Let's get the disclaimer out of the way first. If you are reading this article as spring of 2015 approaches, the new varieties highlighted here are likely to be a little harder to find since it is their first year on the market.
Since I live in the Midwest, I love plants that relish heat and humidity since they are well adapted to my climate. Growing plants that like your weather, makes gardening a much simpler activity. If your summers are hot, these sun-lovers are well worth investigating.
Timeless™ Fire Pelargonium
I know, I know, how excited can a person possibly get about a red geranium? There have got to be quite literally (the real literal, not the literal where you are still using hyperbole) hundreds of red geraniums to choose from. So why THIS one? Well, Timeless™ Fire Pelargonium is a really tough plant that will bloom all summer. It can take being on the dry-side, although it will do best with consistent moisture. Geraniums are classics for a reason, they really don't go out of style. The newest geraniums are crosses between ivy-type geranium, which are a bit trailing but have more single flowers, and zonal geraniums, which have the large balls of flowers and are rather upright. When you cross the two, you get better flower coverage and a mounded habit. They don't really need to be deadheaded (which is removing old flowers) to stay in flower, but doing so will increase the number of flowers as well as lending a tidier look. It works well in hanging baskets and upright containers. It might not seem like a natural for the landscape, but it will work as a landscape plant, too.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Proven Winners
