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4 Common Florida Weeds for Chickens

Bidens alba, also called beggerticks and Spanish needles are one of the most prolific of the common Florida weeds for chickens.

There’s a lot of controversy floating around about the quality of chicken feed right now. Is it tainted? Maybe it’s just poor quality. If your girls have been failing in the nest box, you may be looking for a way to improve their diet. Spring is on its way, and egg production is ramping up. Start looking for some common Florida weeds for chickens to help keep them in top condition.

When it comes down to the health of your homestead and its ability to be self-sufficient, finding ways to feed your chickens from your own land is always a good strategy.

Your ecosystem may be different, but I’ve discovered three common Florida weeds that my chickens simply adore. Best of all, they provide extra nutrition and a good solution for unwanted invaders in the garden bed.

1. Pellitory, Parietaria pensylvanica

More specifically – “Pennsylvania Pellitory” – also called Chicken’s Delight.

Pellitory grows like mad in my Zone 10a suburban garden. It’s native to North America and is usually found in lightly shaded spots, normally in the corners of garden beds and along fences. It’s an annual weed that grows vigorously in the fall and winter.

Pellitory contains a wide range of important nutrients for laying hens. A 100-gram serving of pellitory contains:

  • Energy: 23 kcal
  • Protein: 2.1 g
  • Total Fat: 0.3 g
  • Total Carbohydrate: 4.7 g
  • Fiber: 3.2 g
  • Sugar: 0.7 g

Important vitamins and minerals in Pennsylvania pellitory include:

  • Vitamin C: 49 mg (55% of the daily recommended value)
  • Vitamin A: 497 IU (10% of the daily recommended value)
  • Folate: 95 mcg (24% of the daily recommended value)
  • Calcium: 140 mg (14% of the daily recommended value)
  • Iron: 2.6 mg (14% of the daily recommended value)
  • Magnesium: 47 mg (12% of the daily recommended value)

Pennsylvania pellitory also contains small amounts of other vitamins and minerals, including vitamin K, vitamin B6, potassium, and phosphorus.

Pellitory is one of the common Florida weeds for chickens that is easy to grow and harvest

Of all the common Florida weeds for chickens, this one is my favorite. It pulls up like a dream! If you can’t free-range your birds because of local codes, or predators, or to protect your garden, you’ll find harvesting pellitory a sheer joy. It’s very satisfying to pull it up in big clumps. It just slips out of the soil with no resistance.

2. Spanish Needle, Bidens alba

There are two types of Floridians: Those who know and love Bidens alba as a beautiful native flower that nurtures and sustains wildlife year round. Then there is the other type of Floridian – the kind that hates Bidens alba with the heat of 100 burning suns. I have been both types of Floridian. Sometimes, I have been both types on the same day.

But bees love Bidens, and bunnies love Bidens, and so do chickens.

And Bidens may just love chickens right back. Some recent studies found that a closely related species, Bidens pilosa, acts as a prebiotic for them and may even help prevent or lessen the damage of coccidiosis.

The ubiquitous Bidens alba -- a blessing  for Florida chickens and curse of Florida gardeners.

Don’t kill your Bidens. If it all comes down to it, it’s nutritious for people, too. In fact, it may be the hot-weather green we’ve all been needing. I’ve read that it’s grown intentionally as a crop for humans in Africa and sauteed with a peanut sauce. I may try that, someday.

Until then, it makes a great supplement for chickens. It has an impressive nutritional profile:

  • Energy: 23 kcal
  • Protein: 2.2 g
  • Total Fat: 0.5 g
  • Total Carbohydrate: 4.7 g
  • Fiber: 2.6 g
  • Sugar: 0.6 g

It also offers plenty of vitamins and minerals:

  • Vitamin C: 47 mg (52% of the daily recommended value)
  • Vitamin A: 508 IU (10% of the daily recommended value)
  • Folate: 54 mcg (14% of the daily recommended value)
  • Calcium: 69 mg (7% of the daily recommended value)
  • Iron: 1.6 mg (9% of the daily recommended value)
  • Magnesium: 47 mg (12% of the daily recommended value)

In lesser amounts, it also offers vitamin K, vitamin B6, potassium, and phosphorus.

