Kicking up the color in your garden just as summer heat kicks in

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - We are going into the hottest, driest part of the year as we turn our calendars into July. For the next 62 days, climatological speaking, July and August gives us the most heat stress on your garden and least amount of water.

With that in mind, I got a little advice on summer color in my garden from Jennifer Hatalski of Calloway's Nursery. Some of us are giving up on that spring color you might have planted. Replace them a couple of tried and true annuals that handle the heat just fine here in North Texas, Lantana and Angelonia. 

Both of these flowers come in a range of colors. When shopping for Lantana, I HIGHLY recommend the Texas Superstar "Gold Hardy." This plant has a good chance of surviving the winter cold and coming back every year. I have several of these plants and they even survived the winter of 2020 under that snow blanket.

Jennifer introduced me to new plant to me, a Plectranthus called Mona Lavender. While considered a "tender" perennial, this more likely would be an annual for you. You can keep it in a container or perhaps plant it in a protected area to see if it comes back in the spring. The leaves on this plant don't even look real. You have to keep it out of full sun, partial shade is its favorite habitat.

Make sure to feed once a month all of your flowers as you grow them in a thick bed of mulch. Use drip irrigation under that mulch for best results. Otherwise, water by hand on a weekly basis or as needed. And for the next two months, that might be TWICE a week.