We grumble about summer heat, but our manager Suzi has remarked that “all the cool perennials” become available to us in summer. Good point! While the planting palette may be a bit more limited compared to Spring, it’s true that Summer offers up a really cool, unique and tantalizing list of heat-tolerant, colorful, and tropical varieties that make welcome additions to the Sacramento garden. Spring is all bunnies and pastels and pansies, while Summer plants are more sultry and succulent and vibrant and sometimes a little rough around the edges.
Think Sunflowers and marigolds. Lantana, Verbena (and Superbena!), Rudbeckia and Gazania. Bougainvillea and bananas. Coleus and Begonias. Crape myrtles and Hibiscus. The list goes on, and we’re seeing blooms abound in summer gardens around town, and in weekly restocks at the nursery.
At the same time, oddly, it’s time to start planting cool season flowers, veggies and herbs for fall. Check our seed racks for carrots, radishes, peas and more. And check our tables for a growing number of Fall/Winter plants. So plant for August by installing some plants that are blooming now and start planting for the coming cooler months.
