Rescue plan for pots on a sunbaked stone patio
Stone holds heat like a skillet. Put a pot on it in July and the soil inside cooks from below while the sun hammers from above. Choosing summer planters Mainline homeowners will actually keep alive means treating the setup as engineering first and decoration second. Problem: terracotta drinks your water. Clay breathes, which is lovely for roots and terrible during a heatwave. Line the inside with a plastic pot-within-a-pot, or switch to glazed ceramic and resin versions that lose moisture slowly. Problem: dark pots absorb heat. A black container can bake roots even when leaves look fine. Pale colors reflect light. If you adore dark shades, shade the pot’s sunny side with taller neighbors. Problem: small volume, big thirst. A pot under twelve inches wide may need water twice daily at peak heat. Choose larger vessels, and group several together so their foliage shades each other’s sides. Problem: the wrong plants. Pick performers built for punishment. Lantana, angelonia, zi...