ANNUAL PLANTS FOR FULL SUN
Common Name: caladium
If you live in the South, Caladiums are probably already a staple in your garden and why wouldn’t they be? They absolutely adore hot weather. It’s not a matter of whether they “handle the heat just fine” – they actually prefer hot weather. That means they are perfect for climates where the summer heat is sweltering.
One of the things that makes Heart to Heart caladiums different from many other caladiums is that they are vigorous enough to perform well i both the North and South. So, if you are looking to add a splash of the tropics to your Michigan garden, Heart to Heart caladiums are just what you need.
The second unique feature is that in addition to growing well in the partial to full shade, about half of the Heart to Heart varieties we offer will handle full sun as easily as they do the shade. Keeping the soil moist will help them thrive in more sun. There are nearly 30 different varieties in the series representing a wide range of colors, sizes and leaf shapes.Uses: mass landscape planting, front to middle of the border, thriller in combination recipes, mono baskets, filler in combination recipes, monoculture patio planters. 12-24” height. 12-24” spread. Some shade only and some sun or shade. Annual except in frost-free zones where they will overwinter
Common Name: Egyptian star flower
If you live somewhere hot and have never tried Pentas, you don’t know what you’re missing – especially with our Sunstar series. Sunstar pentas boast extra-large flower clusters – some nearly the size of hydrangea blooms – atop well-branched plants. They have excellent summer durability, blooming well through high heat and humidity, and they make ideal bedding and container plants for hot climates. These are medium-sized varieties that are well-suited to being planted in the middle of beds and can be thrillers and/or fillers in combination planters. Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds are all attracted to the brightly colored flowers which will add another level of color and movement to your plantings. Available in four colors – Red, Rose, Pink and Lavender.Uses: mono patio planters, combination recipes, pollinator gardens, in-ground beds18-22” height. 16-24” spread. Part sun to sun. Annual except in zone 11.
WHIRLWIND® Scaevola Common Name: fan flower
This Australian native is as tough as they come. Fan flower has been grown for nearly 30 years in North America, but for a long time, the varieties available bloomed sparsely and had long, awkward branches. Our modern, refined Whirlwind fan flowers are packed with color and have a beautiful shape. They love heat, don’t mind low humidity or moderate drought, and don’t need much plant food to thrive. Bees will thank you for planting Whirlwind fan flowers.
Uses: upright containers, pollinator gardens, mass plantings in landscapes 8-14” height. 18-24″ spread. Sun. Annual except in zones 10-11.
Common Name: euphorbia
Diamond Snow euphorbia is similar to Diamond Frost®, but with double flowers and a denser shape. If you’ve grown any of our Diamond euphorbias, you know that despite their delicate appearance, they are is as tough as they come. The plants provide a reliable mass of bright white blooms all season in upright containers and make great landscape plants, too. Like all our euphorbias, expect Diamond Snow to power through heat, humidity and drought with ease. For combination recipes, we suggest using Diamond Frost, whose stems weave among other plants. By comparison, Diamond Snow tends to form a denser mass of color in its own part of the container and is less of a mingler.
Uses: patio planters, garden beds, combination recipes, bright shade gardens 12-18” height. 12-18” spread. Part sun to sun. Annual except in zones 10-11. Related: Drought-Tolerant Landscaping Ideas
SUNCREDIBLE® Yellow Helianthus
Common Name: sunflower
This everblooming sunflower has a tall, well-branched, bush-like form that makes it perfect for the back of the bed, planted as an annual screen, lined along a fence, or grown in a large container. The blossoms measure about 4” across and do not need to be deadheaded to continue blooming from spring to frost. If you prefer, you can tidy them up by removing spent flowers, and the more you cut for bouquets, the more blooms you’ll have. Suncredible Yellow sunflowers bloom far more prolifically compared to the type you grow from seed. They great for pollinators like bees and butterflies, too.
Uses: back of the bed, pollinator gardens, cut flower gardens, large patio planters 24-36” height. 20-32” spread. Sun. Annual.
See more fall flowers.