Purslane and Portulaca

If you’re like most Florida gardeners, you probably snicker when you pass the racks of seeds or bedding plants at big box stores and see them selling portulaca. I mean, the stuff grows as a weed here, and many lawncare neatniks spend hours trying to get rid of it.

Our state ag has a whole page for farmers on how to get rid of the stuff!

Most of the purslane or portulaca you’ll see in nurseries is a variety from India, Portulaca oleracea. The kind that pops up in most Florida lawns is pink portulaca, or Portulaca Pilosa, which is native to Florida. Both are lovely, and both are edible for chickens and humans.

3. Kiss Me Quick, Portulaca Pilosa

Pink Portulaca is pretty and full of good nutrients for chickens

The chickens will have to fight me for the native variety. Not to eat! I just think they’re the cutest things. I wouldn’t mind if my whole yard was made up of them.

A 100-gram serving of Kiss-Me-Quick for chickens provides:

  • Energy: 17 kcal
  • Protein: 2.1 g
  • Total Fat: 0.2 g
  • Total Carbohydrate: 2.0 g
  • Fiber: 2.1 g
  • Sugar: 0.6 g

Essential vitamins and minerals include:

  • Vitamin C: 36 mg (40% of the daily recommended value)
  • Vitamin A: 755 IU (15% of the daily recommended value)
  • Folate: 81 mcg (20% of the daily recommended value)
  • Calcium: 132 mg (14% of the daily recommended value)
  • Iron: 1.9 mg (11% of the daily recommended value)
  • Magnesium: 39 mg (10% of the daily recommended value)

That’s a nice dose of calcium, which is required for healthy egg production. So, perhaps the chickens will win this one.

Portulaca pilosa also contains vitamin K, potassium, and phosphorus.

4. Common Purslane, Portulaca oleracea

The non-native portulaca usually comes in two varieties: purslane, which is the one with the flat leaves, and portulaca, the one with the cylindrical leaves. They’re both decorative plants or weeds, depending on your viewpoint.

Purslane seems to find its way into many Florida gardens, hopping pots from garden centers or catching a ride on wildlife. Many find it a delicious and nutritious addition to salads. The tangy flavor makes it one of those forage standbys.

For chickens, it provides:

  • Energy: 15 kcal
  • Protein: 1.6 g
  • Total Fat: 0.3 g
  • Total Carbohydrate: 2.0 g
  • Fiber: 1.5 g
  • Sugar: 0.4 g

It also has important vitamins and minerals:

  • Vitamin C: 16 mg (18% of the daily recommended value)
  • Vitamin A: 394 IU (8% of the daily recommended value)
  • Folate: 82 mcg (21% of the daily recommended value)
  • Calcium: 87 mg (9% of the daily recommended value)
  • Iron: 2.0 mg (11% of the daily recommended value)
  • Magnesium: 49 mg (12% of the daily recommended value)

Vitamin K, vitamin B6, potassium, and phosphorus also make up purslane’s nutritional label.

The Chicken Feed Debate In an Egg Shell

The cost of eggs in the grocery stores has skyrocketed. First, the Avian Flu purge, and now our own chickens are coming up short.

Some internet influencers in the homesteading arena are claiming that big feed producers are distributing poor-quality feed. There are even a few outliers that say that this is all part of some big conspiracy to deny Americans of wholesome food, making them more reliant on Big Ag and government handouts.

I’m a bit more inclined to blame corporate greed. The U.S. imports far too many agricultural products from China, including pet foods. And unscrupulous manufacturers there are known to melamine, a plastic, to pet foods and treats, to falsely boost their protein content numbers. They’ve even done it to baby food!

We may never unravel all of the true causes of the Great Egg Shortage. There may be a host of reasons that our chickens seem to be laying fewer eggs this year.

