Plants that Beat the Heat! Drought and Heat Tolerant Plants

Summer is almost here and I'm gonna give you guys some awesome plants that will beat that summer heat. Let's go. So we all know that spring and early summer is really that prime time for the landscape when things are looking spectacular. You have beautiful blooms happening, vibrant foliage, and things just look great and strong. But as the season continues, we get into the peak of summertime and that heat starts to come, things can tend to look a little bit tired. So I'm gonna give you guys some fantastic plants that will beat the summer heat and thrive actually really well in it. And the great thing about the plants that I'm gonna tell you about today is that they can be used in conjunction with each other to create a beautiful landscape. They have different height, color, and texture variations. They have similar watering requirements. You'll just want to cross-reference the USDA zone that you are in to make sure these plants will work in your area. Let's take a look at our first plant, and that is Hesperalo parviflora. Hesperalo parviflora, commonly known as red yucca, is a gorgeous flowering plant that loves heat. It does great in desert conditions and is very drought tolerant. It'll take very low water once established and it's actually very low maintenance. So this one is an absolute winner. Just make sure to give it well-drained soil. The foliage itself is pretty interesting. It's sort of a bluish gray tone, slender leaves, upright, with little thread-like hairs along the margins. Really neat. But where it's at is the bloom. Colors can range from red to sort of a pinkish red, depending on what variety you get. And some notable attributes, besides it being incredibly drought tolerant and heat loving, it will attract swarms of hummingbirds. So get your cameras ready when this thing is in bloom because if you plant it, they will come. All right, next plant is buddleia. Commonly known as butterfly bush, buddleia does attract tons of butterflies when it is in bloom. And the blooms are spectacular. Cone-shaped, large, and bold, and vibrant. There are so many different varieties. You mostly see shades of purples and lavenders, some pinks and fuchsias, but there's also a white, which is very beautiful, incredibly showy, and they are also somewhat fragrant. And you can cut those flowers and use them in arrangements. The bloom time is generally summer into early fall. And if you deadhead these during the bloom season, it will actually encourage more blooms to come. Buddleia will thrive in full sun and will generally require low to moderate water. And it's also worth noting that buddleia can naturalize a space. So we wanna be careful not to plant it in riparian areas where native plant material is desired. But again, buddleia will love the heat and full sun and produce clusters of blooms that will just be absolutely show-stopping and bring a ton of butterflies, bees, and birds into your landscape. All right, next plant we have, Cotinus codrigrea, commonly known as smoke tree. This plant is absolutely incredible. It has some of the deepest, richest, vibrant foliage I've ever seen. Very dark purplish to crimson tones. Now, smoke tree gets its name from its incredible prolific blooms that it produces in the summertime that give the whole tree a sort of a smoky, almost hazy appearance. It's really such a one-of-a-kind feature. It makes it such a desirable plant for someone that wants a really unique piece in their garden. This is it. Now, besides the obvious, incredible aesthetic value this brings to the landscape, it's got some other really great attributes. Adaptable to different soil types. It's very drought-tolerant once it's established. And it's deer-tolerant as well. It's hardy down to USDA zone five, so it can take some cooler temps. It can be used as a large background shrub, a small tree in a courtyard, and can even be used as a hedge. So this plant is just wonderfully versatile in the landscape. And of course, it'll take that summer heat. All right, next up, we have one of my personal favorite ornamental grasses, and that is blue grama grass. This is botanically known as Bouteloua gracilis. And there is a variety called blonde ambition, which is really, I would say, the most desired. This little grass is so phenomenally unique. The bloom stems rise above the foliage a bit, and the blooms itself come off at an angle. They almost look like little miniature flags or brushes or something like that. And it's just so wonderful if there's a little breeze and they kind of move back and forth a little bit. It's great along borders and rock gardens. But my absolute favorite use of this plant is in masses. It looks absolutely spectacular. It makes me wanna do the Russell Crowe thing in Gladiator, where I'm just walking through the field and letting the wheat bloom sit in my hand. And it's just, oh man, I absolutely geek out on this plant. I love it. It's so unique. It is one of a kind. And it's really cold hardy. It's from USDA zones three all the way up to 10. So it covers such a wide geographical range. It's very adaptable to different soil types. It just needs well-drained soils. It's very drought tolerant, and the maintenance is extremely low. All you really have to do is cut it to the ground in late winter, and that will keep the foliage coming back nice and tight the next season. It's definitely worth noting that it will freely self-seed, so it will naturalize an area. It is also a really good plant for erosion control. Truly a one-of-a-kind plant, one of my absolute favorites. All right, next plant, Leonotus. The common name for Leonotus is lion's tail, which is incredibly aptly named, as the bloom looks like it could be the tail of a lion. It is orange and vibrant with little fuzzy flowers. You just have to touch it. Such a fun plant. It'll generally bloom from about late spring into fall. So it's a really long bloomer. It loves the heat, and is very drought tolerant once it's established. It's hardy down to about 20 degrees Fahrenheit. So this is gonna be for USDA zones eight to 11. But it's actually used as an annual in other parts of the US, in those lower USDA zones. And like our other plants here, plant it in full sun for the best blooms. It's incredibly easy to grow, and it's relatively low maintenance. I just like to cut them back pretty hard once a year to keep the foliage coming back nice and tight. I love to pair them with lavenders and salvias. They all have the same watering requirements, and soil and climate needs, generally speaking. The plant will get up to about four to six feet tall by about four to six feet wide. So it's generally used as a background element. And some other notable attributes, it will attract hummingbirds and butterflies, and is fairly deer resistant. This is really a prized plant here in Southern California. And that is a wrap for plants that beat the heat. Thank you guys for hanging out with me today. Hopefully you learned something. I love just hanging out and sharing some knowledge. You guys have some thoughts on plants that do really well in heat. Leave them in the comments down below. Hit that like and subscribe button. Hit that bell notification, so you know when the next video comes out. I will see you guys on the next one. And as always, happy planting. That was a long breath.