Common Name: sweet potato vine
Sweet Caroline sweet potato vines offer rich foliage colors, a variety of leaf shapes, good vigor and a well-behaved habit. Their vigor allows them to mix well in combinations without overwhelming the other plants in the container. They also perform beautifully as a dense and evenly spreading groundcover in sun and shade conditions. Whether you grow them in cool northern sun or hot southern climates, you’ll notice they have superior color retention in full sun compared to older cultivars. Sweet Caroline Medusa™ Green, pictured in the container recipes above, features unique palm-shaped leaves that are unlike any other sweet potato vine. The plant’s shape is more mounded and less trailing with overlapping leaves. One university trial manager told us she didn’t know she could ever love a green sweet potato vine, but she loves Sweet Caroline Medusa Green.
Uses: annual groundcover, recipe combinations, hanging baskets, patio planters6-16” height. 20-36” spread. Part sun to sun. Annual except in zone 11.
Sweet Caroline Upside™ Ipomoea
Common Name: climbing sweet potato vine
These climbing sweet potato vines will climb their way into your heart and stay there for the whole season. Available in two colors, Sweet Caroline Upside Key Lime and Sweet Caroline Upside Black Coffee, these are vigorous, climbing annual vines that will twine their way to the top of a trellis, obelisk, fence or other structure in a single season. If you plant them in containers without an upright support, they will spill over the sides with long, trailing stems. You can grow them in the landscape as well where they will grow as an annual groundcover, although if they encounter something they can climb, they will take advantage and start to do so. These are a fun type of sweet potato vine to experiment with.
3-6’ height. 1.5-3’ spread. Part sun to sun. Annual except in zone 11.
Common Name: lantana
This series of landscape-sized lantanas features a broad range of flower colors on large, densely branched, mounded plants. You can expect all Luscious lantanas to bloom non-stop all season without deadheading, as they set little to no seed. This series is perfect for people looking for low maintenance, heat and drought tolerant, long-blooming, pollinator-friendly, deer resistant flowers. Luscious Royale Lemon Tart™, which is relatively compact golden yellow Lantana. Luscious Citron™ is a softer shade of yellow and a larger plant. It’s perfect for adding a large splash of color in the landscape without needing to use too many plants. The third newest addition to the series is Luscious Basket Tangeglow™. Tangeglow is a unique golden yellow and orange plant with a bit of red. It has a somewhat horizontal growth habit which lends itself well to planting in hanging baskets, although it still works well in patio pots and landscapes as well.Uses: pollinator gardens, large patio planters, middle of the bed filler, low maintenance gardens, beyond the hose planting areas 20-30” height. 20-30” spread. Sun. Annual except in zones 9-11.
Common Name: salvia
The Rockin’ salvia collection is filled with large, bushy cultivars that are an absolute magnet for hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. Most are selections of Salvia guaranitica, which means they form robust plants topped with long spires of large, two-lipped blooms in shades of blue, purple and magenta. One member of the Rockin’ series called Playin’ the Blues® is a cultivar of Salvia longispicata. It stands up to four feet tall and bears narrow spires of bright violet blue flowers that bees love to feed from all season. All Rockin’ salvias thrive in heat and can tolerate some drought stress once established.Uses: middle of the bed filler, thriller in patio planters, pollinator gardens, low maintenance gardens Size varies by variety, but is generally 2-4′ height. 24-30” spread. Part sun to sun. Annual except in zones 9-11.
Common Name: salvia
You might think this plant looks a lot like Rockin’ Playin’ the Blues, and it does with one big exception: it’s size. This salvia grows about half the size, topping out under two feet tall and about one foot wide. That makes it much easier to combine with other plants in container recipes and fit into the front of the border in the landscape. Its true blue flowers attract pollinating bees and butterflies as they are produced prolifically on well-proportioned plants from spring into fall without deadheading. Like the others, this salvia is also heat and humidity tolerant, and its aromatic foliage helps with deer resistance. Uses: front of the border, thriller in small and medium-sized patio planters, filler in large patio planters, window boxes, pollinator gardens, low maintenance gardens 14-24” height. 12-16” spread. Part sun to sun. Annual except in zones 8-10.