It could be poor-quality food with cheaper ingredients to make more money. It could also be no more malicious than stale, old food that sat in warehouses due to the supply chain issues.

It could be the wonky weather we’re having lately, with record-breaking heatwaves and record-breaking cold spells. Sometimes both in the same month, if you live in Florida.

It could just be that the post-pandemic world has made us more aware of the physical signs of dis-ease and more suspicious of changes in ourselves and our animals.

Add These Common Florida Weeds for Chickens for Free

In the long view, the cause doesn’t really matter. What really matters is taking care of what’s ours to nurture. Adding these four common Florida weeds for chickens to their daily diet can help.

Food loses nutritional value when it sits on the shelves. If it loses value sitting in your shed for three months, think of how much it loses when it has to cross the planet on a ship. Or even cross the country on a truck. Buy locally-produced feed whenever possible. Not only does it retain more nutritional value, it also helps support businesses in your community.

You can grow food for your chickens, like marigolds and brassicas. But why not make better use of those pesky weeds in your yard? Just remember that you’ll need to stop using herbicides and pesticides.

While they may not provide everything your chickens need, they’re a welcome dose of calories, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Times are tough, and if you’re buying commercial feed on the cheap, it may even provide critical micronutrients that don’t find their way into the budget-grade chicken formula.

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Best Vegetable Varieties to Grow in Florida

pumpkin vegetable varieties for Florida

Most Florida gardeners are starting to plan our fall gardens right about now. Even if it’s still way too hot to work outside. We can sit indoors in the air conditioning with a sweet tea, watching the storms, dreaming of an abundance of vegetables in just a few months. But what vegetable varieties are you planning?

If you’re wondering what vegetables to grow in Florida, the answer is all of them!

English plantswoman and gardening icon Beth Chatto taught us “Right plant, right place.”

In Florida, we get another dimension – the right time.

We’re heading for fall. We’re ready for fall. We know when. We even know where.

All we need now is to know which are the right plants.

Understanding Vegetable Varieties

Plants fall into different families, and these are separated into different genera, and then different species.

Within species, say, tomatoes, you’ll find different “varieties.” Some are natural varieties produced by mutation. Others have been cultivated by people for specific characteristics..

Plant Families

Plants in the same families share similar characteristics in their germination, growth, flowering, and fruiting habits. Some of the most common plant families in home gardening include these plant families.

Many gardeners swear by rotating every plot on their land by these plant families. Theoretically, any soil disease or pest that develops over one season is sure to damage the same type of plant in the following season.

The issue of nutrients is also a factor. Some plant families all require a great deal of nitrogen. Repeatedly growing members of these plant families in the same plot can lead to nitrogen depletion and poor results.

Common Plant Families in Gardening

While not wholly inclusive, the following represent some of the more common plant families in home gardens.

Solanaceae

Also known as the “nightshade” family, this group includes some of the most popular home garden vegetables.

  • Tomatoes
  • Peppers
  • Eggplants
  • Tomatillo
  • Irish Potatoes

Cucurbitaceae

We often refer to these as cucurbits, and this family (for gardening purposes) includes many vining gourds:

  • Cucumbers
  • Pumpkins
  • Zucchini
  • Butternut squash
  • Melons

Fabaceae

This is the legume family, which are those that harvest nitrogen from the atmosphere and store it in nodules in their roots. This includes a wide range of garden beans as well as other crops, like clover and alfalfa, which fix nitrogen into the soil in the same way.

  • Bush beans
  • Pole beans
  • English Peas
  • Snow peas
  • Southern peas

Brassicaceae

Commonly referred to as cole crops, the brassicas include all those wonderful winter vegetables with dark green and delicious leaves.

  • Broccoli
  • Mustard greens
  • Cabbages
  • Collards
  • Turnips
  • Radishes

Alliaceae

Even a homegrown meal would be a little dull without these members of the onion, or allium, family.

