10 Shrubs for Full Sun and Reflected Heat

AZ Plant Lady

One of the most difficult places in the landscape to grow plants is in areas that receive full sun as well as reflected heat.

Reflected heat occurs when sidewalks, walls, and patio decks absorb the heat during the day only to re-radiate that heat back out.

As you can imagine, when you couple the intensity of areas that get full sun AND reflected warmth, it can be hard to find plants that can not only survive but add beauty to these spaces.

Thankfully, there are a number of attractive plants that will thrive in these hot spots.

I recently shared 10 shrubs, in my latest article for Houzz, that can handle full sun as well as reflected warmth.

Do you have a plant that you like that does well in full, reflected sun?

**For additional shrub suggestions, I recommend Mary Irish’s book, Trees and Shrubs for the Southwest.

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Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
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3 replies
  1. trav4adventures
    trav4adventures says:

    I have some of these in our front yard here in Palm Desert. The sage does especially well, as the cassia. I also have Tithonia and sunflowers, which the birds enjoy. I still have some blue penstamon and some mint! I'm not sure how long any of them will last, however, in our 123 degree heat! Bouganvillas are doing fine.

  2. arizonaplantlady@gmail.com
    arizonaplantlady@gmail.com says:

    Hi Trav4adventures,

    Thanks for mentioning what is blooming in your garden this hot June. Despite the mess that they can cause, it's hard to beat bougainvillea for thriving in hot, inhospitable conditions while adding glorious color.

    Now, if it would just cool off to 110 degrees 😉

    Noelle – AZ Plant Lady

  3. deb
    deb says:

    My bougainvillea's doing fine as well. Yep, we're at 108 in Tucson…not fun, but hopefully it'll cook down a bit in a few days!

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