12 Top Performing Plants from Hot Climate Trials

We all love ‘the hunt’ in spring, the stroll down the garden center aisles, looking left and right for the new plant varieties you’ve been hearing about for months! Then, the excitement of seeing the newest cultivars, putting them in your cart, mentally planning just exactly how you are going to use it…that’s the joy of the season ahead.

Contributors: Kerry Meyer

Well, here at Proven Winners we are on the hunt too! Finding those varieties and making sure they will perform well enough to be Proven Winners plants is a multi-step, multi-year process. One step is sharing the newest varieties in the Proven Winners line with university and public gardens to be trialed in a wide variety of climates. We send plants in many different directions--from South Florida to Quebec and Oregon State to the University of Delaware, plus dozens of trials scattered throughout the US and Canada.

I looked at performance data from 16 trial locations across the Southern US to identify the plants that didn’t just survive, but really hit it out of the ballpark in the hottest parts of the country. These 12 plants won top performance status in at least 10 of the 16 trials spread across the south, with two of them, ColorBlaze^® Wicked Witch^™ coleus and Suncredible^® Yellow sunflower, rated as a top performer in every trial!

I always assume if a plant does great in the south, it’ll love my Midwestern garden too. If you are looking for proven performance for your hot climate summer garden this list of plants is a great place to start. Please note, the plants are shown here in actual trial settings, and are listed in order of how many awards they won this summer, with ColorBlaze^® Wicked Witch^™ Coleus garnering the most recognitions, with 16 top performer awards!

ColorBlaze^® Wicked Witch^™ Coleus