  • Onions
  • Green onions
  • Garlic
  • Shallots
  • Chives

Lamiaceae

Many of our culinary herbs are members of this family, often called the “mint” family.

  • Mint
  • Basil
  • Rosemary
  • Sage
  • Oregano

Apiaceae

These cool-season crops are all members of the parsley family, and include:

  • Carrots
  • Parsley
  • Cilantro
  • Fennel
  • Celery

Chenopodiaceae

We don’t normally call these by their common name, the “Goosefoot” family, but this group includes:

  • Beets
  • Chard
  • Spinach

Asteraceae

Although they look nothing alike, many home gardeners grow members of the “aster” family in their home gardens:

  • Lettuce
  • Artichoke
  • Sunflower

Vegetable Varieties and Hybrids

So, if you’re wondering which of these vegetables to grow in Florida, the answer is any of them that you want, as long as you plant in the right season for our wonky weather. However, if you want to improve your rate of success, you’ll look for varieties that have proven themselves in our climate.

What are Vegetable Varieties

You may have heard the term “variety” or may have seen the term “cultivar.” Many gardeners use them interchangeably, and I suppose I am one of them, although I know better.

When it comes to vegetables, however, home gardeners only need to understand the difference between a variety and a hybrid. Especially if you grow from seed.

Varieties are a type of plant that is in all important aspects just like any other member of its species. However, it has demonstrated a small difference, such as the color of the flower or the shape of the fruit.

Nature is wonderful. It’s always mutating to fill the gaps.

Gardening in Florida is one of those gaps. Trying to grow vegetables that most of us recognize and want to eat in a subtropical climate is definitely a specialized niche. A gap, as it were.

So, you may find that some naturally occurring varieties do better in our climate than others. In some cases, careful scientists from our heroic Ag Department have spent years nurturing these sports to ensure they will perform true to type.

What are Vegetable Hybrids

Then there are hybrids. Hybrid seeds are often one-offs that have been bred to perform in specific conditions.

  • F1 Hybrid: A combination of two distinct varieties of plants that will produce a known result.
  • F2 Hybrid: Seeds produced by self or open pollination in F1 plant fruits
  • F3 Hybrid: Seeds produced by self or open pollination F2 plants

You’ll rarely find F2 or F3 seeds for sale because the results can vary so much. You may collect them and experiment with them.

You’ll definitely find plenty of F1 Hybrid plant seeds on the market when you’re shopping for your fall garden. They have some distinct advantages and two very solid disadvantages.

Pros

  • Bred for a unique or particularly attractive appearance
  • Combines the best of two parent varieties
  • Generally produced to be resistant to several diseases

Cons

  • Usually expensive
  • Not a good candidate for seed saving

Choosing the Best Vegetable Varieties for Florida Gardens

Now you know a few of the basics about what constitutes a variety and a hybrid. You’re going to want to know which ones the best for your garden.

YMMV – which to me, in gardening, means, “Your Microclimate May Vary.”

I’ve collected some varieties (and hybrids) for consideration. These selections have been recommended by Florida state Ag experts or other experienced growers. Some have been solid gold winners for me.

Some are heirlooms, some are simply open-pollinated, and some are hybrids. Knowing which they are can help you decide to buy or not. This may depend on your budget and your desire to save seed for next season.

All are in alphabetical order.

Bush Beans

  • Annihilator
  • Bush Blue Lake
  • Cherokee Wax
  • Contender
  • Roma II
  • Royal burgundy
  • Tenderette
  • Tendergreen improved

Pole Beans

  • Blue Lake
  • Dixie Butterpea Lima beans
  • Early Thorogreen Lima beans
  • Foodhook 242 Lima beans
  • Kentucky Wonder
  • McCaslan
  • Storage / Shell Beans
  • Wase Adzuki

Beans, Long/Snake

  • Kurosanjaku
  • Mosaic Yardlong Beans
  • Red Noodle
  • White Seeded
  • You Fong Wong Yardlong Beans

