In case you haven’t heard, it’s July, and it’s hot outside. How hot? This weekend, a giant heat dome will cover half of the United States. Oklahoma isn’t just the center of the heartland, it’s also the beating heart of summer heat.
We need plants that thrive in Oklahoma summers.
The lower lawn is still green, but with temperatures in the 90s and 100s it won’t be for long. We do not water it. 
An angled view of the potager or kitchen garden. It’s doing well, but hunkered down until September. 
Greenhouse and garden beds facing the street.
Oklahoma gardeners aren’t worried though. Like good Boy Scouts, we’re prepared. We grow plants that not only survive but flourish in summer.
Let’s look at what works here. [Click on gallery photos to enlarge them.]
I’m talking flowers and tropical leafy plants. Don’t look at your tomatoes because you might just see their blooms fall off. If so, try not to worry. Once temperatures fall below 100°F, your tomatoes will flower and fruit again.
First up are coleus, or Plectranthus scutellarioides if you prefer.
I’d rather just call them coleus. It’s easier. There are so many great varieties of these plants now. I’m crazy ’bout coleus.
Once established, they are very sun tolerant if you water them. They do need water as do all plants except plastic ones.
Just say no to plastic plants.
Plectranthus scutellarioides ‘Alabama Sunset’ coleus, still a favorite plant in my garden. I took this photo this morning. Soon, the muhly grass will bloom pink, and it will all be a sight to see. 
‘Pele’ coleus at the front of the newest garden bed. 
‘Red Coat’ coleus in front of tired Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ and dark purple cannas. I should deadhead the coneflowers now to see if they will bloom again. 
Two beautiful sun coleus in a container. Look at how the sunlight shows through the leaves.
What goes great with coleus? Well, almost everything, but their broad, brightly-colored leaves look great with prairie plants, both native and selected varieties.
Tall coreopsis, Coreopsis tripteris, close up. 
Tall coreopsis, Coreopsis tripteris, is about seven feet tall in y garden. I could cut it back in spring to make it a bit shorter, but I wanted to see how tall it would really get. 
Swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata, grows in the newest garden bed next to the deck. I hope the Monarchs find it. 
‘Henry Eilers’ sweet coneflower has quilled petals. 
Prairie plants love the heat.
Prairie plants like tall coreopsis, ‘Henry Eilers’ sweet coneflower and various varieties of purple coneflower all are thriving in the heat. Perennial ornamental grasses are also starting to strut their stuff although it will be in August and September that they come into their glory. Asclepias incarnata L., swamp milkweed, is just starting to bloom as are Joe pye weed and cup plant. I grow both ‘Little Joe’ and ‘Baby Joe.’ ‘Baby Joe’ was nearly forced out by Monarda sp., bee balm, earlier this summer so I don’t have any photos of it. I pulled up the bee balm. I have so much of it already. It’s another good summer bloomer if you have the room and don’t mind tending to its wandering ways.
Black Swallowtail with ‘Little Joe’ Joe pye weed, 
Cup plant, Silphium perfoliatum, in all its later summer glory. This plant is a highlight for bumblebees and other native bees. It’s also a big plant that needs space to grow. 
‘Little Joe’ joe pye weed. 
One of the scarlet bee balms. They are all part of the mint family. ‘Nuff said.
I’m trying several new types of coneflower this year with mixed success. I find echinaceas a bit hard to get going, but once they are happy, they will thrive and often reseed throughout the garden. It’s the getting them started that’s hard. I find the natives hardest to start, but I think it’s worth it. I would show you some photos, but I don’t have any good ones of the natives right now. Just know that any prairie plant botanically close to its native relative that produces seeds also makes nectar to pull in pollinators.
Echinacea PowWow® Wild Berry coneflower is another wonderful perennial. Super easy to grow compared to some other varieties. This one has overwintered in my garden for three or four years. 
‘Cheyenne Spirit’ coneflowers comes in a variety of heights and colors because they are grown from seeds not vegetatively propagated. 
‘Cheyenne Spirit’ coneflowers. 
Coneflower, Echinacea ‘Prairie Splendor Deep Rose’
I know I write and talk all the time about ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ coneflowers, but they really are fabulous if you want colors other than purple in your echinaceas. ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ and PowWow® Wild Berry echinaceas are also both AAS Winners. You should grow them. ‘Prairie Splendor Deep Rose’ purple coneflowers won a Fleuroselect Gold Medal in 2007. This is my first year to grow this variety.
Good old garden phlox are also heat lovers.
Phlox paniculata are such worthy summer plants, and many of the newer selections are powdery mildew resistant. If you want to grow summer phlox, know that they like well-drained, fertile soil. They love hot summer sunshine, but will also thrive in some shade.
Phlox paniculata ‘Bright Eyes’ is a staple in my hot, summer garden. 
Passalong P. Paniculata that I’ve grown for 30 years. 
Phlox paniculata ‘Cherry Cream,’ a newer variety. Very disease resistant. 
