Discover the sunlovers

Some like it hot? This lot certainly do! Naomi Slade explores the world of the heat seekers

2020-08-01 -

Some like it hot? This lot certainly do! We explore how to create a planting scheme with heat seekers

Sun-loving plants have a host of charms. There are the bright and blingy daisies; the spare, fragrant herbs; the stylish subtleties of the on-trend succulents; and the lush leaves that transport you to the tropics. So, when the sun beats down in summer, it’s good to know that the hottest, driest parts of the garden can shine too.

With a changing climate, our gardens are becoming warmer. Periods of drought are more common and so are average winter temperatures. As a result, plants from hot places are an increasingly viable option. Lavenders and sages, lovers of arid conditions, are less likely to be waterlogged, while tender perennials such as cannas and dahlias, routinely overwintered indoors, may very well overwinter in situ. What’s more, plants from warm climates are more likely to be drought tolerant, so demand less water in a drier British summer, or when planted in a ‘thirsty’ location.

Plants that thrive in hot, sunny, very dry or free-draining conditions tend to have certain adaptations: ✿ Acquiring water is key in dry places, so long tap-roots reach water deep beneath the soil surface; or, plants may cast a wide net of fibrous roots, to help trap rainfall.

✿ A silver or glaucous leaf, or one covered in fine hairs, reflects sunlight and stops the plant overheating or scorching.

✿ Leaf shape and size can be critical. Small narrow leaves have a reduced surface area and fewer stomata (the pores through which a leaf ‘breathes’ and loses water into the air). Leaves may become spiny or leathery to reduce evaporation, or they may become fleshy and succulent, acting like an internal reservoir and enabling the plant to survive periods of drought.

✿ Some plants roll up their leaves, creating a moist micro-environment, reducing water loss and, therefore, wilting. In the humid tropics, meanwhile, leaves may be large but the plants tend to cluster together, holding water within the jungle canopy so they don’t dry out like washing in the breeze. ➤

Specialised roots: Reflective leaves: Water storage: Humidity control:

Lobelia cardinalis

TOP TIPS FOR A HOT SPOT

Improving the soil can benefit plants enormously. Adding bulky organic matter such as green waste, spent compost, rotted manure or garden compost helps free-draining soil to retain moisture, and stops clay soil from baking solid in the sun.

Watering at the beginning or end of the day maximises the amount absorbed by the plants, and the soil, before it evaporates. A mulch of bark chips or pebbles further reduces evaporation and also protects the soil from direct sunlight.

Eryngium bourgatii, rosemary, erodiums, Helichrysum petiolare,

Campanula portenschlagiana

Salvia lavandulifolia

GERANIUM MADERENSE

Tender geranium with semi-evergreen leaves and long-lived pink flowers with purple lines and centres. H and S90cm (3ft)

CONVOLVULUS CNEORUM HELIANTHEMUM ‘BUNBURY’

A hardy spreader ideal for sunny walls and paving with intense pink, dainty flowers. H20cm (8in) S25cm (10in)

Tetrapanax papyrifer

with stripy blades of

Arundo donax versicolor, spiky

Furcraea longaeva

and banana Musa basjoo with red cactus dahlias