Beets

  • Asgrow Wonder
  • Cylindra
  • Detroit Dark Red
  • Early Wonder
  • Green Top
  • Little Ball
  • Pacemaker III
  • Red Ace

Heading Broccoli

  • Early Dividend
  • Early Green
  • Green Duke
  • Green Goliath
  • Green Sprouting
  • Packman
  • Waltham

Sprouting/Flowering Broccoli  

  • Calabrese
  • De Cicco
  • Piracicaba

Brussels Sprouts

  • Jade Cross
  • Long Island Improved

Cabbage

  • Bravo
  • Bronco
  • Copenhagen market
  • Flat Dutch
  • Rio Verde
  • Round Dutch
  • Savoy Red Acre
  • Wakefield

Asian Greens and Cabbages

  • Cabbage Blues
  • Choho Hybrid Tatsoi
  • Early Mizuna
  • Green Rocket
  • Green Spray Mibuna
  • Jung Green
  • Kosaitai
  • Okame Hybrid Spinach
  • Red Komatsuna Tatsoi
  • Shuka Flowering
  • Tokyo Bekana
  • Wakamine Green

Melons

  • Ambrosia Cantaloupe
  • Athena Cantaloupe
  • Charleston Grey 133 watermelon
  • Crimson Sweet watermelon
  • Florida Giant watermelon
  • Galia Cantaloupe
  • Ginkaku Korean Melon
  • Hakucho Charentais Cantaloupe
  • Hime Kansen Icebox Watermelon
  • Honey Rock Cantaloupe
  • Ichiba Kouji Honeydew
  • Jubilee Watermelon
  • Sugar Baby Watermelon

Carrots

  • Chantenay
  • Danvers
  • Imperator 58
  • Kuroda Subtropical
  • Lunar White
  • Nantes
  • Purple Haze
  • Solar Yellow
  • White Satin

Cauliflower

  • Brocoverde
  • Cheddar
  • Graffiti
  • Snow Crow
  • Snowball

Celery

  • Conquistador
  • Giant Pascal
  • Giant Red
  • Golden Pascal
  • Utah

Collards

  • Georgia
  • Georgia Southern
  • Morris Heading
  • Top Bunch
  • Vates

Corn, Sweet

  • Early Sunglow
  • How Sweet It Is
  • Kandy Korn
  • Merit
  • Peaches and Cream
  • Silver Queen
  • Sweet Ice
  • Sweet Riser

Corn, Field

  • Black Aztec
  • Bloody butcher
  • Blue Clarage
  • Hickory King
  • Johnson County White
  • Mandan Bride
  • Reid’s Yellow
  • Roy’s Calais
  • Seneca Red
  • Tennessee Red Cob
  • Trucker’s Favorite

Cucumber, Slicing

  • Ashley
  • Bush Slicer
  • Cherokee
  • Dasher II
  • General Lee
  • Greensleeves
  • Marketmore 76
  • Poinsett
  • Sooyow Nishiki
  • Speedway
  • Summer Dance
  • Sweet Success
  • Thunder

Cucumber, Pickling

  • Boston
  • Calypso
  • Eureka
  • Jackson classic
  • Napoleon
  • Royal
  • Transamerica

Endive

  • Batavian Broadleaf

Garlic

  • Lorz Italian
  • Thermadrone

Eggplant

  • Asian Bride
  • Black Beauty
  • Cloud Nine
  • Dusky Long
  • Florida Market
  • Ichiban
  • Mizuno Takumi
  • Shoyo Long

Kale

  • Blue Curled Scotch
  • Dwarf Blue
  • Lacinato (dinosaur)
  • Red Russian
  • Siberian
  • Suiho Chinese
  • Winterbor

Kohlrabi

  • Early White Vienna
  • Purple Vienna

Lettuce

Heading

  • Bibb
  • Buttercrunch
  • Ermosa
  • Great Lakes
  • Manoa
  • Okayama Buttercrunch
  • Tom Thumb