P. paniculata ‘Jeana’ 
Another view of ‘Bright Eyes’ phlox in the middle of a sunny border.
Some of my favorites are:
- ‘Jeana,’ a variety found naturally growing along the Harpeth River near Nashville, Tennessee by Jeana Prewittsaid. ‘Jeana’ has much smaller florets than other border phlox, but according to the butterflies, is full of sweet nectar.
- Bright Eyes.’ I think Wanda Faller gave me my start of ‘Bright Eyes’ many years ago, and I’ve shared it with gardening friends all over. It won a Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain Award of Garden Merit in 1993.
- ‘John Fanick‘ tops out at around three feet tall. After looking for years, I found ‘John Fanick’ at the Tulsa County Master Gardeners’ Plant Sale in 2018. For some reason, I’ve been unable to find ‘John Fanick’ locally which is a shame. It is a Texas Superstar and was found by Greg Grant growing in San Antonio so you know it’s tough.
- ‘Cherry Cream’ from Darwin Perennials is another fabulous plant. It is also shorter. Place this one at the front of the border.
- I must also give kudos to my passalong pink phlox which has stood the test of time. Nothing stops it, and even with our heavy spring rainfall, it didn’t have many disease problems.
If you want butterflies and moths, and who doesn’t plant phlox. Butterflies love the flowers.
Lilium,/em. ‘Sheherazade’, Lily 
‘Sheherazade’ lily is one of the best in my garden. 
‘Sheherazade’, lily 
I have to replant my ‘Conca d’Or’ lily because I overcrowded it. It is such a favorite that I’m buying more bulbs right now to plant in fall.
Let’s not forget true lilies either.
Several good ones will grow well once you get them going. They don’t like crowding though, and since I tend to crowd my plants, I’ll be replanting a few this fall. Order lilies now, and the companies will ship them to you in October. Plant them immediately so they don’t rot. Also, it takes three seasons for them to get established, and they don’t seem to like shade. Morning sun is fine.
This post is a belated one of Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day hosted on the 15th of each month at May Dreams Gardens.
Okay, my friends, that’s all I’ve got for now. Must step inside where it’s cool. Have a glass of ice tea or lemonade and dream of a thriving summer garden with me.
The Gardenangelists Podcast.
If I haven’t bored you silly, and you want to learn more, head over to The Gardenangelists podcast where Carol Michel and I dish each week about “flowers, veggies, and all the best dirt.” You can now find our podcast on Stitcher and TuneIn. It is also on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts, plus other places where podcasts are found.
Oh Dee, you have obviously figured out how to make the best of a hot situation, because your garden looks amazing! You could never tell that the climate was harsh.
This is another interesting post Dee, especially helpful for another Okie. I too have a passalong phlox that we brought with us when we moved from the Chicago area to OKC in 1969. I’ve got 3 good size clumps now nearly six feet tall. I experimented with the “Chelsea chop” on my bluebird aster this year and plan to try it on the phlox next year.
Great post! Nice plants you got in there.
Thanks for sharing us your wonderful idea!
We grow a lot of the same stuff! Conca d’Or is starting to bloom in our garden, and we have lots of Monarda, Silphium, and Joe Pye. I gave up on Echinacea due to aster yellows.
Sorry, it took me so long to reply. I was out of town. Since we both live in the original prairie, I bet we do plant many of the same things. Isn’t that the coolest? My garden has become more prairie over time. So much easier. Hugs to you both!
Love those tall lilies. They always make my heart go pitty patter.I am incorporating more and more native plants in the garden. So far so good.
Lisa, do you not have lily beetle in your neck of the woods? We don’t have it here, thank goodness, but I know many people back east do.
Thank you for your endorsement of phlox. I am planting more this fall, and I will look for the varieties you named. Enjoy your podcast, too! Have a great summer.
Hi Denise! You’re so welcome. All of the little phloxes are great plants. Also, look for ‘Minnie Pearl’ which isn’t a paniculata type, but blooms early and is disease free. Thank you again for reading and listening. ~~Dee
Dee-Thank for the beautifully said food for dreaming, and such gorgeous pictures too!
Hi Mary Ann, You’re so welcome. We all need to dream especially when it’s almost too hot to play outside.~~Dee
Went on a bus trip to Chicago gardens and the Botanic Garden this week. We were all trying to enjoy the gorgeous gardens without dying of heat stroke. The Monarda, daylilies and true lilies are loving the wet spring and now all this heat and sun. I have that double orange lily. It’s so striking.
Hi Linda, we’re in Philadelphia this week, and it is as hot as Oklahoma. So, we’re doing a lot of museums. I noticed the prairie plants here are the only ones happy in this record heat.
I have to keep reminding myself that you’re on drip irrigation, and that’s why these plants can take the heat. My phlox and coneflowers are just getting started. I planted Jeana this year and I’m waiting for the first blooms.
Kathy, we’re in Philly, and all of the sidewalk and median plantings are more prairie plants. I think they can take the heat no matter where they are. I just have to water them because I live in climate with very little rain in summer.~~Dee