorescence.
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When the flowers are amazing to the eye, they are a siren for hummingbirds. In the Ya della Gardens Review Gardens, where there are about 30 species, Hammingbirds will be amazed at the midday snacks competing for the best flowers.
Begonia ” Codes of Wisdom ‘

I had to include this in my list of drought-tolerant plants, although they did not see many annual years. We all have our favorite container plants, and we fight all summer long to keep their roots cool when they fill the pots. But all of this hangs in there all summer. Deeply damaged, leathery leaves are the perfect foil for pure white flowers. And if you do not have enough water or two, this is not a problem at all. Now, for 90 weeks of weather you can’t go on vacation for two weeks and expect it to look good when you get home, but this is a perfect win compared to the impatient and other typical container year.
One last comment on a strange name for this begonia. For years, the ant anthill was sold in the name of gardening. Refusing to accept that as a proper name, we did some research on old catalog archives, and years ago a simple catalog typed changed the name several times. I’m not sure if “art belly” would be better than “Ant Hall”, but at least the latter is true!
So you are there. A list of plants that will not fail to help you pack a late summer garden. Now I think I’m going to fertilize those blue shoots …
Paul Capielo is CEO of Ye del Plant Road, 6220 Old Lagrange Road, yewdellgardens.org.