I have a large wrap around deck that faces south and west with no shade. I have some large containers on it. The only plants that have survived the heat is verbena and portulaca.Even with the above normal rainfall last year and my watering,everything fried. Can anyone give me some suggestions for either perennials or annuals to make my containers pretty? Will mini roses work? I am in zone 6. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Janet
Hot Deck
Hi, Janet. How about zinnias? Some varieties are quite tall, maybe more than you'd like, but some are as short as eight inches. Many plants suffer damage to cellular protein with temps steadily above 86 degrees F. (30 Celsius) but you're in heat zone 4, with usually no more than 30 days beyond that heat level. With lots of mulching, you can drop the soil temps by up to 10 degrees and help the plants a lot. (Zinnias are sometimes hit by mildew in periods of prolonged high humidity.)
This plectranthus is a beauty and survives our heat and sun quite well. Not crazy about frost though.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/56154/index.html
Red hot pokers will take the heat also but would have to be tied and covered in the winter.
Janet,
Marigolds and Vinca (Periwinkle) also do well in high heat/direct sun conditions. I echo Yuska's comments on Zinnias. Even if your deck faces south and west, I know you don't get anything that approaches summer in TX (at least with any consistency), so if they thrive here I'm sure they'll do fine there. The one thing you may want to do is use lighter-colored containers or at least block them from direct sun, as dark clay pots are heat magnets and will absorb heat. The problem has probably more to do with the soil retaining heat than the plants themselves, since your area of PA should have relatively mild summers relative to many other areas (you're near Scranton, right?) I spent several months in Allentown/Bethlehem, which isn't far. I even grow Petunias here in TX with little difficulty in the ground here, though they get a little ragged when temps for highs are consistently in the 90's, so you should be able to grow many things well in your area, assuming you keep your soil protected.
This message was edited Jan 2, 2005 12:51 PM
Yes, petunias, absolutely. The waves did SOOOO well for me that they ended up my mistake of the year lol.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/443205/
I used to keep all sorts of petunias in containers and they did very well.
Cosmos do well with the heat too.
Frogs,
Do the pokers, in fact, die from cold weather? I ask only because the first time I saw some was in a grouping planted in a median in Albuquerque.... Can't imagine the city covers anything there.
Janet,
Here it gets really hot here in the summer and my front garden has the added heat from the streets that is faces on the west and north. During that time of the year I have exceptionally good luck with (from shortest to tallest) Ladybird Cosmos http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/67551/index.html , Globe Amaranthus http://davesgarden.com/pf/b/Amaranthaceae/Gomphrena/globosa , Blue Bedder Salvia http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2868/index.html and zinnias.
HTH!
Beats me! I live in zone 10. I did see a posting about tieing up pokers in winter in cold climates is why I mentioned it as they would be in a zone 6 area . Mine multiply like crazy and I dig clumps out every year.
I love how when it comes to heat tolerant questions, all responders but one are from Texas!
My stuff in full sun (but in the ground) that did well were salvia, zinnias, coreopsis, lemon drop plant (don't know the botanical name off hand), sweet potato vine, and SUN coleus (THRIVED this year). In containers I did copper plant and white vinca, and of course the wave petunias. They took full Texas sun, abuse in the way of neglected watering, and still did great. I even kept my container grown bougainvillea in full sun and it did wonderfully. All of this I mentioned is also on the West and/or South side of my house.
Jamie
"J" you didn't mention the size of the container you had your "fries" in. I grow roses, lantana, petunia and verbena on a southern exposed deck. I did have burnout when I used small containers. Not enough water reservoir in small continers. I water everyday in summer and I have at least 5 gallon size containers or bigger. Try a bigger container.
By the way "J" forgot to mention that I used to live in Masontown, PA a few years ago.
My containers are 14" in diameter and are made of the foam stuff that makes them look like cement. This year I'm going to try the polymer to hold the water. I'm also going to use the plants recommended to me here. If they can take Texas sun they should be fine.
I grew up in Masontown and graduated from AG in '76.
Three things helped my deck plants .
large humas loaded containers large as in wash tubs. Big wooden boxes,25 gallon tubs.
Water saucers iunder smaller tubs like 14 inch letting water wick up from the bottom.
And a drip irragation system for my forty hanging baskets.
drip fed water every day
Well you're doing something right eweed- that is gorgeous!!!
eweed - when you drip water, do you add fertilizer to the water??? I plan on doing tons more pots this summer and am worried about when we go on vacation - need to rig something up for a ten day hiatus!!
i am in the lehigh valley - geraniums work very well here too in addition to the plants listed above.
i use drip irrigation for my pots too. use osmacote so don't have to fertilize when i water.
Sarv no fertilizer in the drip. I use 14 14 14 osmocote and hand water every other week with mirical grow.
A timer on the drip system will work nicely for a ten day vacation. Ernie
I have a south facing deck also, and have had success with diascia, pansies, mini roses, gerber daisies, lupins, verbena, alyssum, portulaca, petunias. I make sure all my containers have drainage holes and I water until it runs out the bottom of the container every day, and twice a day in really hot weather. And, yes, fertilizing is extremely important as all the watering will flush out all the nutrients. Good luck!
Christine.
eweed,
i was just browsing looking for south-facing-hot-humid-jersey summer hanging basket ideas and happened upon your photos. they made my day! just what i needed in mid-february and something to inspire me. thanks.
Janet I think you will find the water retaining crystals to be a big help! I have a south facing deck and grow herbs on it. I use the water retaining crystals and self watering pots (ones with a resevoir on the bottom). Since I've used these I only need to water every other day or every 3rd day versus every day before. I think the suggestions for using bigger pots would be a big help as well (I did this as well!)
How about growing some sedums and hens and chicks? Over on the Cactus forum there is a pretty strawberry pot with sedums. Take a look here:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/576244/
perhaps if you were able to place your containers on something that would lift them off the ground so air can get underneath. someone on this forum had a website for these things but i can't remember the name.
Frogs,
I have Pokers and I never had to cover them up, if anything I have to dig them up and find new homes for them every year. They have never been babied and have come back every year for eight years. I like them, they add a neet shape and color that gets noticed, they do love the sun, the sunnier the brighter the color. I'm not sure I'd want to stick then in a pot, they get mighty long and I don't think they would share the container to well with other plants.
Dena
I have a flagstone patio on the south side of the house and betweent he direct sun and the heat reflecting off the house it get absoultely baked in the summer. I can't go out there without shoes after ten am in the summer. I planted several small ground covers between the stones and the plants that did best were hardy iceplant (Delosperma) and tricolor sedum, and some volunteer portulaca. I also had some small containers with iceplant and gazanias on the deck rail. The iceplant looks neat draping over the edge and it's hardy to zone 6; it also has tons of pretty pink flowers all summer. The gazanias didn't seem to mind the heat and sporadic watering schedule.
I found lantana to be a real trooper in my containers in the sun. The hotter it got, the better they looked. And they did'nt mind if I neglected to water from time to time.
