Pretty with pink: Plant these favorites to cool the summer sun in your Texas yard

Landscape designers will tell you that pastel colors cool the intense summer sun here in Texas. One of the best of them all is pink, and this is a good time for me to list some of your best choices of this handsome color. Each of the ones I’ll include is long-proven and dependable here in North Texas now into the fall. Sure, there are many more — these are just my personal favorites.

Annuals …

▪ Wax begonias. Bronze-leafed types tolerate morning sun. Green-leafed types need more shade. Flowers are pink, but also red or white. They grow to 10-12 inches tall.

▪ Dragon Wing begonias. Large flowers and large, showy leaves. Great in patio pots. Shade or early morning sun. Grow to 16 inches tall.

▪ Moss rose and hybrid purslane. Come in all “sherbet” colors, but individual colors are sometimes available, pink included. Tolerate hottest conditions. Beds, pots or baskets.

▪ Pentas. Showy in color beds and pots. Available in many colors, including handsome pink. Blooms all summer and fall.

▪ Lantanas. Pink types are more commonly shrubby, to 24-30 inches tall. Great butterfly plants. Extremely tolerant of heat, full sun.

▪ Angelonias. Commonly planted for its purple shades, but pink is also sold. One of the more recent plants on these lists, but they rapidly became popular. Grow to 14-16 inches.

▪ Caladiums. Grown for generations of Texas gardeners for their exotic foliage. New varieties are coming along each year. Best in shade or morning sun. Good in containers and beds.

▪ Coleus. Scores of varieties of this foliar annual are now available. They’ve been bred for resistance to sun and reluctance to bloom. (Flowers stop production of new, colorful foliage.)

Tropical Annuals …

▪ Bougainvilleas. Basically, they’re leaning vines that require support. They can be grown up arbor posts or in large patio pots. They bloom best when they’re slightly rootbound, also when temperatures start to cool in the fall.

▪ Mandevilla. Showy pinwheel-shaped blooms on twining vines all summer long. Great on wrought iron trellises or arbors.

▪ Brugmansia. Perhaps the showiest flowering plant we grow here in Texas (personal opinion). Blooms last only one day, but they’re produced by the dozens.

▪ Hibiscus (tropical). If you’ve ever traveled to Hawaii or the Caribbean, you have fond memories of this plant. Choose whatever color you’d like, but for purposes of this story, pink is certainly available.

Perennials …

▪ Daylilies. My favorite flowers of my life. I’ve grown hundreds of varieties in all shades except blue. Develop a true-blue daylily and you’ll be able to retire. You have an unlimited selection of outstanding pink types, and they’ll be coming into bloom in late May and June.

▪ Purple coneflowers. Hybridizers started with a native wildflower, and they’ve given us a beautiful array of colors of pink and other shades to show for their efforts. They bloom in May. Butterflies will come from miles around.

▪ Pavonia. Another plant out of the hibiscus clan. Also known as rock rose, it grows to 24 inches tall and its pink flowers are golf ball-sized. It loves the heat and sun.

▪ Cannas. Red flowers may be more common, but pink is certainly available. The large leaves are very tropical looking around the pool or patio. Be prepared to treat for canna leafrollers, however.

▪ Summer phlox. The heirloom rosy-pink type you see in older neighborhoods is one of two good types for Texas gardens. A selection made by premier horticulturist Greg Grant and named for his friend nurseryman John Fanick of San Antonio is pale pink. Beyond those, the northern types are seldom successful in Texas.

▪ Salvia greggii. Also called Autumn sage, this species is available in red, purple, white and bicolors as well as pink. It blooms from early spring until frost and it’s sensational. It grows to 30 inches tall, but you’ll want to prune it in February and again in August to keep it at 24 inches.

Shrub/Tree …

▪ Crape myrtles. This is my favorite shrub or small tree. Of the 150 varieties in the marketplace, there are types that never grow taller than 2 feet, and there are types that grow taller than 30 feet. There is truly a crape myrtle for every need as long as it’s full sun. You’ll find them in shades of red, pink, white, lavender and purple. Of those, pinks are perhaps the most common.

You can hear Neil Sperry on KLIF 570AM on Saturday afternoons 1-3 p.m. and on WBAP 820AM Sunday mornings 8-10 a.m. Join him at www.neilsperry.com and follow him on Facebook.

This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 3:30 AM with the headline "Pretty with pink: Plant these favorites to cool the summer sun in your Texas yard."