If you’re looking for heat loving flowers that can thrive in your summer cutting garden, you’ve come to the right place…Not all flowers can take the heat, but these ten heat loving flowers will fill your garden and your vases all summer long.
Summer Cutting Flower
There are definitely trickier places to be growing a garden, but the south isn’t all that straightforward either. She has her moody season transitions and her hot as can be summers. But it does give southerners advantages over other growers:
- Our heat loving flowers really love the heat
- Our heat season is longer than some entire growing seasons
Come summer, we should be experiencing a long abundance of flowers! These cut flowers are not limited to farmers, homesteaders or hobbyists. Cut flowers make wonderful annual garden spaces more colorful and full. They are often simple to seed and eager to grow, requiring little attention and space. Sunshine, water and lots of heat is all they desire.
What is a heat loving flower?
A heat-loving flower is a plant that thrives in hot temperatures and full sun, typically during the summer months. These flowers are drought-tolerant, sun-loving, and often bloom best when many other plants might wilt in the heat. “Full-sun” means the plants prefer 6-8 hours of direct sunlight. Without the ideal sun hours, the plants may grow slower or be “leggy” (overly long-stemmed).
What is a “cut-flower”?
A cut flower refers to flower types that are ideal for displaying as individual branches or stems in vases or bouquets. These flowers are chosen for their beauty, long vase life, sturdy stems, and repeat blooming. Even though they may be designed to cut, they also fill gardens with tall and bushy plants. They can be both annuals, or perennial (coming back each spring).
What flowers are needed for a bouquet?
Floral arrangements typically contain a mixture of focal, filler, spike and foliage. The focal creates the main focus, the filler connects the pieces, foliage fills in and provides texture, and spike provides height.
Focal: The main flowers in an arrangement. They are large, bold, eye-catching blooms that draw attention and serve as the “centerpiece” of the bouquet.
- Zinnias, Sunflowers, Lisianthus, Black-eyed Susans, Cosmos
Filler: Smaller flowers used to fill in spaces around the focal flowers. They add texture, depth, and volume.
- Gomphrena, Statice, Yarrow, Strawflower
Spike: Tall, vertical flowers that give height and structure to the arrangement. They add movement and a dynamic shape.
- Celosia
Foliage: Leaves and greenery that add contrast, shape, and natural flow to arrangements. They’re not flowers, but essential for structure and variety.
- Euphorbia, Cres, Bupleurum, Crepe Myrtle, Mint, Oregano
How to Care for a Heat Loving Garden?
- Water 1 inch of water weekly (depending on rain)
- Deadhead and harvest flowers often to encourage more blooms
- Occasionally provide organic supplementation like fish emulsion, especially if plants are yellowing.
What are the best heat tolerant flowers for cutting gardens?
- Zinnias
- We love that pinching the first flower bud on a zinnia plant creates a bushier, more bloom prolific plant! “Zinnias are among the easiest summer flowers to grow and make fantastic bouquet flowers for summer… These drought tolerant cut flowers keep blooming even under intense heat.”
- Varieties to love: Senorita, Benary’s Giant, Queen Lime
- Gomphrena
- A prolific bloomer with textured petals that tends to reseed itself every year, despite being annual. A great choice for dried flower crafts.
- Varieties to love: Strawberry Fields, Audray
- Statice
- A large, full plant with high rising stems. Flowers stay fresh on the plant for weeks, fresh in jars for weeks and when dried, become even more beautiful.
- Varieties to love: QIS, Formula mix, Pacific mix
- Sunflowers
- Typical flowers have multiple stems with many happy blooms which are great for backyard growing. Procut varieties have a single, pollen-less flower. Large varieties can grow to 10 feet tall.
- Varieties to love: Teddy Bear, Procut White Lite, Procut Orange, Procut Plum
- Celosia
- Abundant with seeds and stems, this plant comes back with multiple offspring year after year, despite being annual. Some have a coral resemblance, while others look more like feathers. Another great dried flower.
- Varieties to love: Rainbow sherbert, Flamingo
- Cosmos
- With frequent cutting, these flowers just keep producing. They are more delicate looking than many other focal flowers, which allows them to also pass into the filler category.
- Varieties to love: Bright lights, Double Click, Rubenza
- Black Eyed Susans
- A perennial focal flower, and very drought resistant! The plant has a soft, fuzzy leaf that grows to a decent size. The Black Eyed Susans also reproduce a ton, and are resilient with transplanting!
- Varieties to love: Goldsturm, Sahara Mix
- Yarrow
- A perennial filler flower that tends to be one of the first flowers to bloom. Yarrow also tolerates drought, and blooms late spring and early fall.
- Varieties to love: Most come in a mix, with pinks, whites, wines, yellows and purples. Easiest to acquire from a transplant, so ask a neighbor!
- Lisianthus
- These flowers look like thornless roses, and come in a variety of delicate pastels and peaches. Dreamy!
- Varieties to love: ABC Pink, Little Summer, Voyage
- Strawflower
- Flowers have a papery texture to the touch, and come in pastels and deep rich colors. Stems last a long time in a vase, and double as beautiful dried flowers.
- Varieties to love: King size, Apricot Mix
Bonus: 3 Foliage/Fillers
- Euphorbia: Stunning white-edged leaves that add brightness and contrast
- Cress: Delicate, airy stems with tiny round seed pods
- Bupleurum: Pale green leaves and small yellow blooms
Bring on the Heat
Heat-loving flowers are a big win for anyone dealing with hot summers. They’re easy to grow, drought tough, and keep your garden, and your mason jars, looking great all season long. Whether you’re just starting out or have been gardening for years, these flowers make it simple to enjoy beautiful blooms even when it’s blazing outside. So get your hands in the dirt, pick your favorites, and watch your summer garden come alive with color!
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