Ideas for flowers or plants that can stand a LOT of sun?

We get basically a full day of sun by our deck. I have tried hanging basket plants and flowers that say they love sun, but I am still struggling 😣to keep them nice with amount we get. Any suggetions? 🤔Would really love to have some flurishing, full plants back there. Please help.
Thank you
Desperate deck .

  8 answers
  • Vimarhonor Vimarhonor on Jul 01, 2018

    Hello Stephanie,


    I have standing and hanging baskets of sedum on my sun exposed deck(s) and they do well all season with little or no care year round. Some sedum have quite interesting shapes such as this one in the pot with the red flower. With my extreme sunny hot exposure petunias begonias and geraniums failed ( fried) —but the sedum thrive. I am in zone 7.

    I hope this helps, sorry I can’t post actual photos of theses example plants until daylight occurs.




  • Go to your local garden center and ask what is the easiest for your area with full sun. They will know what grows best in your state.

  • Imjhale Imjhale on Jul 02, 2018

    Wedelia works well in Florida and has pretty yellow flowers and glossy berm leaves. Also check with LOCAL nursery or county extension setvice and ask for their suggestions. Some new products on the market keep water from draining out so fast - and spilling on the floor. Mine is a cleat plastic one you add over the bottom and the sides, hooks to/ slides over your hanging pot.

  • Do not feel bad, I finally had to give up in my current location in Zone 9. I had a bunch of shepherd's hooks and thought hanging baskets would be nice, but the sun is just too darn hot no matter what method or plants I used. I ended up with garden art instead. 100° in the shade means hotter in the sun.

  • Mindshift Mindshift on Jul 02, 2018

    Plants in containers are more stressed by full sun than those in the ground. Choose large containers to mitigate extremes of soil temperature and moisture content. Add coir (fine coconut fiber) to your potting soil. It is easier to re-wet if it dries out. http://images.ethicalsuperstore.com/images/254626-kokoblock-compost-block2.jpg You do know that most potting soil doesn't have much nutrient value; its main value is as a sterile medium. IMO, it's better to use a low-dose fertilizer with micronutrients, but you can still use Miracle Gro and such if you mix them at 1/2 or 1/4 strength.

    Choose plants that are not just sun lovers but will take reflected heat as well. Heat is reflected from your deck and the walls of your house. Potentilla is hardy in zones 3-7 and it loves sun. It grows slowly but will grow even in poor soil. Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) is a perennial subshrub in its native habitat. It won't winter over in Ohio, but it's definitely heat tolerant and has flowers of white, pink, rose and lavender. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1537/5553/products/21685_grande.jpg?v=1486447963 Lantana is usually a shrub, but there are dwarf bedding lantanas in yellow, white and pink. These will not winter over, but provide blooms from summer till frost. http://www.arizonapottery.com/images/88_1099-lantana-in-a-pot.jpg Zinnia is a heat tolerant annual, and there are plenty of dwarf cultivars such as Thumbelina, and low-growing species such as Z angustifolia. Another heat tolerant beauty is pentas which grow to about 2 ft high and wide. They come in white, pink, red and rose. https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6a/8f/85/6a8f8536a2c87f16fa19e7797db8297f.jpg

    • Mindshift Mindshift on Jul 02, 2018

      PS: Hanging baskets are especially prone to drying out. Making your own baskets allows you to add coir and water-holding crystals like Soil Moist to the potting medium, which makes them easier to keep wet. If hanging baskets do dry out, set the entire basket in a tub of water until the potting medium is saturated

  • Stephanie Willis Stephanie Willis on Jul 02, 2018

    Thank you all so much for you suggestions and answers😁

    Very grateful and will look into them. Wish me luck. 🥀

    Blessings from Ohio.

  • Vimarhonor Vimarhonor on Jul 02, 2018

    Follow up Stephanie —to last nites post above


    Here are the sedum that are surviving the 90-100 degree temperatures we are having now in central Virginia, zone seven. In my experience they are thoroughly vetted for sunny deck top use. The hen and and chicks I’ve had for more than five years on this very same sun scorched deck Surviving ice and snow and below zero temperatures to Sunny scorching summer’s! Hope this helps.

  • Stephanie Willis Stephanie Willis on Jul 02, 2018

    Thank you so much.😉