Tips for Bold Blooms for Garden’s Hot Months

It’s not always easy to keep a garden in constant bloom during Florida’s hottest months. One day the plants look great and the next, they are looking parched and drooping, and you can’t always rely on the steady drench of summer rain. These heat-loving plants also attract a host of pollinators, making your garden a buzzing haven of bees, birds and butterflies. Over the years, I’ve experimented with species that are low-maintenance and thrive during the hot summer months.

Top picks for the hot summer, delivering constant colors and keeping the pollinators busy coming back for more:

Firebush (Hamelia patens), a Florida native, also known as scarlet bush or firecracker shrub with vibrant red and orange tubular flowers. Hummingbirds love the clusters of flowers and the entire bush is a hive of activity year-round as the berries provide nutritious snacks to many varieties of local birds. It blooms year-round and its leaves stay glossy evergreen all year.

Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis), or dune sunflowers, are native to Florida and are one of the easiest native plants to grow in Southwest Florida. This is one tough groundcover that is heat, salt and drought-tolerant and keeps coming back each year. It brightens any garden spot with its bright yellow, daisy-like blossoms. They reseed themselves and do well as a spreading border plant on a berm or slope. It gives your garden that easy-going cottage appeal year-round and the blooms attract bees and butterflies.

Gaillardia Blanket Flower (Gaillardia pulchella) is very similar to the beach sunflower in its growing patterns. For a long time, the blanket flower was regarded as a Florida native but in 2020, a research paper stated it was not a native Florida species. Regardless of its designation, this species thrives in hot, humid, salty, and sandy Florida soil that produces blooms in red, orange, and gold. I value this plant’s contribution to the landscape in providing a year-long, non-stop source of pollen and nectar for a diversity of bees, even bumble bees, and reseeds the garden each year.

Red Powder Puff Tree (Calliandra haematocephala) is a non-native, and as the name indicates, the red flowers resemble fluffy powder puffs. First, the tree is covered in red berry clusters that burst open into fuzzy puffball blossoms. When in bloom, this is a stunning small tree or tall shrub humming with pollinator activity from sunrise to sunset. Its cousin, the Pink Powderpuff, is more common in the landscape. And if you are tempted to “pet” the soft fuzzy flowers, most likely there is a bee working deep inside the powder puff bloom. It also bursts into bloom when the garden is quiet, so it enjoys its own solo display of red color, which makes it a total standout. It blooms year-round!

Cassia Candelabra, or Candlestick cassia (Cassia alata), is a non-native pollinator and host plant that I plant for its aesthetic appeal. The striking upright yellow flower clusters resemble candlesticks held above the green foliage. When in bloom, it provides a visual standout in the landscape. Its pollinator value supports several species of the Sulfur butterfly as its host plant, meaning they will lay their eggs underneath the leaves of the Cassia candelabra plants. Also, bees, in addition to foraging for nectar, seek refuge and rest inside the yellow flower cluster. According to experts, resting in flowers also lets bees conserve energy, allowing them to continue with their foraging activities. Peak bloom is October and once the blooming season is over, the Cassia leaves behind elongated seed pods which can be harvested once mature and the dead branches pruned.

With the right plant and some pre-planning, your garden patch will ensure a steady display of vibrant flowers with a steady parade of pollinator partners not just during the summer months but year-round. Enjoy!