Beautiful and bullet proof plants

Many years ago, Shirley Conran, author of the book ‘Superwoman’ for busy women wrote, ’Life is too short to stuff a mushroom.’ Fast forward to 2026 and with life being even busier, it would be fair to say life’s too short to fuss with feeble plants! What gardener’s (or would be gardeners) want, say the trend spotters, are plants that are both beautiful and bullet proof. Whatever the weather throws at us, be it heat, drought, storms or floods, the busy gardener needs plants that will stay the course and not need constant attention.

The gardening industry has stepped up to the challenge, says Kathy Varney, past president of the SA Nursery Association. Whether it’s the introduction of new or ‘improved’ tried and trusted varieties, breeding programmes are prioritising plants for better heat, humidity and drought tolerance, wet weather resilience and greater disease resistance. Low maintenance is the watchword.

For busy gardeners wanting the right plants for the right conditions, Kathy offers her top picks for the three categories below, drawing from her experience as marketing manager of BallStraathof. Angelonia (aka Summer Snapdragons) can take punishing heat and humidity. Plants are well branched and compact, ideal for filling beds that receive full sun or afternoon sun.

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Bidens is irresistible to bees and butterflies and thrives in the heat of summer. It’s a good low growing edging, border or groundcover plant that also grows well in pots. Coreopsis an easy growing bedding and border perennial that’s sun-loving and drought tolerant.

It’s not fussy about soil and has mildew-resistant foliage. Growth is neat, compact and tidy. Cuphea Sweet Talk grows in full sun or semi shade, and its flowers are a natural sources of nectar for pollinators.

The flowers don’t need dead heading, even under hot conditions. Euphorbia Gramineaeis heat tolerant across a wide range of conditions, doing best in full sun but able to take some shade. Plants are long-lasting, free flowering plants and fill in fast.

Canna ‘Canova’ is fast growing, compact and heat tolerant, but is not invasive. It is a low maintenance plant that does best with full sun and moist soil. Petchoa BeautiCals are large weather resistant plants that recover from rain much faster than standard petunias. Being a cross between petunias and calibrachoa, they flower profusely like cali’s but with bigger petunia type flowers.

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