By Cheryl Huckabee
What’s blooming in North Texas in the heat of July? In our gardens, here are six top drought tolerant choices that will survive the Texas summer heat and flower!
Gray Santolina (Santolina chamaecyparissus)
- Also known as Lavender Cotton, it is a blooming ground cover with lovely grey evergreen foliage
- Small yellow flowers bloom all summer that attract bees and butterflies
- Low to medium water requirements and prefers full sun
Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
- Tall, spike-like clusters have purple-blue flowers that attract birds, bees and butterflies
- Hardy, and heat loving, it resists deer and pests
- Low water requirements and does best in full sun
Butterfly Bush ‘Ice Chip’ & ‘Pugster Blue’ (Buddleia x)
- ‘Ice Chip’ has white flowers, and ‘Pugster Blue’ purple flowers on compact mounds of silver-colored foliage
- The fragrant flowers attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds
- Does best in full to part-sun and has low water requirements
Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’)
- An easy care plant with bright yellow daisy-like flowers that are good for cut flowers
- Tolerates heat, humidity and clay soil
- Prefers full sun and has low water requirements
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa L.)
- Also known as Beebalm, Wild Bergamot is native to the lower 48 United States
- Clusters of lavender, pink or white flowers, bloom on 2-5 ft., open-branched stems
- Tolerates part-shade and full-sun, and has low to medium water requirements
‘Stella de Oro’ Daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Stella de Oro’)
- A low maintenance lily that will rebloom trumpet-shaped golden-yellow flowers often into early fall
- Growing just 1 foot tall, it’s best used in the front of the border or mass plantings
- Prefers full to part-sun, well draining soil and has medium water requirements
Give one of these drought and heat tolerant summer bloomers a try in your garden. You won’t be disappointed!
Join us for these fantastic educational gardening events in July and August:
July 13 – ‘Ecological Landscaping’ presented by Wildscapers Landscaping
August 4 – ‘Fall Vegetable Gardening’ presented by Denton Master Gardener Mike James
Check Upcoming Events for details: dcmga.com
Happy Gardening!
.jpg)
