Welcoming the Summertime With the Best Flowers for Hot Weather in Southern California

Written by Kelsey W.

Southern California gardens often boast greenery year-round, but is it possible to enjoy beautiful flowers in your garden even when temperatures sit above ninety degrees for long periods? 

It’s often necessary to give plants some shade in the middle of the summer because the heat and long hours of sun are simply too much for anything but cactuses to withstand.

And while cactuses may offer beautiful blooms at random intervals, it’s usually a bit too much to expect cactuses to bloom every year on command. Sometimes, you’ll get a big load of cactus blooms, but it doesn’t always happen.

So let’s explore some of the options you have for beautiful flowers that should offer reliable blooms every summer while also having the strength to withstand some really hot summer weather in Southern California.

Are Hot Weather Flowers Only Available for Humid Climes?

One misconception you might have about hot weather plants is that arid conditions are for cactuses and humid conditions are for flowering plants. However, many plants exist that actually produce flowers in hot conditions whether the air is dry or humid.

One of the best examples is lantana, which is a plant that’s extremely comfortable in tropical climates but is also right at home in the arid portions of Southern California. The plant is a native of South Africa, which boasts similar weather to Southern California in many respects.

Lantana grows very well in dry conditions because it has a deep root system that allows it to find water in the ground even when there is no consistent rain. In normal conditions, when it’s not too dry, lantana only needs water once or twice a week.

The most important thing to remember about the plant is that it needs to get established in your garden before you can let up on the watering schedule and leave it alone for a while. Once the plant is established, however, it will reward you with beautiful multi-colored blooms of yellow, orange, red, and more.

Petunias are Your Best Friend With a Garden in Full Sun

Sometimes you can control the amount of sun your plants get by using pots and placing them in specific areas around your home, but if you have a patch of dirt at your home that gets sun all day long, you do have options beyond cactuses.

Petunias are probably one of the best options for full-sun areas of your yard where shade is in short supply and the plants need to withstand the hot summer sun throughout July and August. Not only do petunias enjoy lots of sun, but they also bloom profusely throughout the season.

The only caveat regarding petunias and their ability to bloom throughout the season is that they do require regular watering to remain happy. They’re not a particularly drought-tolerant plant, so it’s necessary to remain committed to a regular watering schedule all summer.

Just make sure that your petunias are in soil that drains well, too, because if you water them too often and they remain soggy, they’ll start drooping and stop blooming. Giving your petunias fertilizer also ensures they’ll keep blooming throughout the summer.

Enjoy Flowers Year After Year with Marigolds

Marigolds are another full-sun-loving plant that often appears at Southern California garden centers in the summer alongside rows of petunias, but the neat thing about marigolds is that you can treat them like annuals in Southern California.

Like petunias, marigolds aren’t particularly drought-tolerant plants, and they also fare best when their soil drains well. Marigolds love the sun, but they love water, too, so it’s best to water them at least twice a week when temperatures soar in July and August.

Furthermore, if you want to enjoy loads of blooms from your marigolds, make sure to remove the old blooms from the plant to encourage new growth. Removing old blooms is called “deadheading,” and you can just pinch the dead blooms off the plants with your fingers or snip them off with a pair of scissors.

Canna Lilies Will Bloom in the Summer and Take Over If You Let Them

The towering and beautiful canna lily offers spectacular blooms with its tall plants that love the sun and fare best when left to soak up as many rays as possible every day. Some of the shortest versions grow between three and four feet tall and look terrific in a pot on your porch or in a flower bed.

One of the best things about canna lilies is that they really do thrive in full sunlight. They almost never droop due to getting too much sun and will actually start to fare a little poorly if you put them inside or prevent them from getting a full day of sun.

One thing to remember about canna lilies is that they don’t really like cold weather, so if you live in an area of Southern California where the temperatures dip into the freezing territory during the winter, you’ll want to move your lilies inside or cover them at night.

Canna lilies will usually enter a dormant period during the fall and winter, but by the summertime, they’ll start growing and spreading and offering copious blooms for many months and well into the fall. Whenever the days get longer and the sun feels hotter, canna lilies seem to go into overdrive.

Sunflowers are the Obvious Sunny Summertime Solution

One of the first plants you might think of when you think of summertime is the venerable sunflower, which has a face that follows the path of the sun every day. There are several varieties of sunflowers that grow well in containers, but you can also scatter seeds in your yard and enjoy the return of sunflowers every year.

To ensure your sunflowers bloom, you’ll want to make sure they aren’t competing for the nutrients in the soil with any other flowers. They’re pretty demanding on their soil and will usually grow their biggest when they aren’t competing for nutrients with a patch of weeds.

You can also encourage your sunflowers to bloom by offering them an impressive amount of fertilizer. Sunflowers are hungry plants that enjoy eating more than the average plant. Some liquid fertilizer drops applied once a month throughout the summer should suffice.

Roses Love the Sun and Your SoCal Summer Garden

If you’re ready to take on a modest level of responsibility in your gardening project this summer, an excellent option for full-sun blooming is the classic rose. Your roses will love the sun whether you plant a floribunda, a climbing rose, or a miniature rose.

One of the commonalities between roses and most of the other flowers featured in this list of sun-loving summertime flowers is that consistent watering is key to ensuring happy blooms throughout the season. For no other plant is this more important than the rose, no matter which variety you plant.

If you’re worried about an arid summer being a little too harsh on your roses, you might try putting some mulch across the areas where you’ve planted them. The mulch will help keep the moisture levels consistent in the soil and keep the roses happy throughout the driest months of the year.

Keeping Plants Healthy During Summertime Heat & Sun

One thing to remember about growing happy and healthy plants in the summer sun is watering them at the right time of day. The best time to water plants is in the early evening or in the very early morning. During these times, you’ll get the most out of your water since the sun won’t be in the sky, encouraging all the water you just put on your plants to evaporate.

Watering when the sun isn’t in the sky also ensures that you don’t accidentally burn any of the leaves if a drop or two of water gets on the plant instead of on the soil at its base. You might already know that it’s important to water the base of your plants rather than their leaves, but sometimes a thick patch of flowers makes it tough to avoid getting a few drops on the leaves.

Get Your Summertime Plants at Green Thumb Nursery

Are you looking for some beautiful blooms for this summer’s gardens? Look no further than Green Thumb Nursery, where you’ll find all the advice and plants you’ll need to grow a beautiful garden. Stop by one of our friendly Southern California garden centers to find your perfect summer plants.

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