Looseleaf

  • Black Seeded Simpson
  • Oak Leaf
  • Red Deer Tongue
  • Red Fire Leaf
  • Red Sails
  • Ruby Red Leaf
  • Salad Bowl

Cos

  • Jericho Romaine
  • Outredgeous
  • Parris Island Cos
  • Red Romaine

Mustard Greens

  • Florida Broadleaf
  • Giant Red
  • Greenwave
  • Southern Giant Curled

Okra

  • Annie Oakley II
  • Burgundy
  • Cajun Delight
  • Clemson Spineless
  • Emerald
  • Jambalaya

Onion, Bulbing

  • Cippolini White
  • Granex
  • Granex Yellow
  • Matador Shallot
  • Shonan Red
  • Superex “Maui”
  • Texas Grano
  • Tropicana Red
  • White Libson

Onions, Green

  • Evergreen bunching

English peas

  • Green Arrow
  • Oregon Sugarpod II
  • Sugar Snap
  • Wando

Southern Peas

  • California Blackeye No 6
  • Hull
  • Pinkeye Purple
  • Pinkeye Purple Hull cowpeas
  • Southern Seminole
  • Texas Cream

Peppers, Sweet

  • Big Bertha
  • California Wonder
  • Chinese Big Red
  • Sweet Banana

Peppers, Hot

  • Ancho
  • Cayenne
  • Ghost pepper
  • Habanero
  • Hungarian Hot Wax
  • Jalapeno

Irish potatoes

  • French Fingerling
  • Red Pontiac
  • Yukon Gold

Pumpkins

  • Jack O Lantern
  • Seminole

Quinoa

  • Brightest Brilliant Rainbow

Radish

  • Cherry Belle
  • French Breakfast
  • Giant White Daikon
  • Hailtone
  • Karaine Daikon
  • Mantanghong Beauty
  • Scarlet Globe
  • Sparkler White

Rutabaga

  • American Purple Top

Spinach

  • Bloomsdale Longstanding
  • Viroflay

Summer Squash

  • Aehobak Korean
  • Black Beauty Zucchini
  • Chayote
  • Cocozelle Zucchini
  • Crookneck
  • Desert Zucchini hybrid
  • Early White Scallop
  • Spineless Beauty Zucchini
  • Teot Bat Avocado Squash

Winter Squash

  • Butterscotch Butternut
  • Calabaza
  • Spaghetti
  • Table Queen Acorn
  • Tatume
  • Waltham Butternut

Sweet Potatoes

  • Beauregard

Swiss Chard

  • Bright Lights
  • Canary
  • Fantasia Orange
  • Flamingo
  • Fordhook Giant
  • Perpetual Spinach
  • Pink Lipstick
  • Red Ruby

Determinate Tomatoes

  • Celebrity
  • Floradade
  • Floragold
  • Homestead
  • Maraglobe
  • Solar Set
  • Tasti-lee

Indeterminate Tomatoes

  • Amelia
  • Better Boy
  • Bonnie’s Best
  • Celebrity
  • Cherokee purple
  • Green Zebra
  • Heat Wave II
  • Mortgage Lifter

Cherry Tomatoes

  • Everglades
  • Gardener’s Delight
  • Sun Gold Cherry
  • Sweet 100
  • Sweetie

Paste Tomatoes

  • San Marzano

Turnips

  • Japanese Red Round
  • Purple Top White Globe
  • Seven Top

Strawberries

  • Camarosa
  • Chandler
  • Festival
  • Florida Beauty
  • Florida Brilliance
  • Florida Radiance
  • Oso Grande
  • Sweet Charlie
  • Sweet Sensation

Tropical Greens

  • Green Leaf Amaranth (callaloo)
  • Molokhia Egyptian Spinach
  • New Zealand spinach
  • Red Garnet Amaranth
  • White Leaf amaranth

Finding Seeds for the Best Vegetable Varieties to Grow in Florida

It’s not hard to find seeds many vegetable varieties for our subtropical climate. But you will need to look outside the box. Instead of shopping at the big box stores, check out smaller specialty suppliers.

