Our Favorite Heat-Loving Plants of the South

Southern living is all about the heat and that goes for plants as well as people. If you want a stunning garden then you need to choose flowers that do well in the hot, humid Southern climate. Start your garden with these heat-resistant plants and you can’t go wrong.

1.  Candytuft. Delicate looking white flowers are the trademark of Candytuft but it is anything but delicate. This hardy plant is an evergreen subshrub. It’s the perfect plant for edging. It gets to be about a foot in height. The flowers and leaves are small and prolific and produce a delightful splash of color all summer long.
2. Portulaca. Not only does is this fun flowering plant tolerate heat extremely well but it doesn’t care where it is planted. Portulaca comes in a variety of wonderful colors and loves sunlight. The blooms open up to light and, when the weather is hot, close up in the late afternoon.
3. Yarrow. Yarrow is an extremely diverse flower. Yarrow with the gold tops are the most well-known, but there are many more varieties. They are hardy, do well in drought and heat, and the rabbits and deer won’t eat them. Even if the wildlife doesn’t like them, the butterflies do.
4. Plumbago. This lovely evergreen perennial has little flowers that are normally a lovely shade of light blue. It does well in heat. It’s a low shrub type plant that comes in an all-white variety that will go wonderfully with anything you plant next to it.
5. Black-eyed Susan. In southern states like Oklahoma, the Black-eyed Susan grows abundantly in fields and along roadsides. It is quite easy to grow and looks lovely in a garden. The blooms are perfect for cut flower gardens and will even grow back later in the season when cut. Plant these around your vegetable garden to keep the deer away.
6. Threadleaf Coreopsis. Coreopsis are natives of the South and are another easy-to-grow plant. They belong to the sunflower family and have lovely yellow blossoms. If you are a bird lover the seeds attract them, but, unlike many seeds, won’t bring the deer into your flower garden. For a nice splash of yellow in the heat, plant these.
7. Lantana. Lantana is a southern garden’s crowning jewel. Heat and drought mean nothing to this plant. They bloom steadily through the hot weather. But a warning, unless you are a butterfly lover don’t plant them. Butterflies adore them.
8. Madagascar Periwinkle. Although this is not a plant native to America, it is native to places that are hot, like India and Madagascar, making it perfect for Southern gardens. Locals may know it as vinca. You can get colorful varieties such as white, rose, pink and blends of colors.
9. Verbena. Verbena needs to be on the list of everyone who wants an easy to plant and colorful flower. There are many varieties of Verbena and they all love the heat. Low rainfall doesn’t affect them. It’s another great choice for the gardener who has little time to baby their plants.
10. Zinnia. No garden in the South would be complete without Zinnias. Everyone loves their bright colors and round, happy blooms. They grow in all colors and sizes. Don’t plant them too early and they will do nicely.
11. Bonus – Cosmos. The Cosmos is another great heat tolerant flower for the lazy gardener. The color choices seem endless. This plant is so easy to grow you can literally just scatter the seeds and they will grow. Planting doesn’t get any easier than that. Chose plants for your space, they grow from 2′ – 5′.

If you choose from these plants you won’t be disappointed. You can plant many of them together for a variety of colors, size and flowering times.