These are some of my favorites:

And if you’re just looking for Floradade tomatoes, you can find them in my online shop.

Several of these are owned by passionate Florida gardeners just like you. Keep it local!

And happy planting!

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The Best Heat-Tolerant Annual Flowers for Southern Gardens

In the South, it’s just too hot and humid for gardening much. We’re reduced to an hour or two of tolerable temperatures in the morning and maybe at dusk. But the good news is that we don’t have to forgo all gardening completely. There are many heat-tolerant annual flowers that thrive in the scorching sun, and many of them reach maturity pretty quickly.

Summer is when vegetable gardens in the South seem to perish in front of our very eyes. (If you’ve seen bacterial blight, then you know what I’m talking about.) Forget about summer tomatoes, much less lettuce. Our peppers will survive the summer, but don’t expect much in the way of a harvest.

So, it’s time to turn to sturdier, less fussy garden plants, and you may wonder what flowers tolerate full sun and heat?

Heat-Tolerant Annual Flowers You Can Plant Now

June 1st is when I turn my attention to ornamentals. I used to stick to perennial flowering bushes because of the low-care factor. June is a fine time to take cuttings, too.

However, once I discovered what annuals are heat tolerant and can thrive in our damp summers, I’ve found that annuals can flourish with summer neglect as well.

Best of all, most grow quickly and require little care. So, once they’ve germinated and put out true leaves, you won’t even need to stand in the blazing sun to water them.

Indian Blanket Flower, Gaillardia pulchella

heat tolerant indian blanket flower

Indian Blanket Flower is a quick-growing annual that just loves the heat. It’s native to the eastern and southeastern U.S., and while it’s drought-resistant, it can handle more moisture than its Western cousin, the Common Blanket Flower.

So, if you have hot, wet summers, like we do in Florida, Indian Blanket will add color to sunny areas in your garden. It will also tolerate partial shade. It reaches 1 to 2 feet high, with bright, cheerful yellow and red flowers.

It’s considered of special value to native bee populations as well. If you’re gardening for wildlife and don’t have room in your beds for flowers, it’s also one of the best heat tolerant annuals for containers.

Indian Blanket is one of the heat-tolerant annual flowers that are perennial in subtropical coastal regains. And in many areas, it will reseed prolifically.

Best of all, you’ll get flowers in only about 8 weeks!

You can purchase Indian Blanket Flower seeds here.
Buy seeds

Coreopsis, Coreopsis tinctoria

heat tolerant southern wildflowers

Sometimes called tickseed and plains Coreopsis, the Florida state wildflower produces masses of happy yellow and red flowers that bees simply adore. It puts up with a lot – even a hot Southern summer. You’ll find coreopsis available in other shades, as well, with deep red being the most common.  

If you have poor, sandy soil, coreopsis will love you and produce flowers in about 60 to 70 days. This Southern U.S. native wildflower requires no feeding but do like some moisture.

This wildflower ranges from 1 to 3 feet tall and flowers in about 80 to 90 days.

Purchase Coreopsis tinctoria seeds here, or Tall Red Coreopsis tinctoria seeds here.
Buy seeds

Salvias

Salvias are often perennial in the South, which makes them a particularly good choice for summer color. When the temperatures start to rise, it’s nice to know that your future holds flowers, even if it’s too hot for gardening.

Scarlet Sage

Salvias come in a range of colors, but Scarlet Salvia is native to the southeast and provides food for hummingbirds and butterflies. Its natural range is coastal areas, from South Carolina, around Florida, and up the Gulf Coast to Texas. Best of all, it blooms nearly all year long in subtropical climates and self-seeds like a champ.

You can purchase Scarlet Sage seeds here.
Buy seeds

Blue Salvia

heat tolerant blue salvia

Even though it’s native to the Southwest, Blue Salvia (Salvia farinacea), or Blue Sage, also does well in the Southeast. Hummingbirds love it and in frost-free areas, it will bloom year-round.

Because it’s so drought-tolerant, it makes a fantastic water-wise flower to add to your landscaping or butterfly garden.

You can purchase Blue Salvia seeds here.
Buy seeds

Zinnias

zinnias are heat and sun tolerant for southern summer gardens

Zinnias are native to Mexico and Central America, and have become naturalized to the Southwest U.S. But they grow anywhere that offers heat and sunshine. They come in a wide range of colors and heights, and they’re easy to grow.

Zinnias are a no-brainer for summer color, particularly for beginning gardeners, lazy gardeners, and kids. These heat-tolerant annual flowers germinate in as little as three days in the right conditions, but no more than 7 to 10. Best of all, they flower in about 50 days, which means you can add them now and add beauty to your garden well before fall.

You can buy Zinnia seeds here.
Buy seeds

Celosia, Celosia

flame shaped celosia

Celosia looks like we feel on the beach in July – like we’ve burst into flames. In fact, the name is derived from the Greek word for “burning.” It’s a dramatic addition to any garden because of the vivid colors and unique flame shape.

It likes some moisture but loves full sun. You’ll find it in a range of bright, jewel-toned colors.

There are a variety of flower shapes, however, including Celosia cristata, which is also called cockscomb. Celosia spicata resembles wheat.

They offer plenty of nectar for bees and butterflies, but also make excellent dried flowers.

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Cosmos, Cosmos bipinnatus

heat tolerant cosmos flowers

Cosmos looks so delicate, but it’s tough as nails in the summer garden. This Mexican native plant loves the heat and will thrive under the sun.

Cosmos feature frothy, fernlike leaves reaching from 2 to 4 feet tall. They have small, dainty blossoms in a wide range of colors. Most are in the pink and white shades, but you’ll also find them in rich maroons and deep lavender.

They’ll grow anytime the weather is warm and bloom in only two months. So, it’s not too late to grow a cottage-garden style annual flower, even in June.

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And a dwarf variety here that only reaches about 1 foot tall.
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French Marigolds

French marigold

These sunny, yellow flowers just seem built for hot summer gardens. French marigolds are usually just called “marigolds” in the U.S., but it distinguishes them from Calendula, which are commonly called “marigolds” in the UK and EU.

French marigolds are members of the Tagetes genus and native to Mexico and Central America.

French marigolds are long-lived annuals with a wide range of colors, heights, and growth habits. Some reach as tall as 3 feet, while other works as a compact ground cover. Because of their compact growth, they’re one of the best heat tolerant annuals for containers.

As well as being easy to grow, they’re also easy to propagate. You can take cuttings at nearly any time during the active season, so if you can preserve your favorite bloom color indefinitely.

They grow quickly and mature in about 45 to 50 days, tolerating heat and drought once established.

You can purchase French Marigolds here.
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Mexican Sunflower, Tithonia rotundafolia

Mexican sunflower, Tithonia bloom

If you like height and drama during the hot summer days, consider adding Tithonia to your flower garden. It isn’t a fast-growing annual, like others on this list, but in areas of the country with mild or late winters, it will bloom beautifully throughout the fall until the first frost of winter

Tithonia delivers heights up to 6 feet tall and can grow up to 3 feet wide. It features soft, spade-shaped foliage and vivid orange flowers with red centers.

It prefers poor, well-draining soil and can be sown directly or into large cells for transplanting.

Purchase Mexican Sunflower seeds here.
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Heat Tolerant Annual Flowers Add Sunshine During the Rainy Season

Depending on where you live in the South, summer can really be the gloomiest time of the year. Much of the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast enjoy a rainy season, with regular storm watches. Some years, it seems that most of the color is in the cocktails we concoct for Hurricane Parties.

But I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Sure, your spring tomatoes are all dead. The squash has been quashed by pests. The latest storm blew over your pole beans.

Even the bananas, who should be able to stand up to all this, seem sad and beaten.

It’s not too late to add a little color to your Southern garden with some fast-growing annuals.