It's been a scorching summer across much of the country. I imagine there are several plants that have been on the struggle bus, unless they received ample amounts of irrigation. If you're from regions of the country that get hot year after year, consider checking out these plants from the Southern Living collection.

Each of these plants received the FlameProof award from the Dallas Arboretum Plant trials. These award winners have been shown to perform well in the scorching heat of a Texas summer over the course of three years. Never been to Texas? Then trust me, It's hotter'n a blister bug in a pepper patch down there in the summer!

Here are this year's recipients. Please bear with me—these heat-loving shrubs are not for those of us in the great white north, but I thought I'd share them for those of you who can grow and sell these great plants.

Sunshine Ligustrum

From the Southern Living Plant Collection and the Sunset Western Garden Collection.

Check out this ray of light appropriately named Sunshine. Its golden evergreen foliage offers year-round color and flourishes in full sun. Landscapers will appreciate this sterile, non-invasive cultivar. In fact, since there are no flowers, there's also no seeds or allergens. That's nothing to sneeze about! USDA Hardiness Zones 6 to 10.

Mood Ring Podocarpus

From the Southern Living Plant Collection and the Sunset Western Garden Collection. 

Here's a tough deer and drought-resistant evergreen shrub that proudly earned its spot as a FlameProof award winner. With its bronzy-pink new and manageable size, Mood Ring offers a modern twist to a Southern classic. This low-maintenance shrub works great as a privacy screen or in mass plantings across USDA Hardiness Zones 7 and higher. Mood Ring grows 10- to 15-ft. high by 4- to 6-ft. across.

Lemon Lime Nandina

From the Southern Living Plant Collection and the Sunset Western Garden Collection. 

Lemon Lime is a compact evergreen shrub reaching just 3- to 4-ft. high and across. It's claim to fame is the chartreuse foliage that brightens up landscapes with its fresh, citrus hues. Great for lightening dark spaces when used in accent, border and mass plantings. Hardy to Zone 6. 

I've never worked a day of my life in retail garden centers, but I'm amazed at the innovation, products and opportunities, not to mention the importance retail is to the survival of our industry. Since retail isn't my passion, I don't spend much time there, but I have some colleagues at Ball Publishing that do.

Remember the Bobbleheads (Chris Beytes from GrowerTalks and Ellen Wells from Green Profit) from the Spring Trials videos? They're back with special coverage of the 2018 Independent Garden Center Show that was recently held in Chicago. Be sure to watch their informative and entertaining video. Click here or the image above to see it. 

The fall is a fun time of year. Many people enjoy visiting orchards, farms and greenhouses for various fall festivities. If you host these types of events, be sure to include lots of colorful perennials like these echibeckia into your fall displays and retail shelves. With their autumn colors, colorful plants like these will steal the show and walk off the shelves.

Marketing perennials in the fall as decorations rather than perennials will break down mental barriers and allow consumers to simply enjoy them rather than being concerned with where to plant them. It's definitely value-added for consumers who know these plants, but let's face it, most consumers are hungry for attractive decorations rather than planting a landscape. If that's how they want to purchase perennials in the fall, I say let's embrace it and sell all the decorations we can. 

Although it seems like November is in the distant future, it'll be here before you know it. This means the Northeast Greenhouses Conference and Expo on November 7-8, 2018 in Boxborough, Massachusetts, is fast approaching as well. There are several educational sessions on perennials including:

• "Propagating Perennials"—Stephanie Burnett
• "Natives, A Grower’s Perspective"—Peter van Berkum
• "Nutrient Management with Herbaceous Perennials"—Sinclair Adam
• "Biocontrol in Perennials for Indoor and Outdoor Production"—Roger McGaughey
• "Deer-Resistant Plants"—Sinclair Adam

If you're looking for a little more diverse program, the Northeast Conference delivers and will be offering a home run lineup of topics covering insect and disease management, lighting, nutrition, hydroponics, greenhouse vegetables, e-marketing and more. I've been to this conference in the past and hope to attend again this year. The only question I have is: Will you be attending?

Look over the program and give this event your fair consideration. I think the conference looks solid and could be a great investment.

Check it out at www.negreenhouse.org.

If you're like most growers, you've asked yourself on one or more occasions various questions about greenhouse lighting. If so, I suspect some of these questions revolved around how to measure light in a greenhouse. Coincidentally, Ball Publishing is hosting an upcoming webinar titled "Measuring Light in a Greenhouse: Why What When and How."

This FREE webinar will be held on Tuesday, September 11, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern/12:00 p.m. Central. Guest expert Jason Grimmett of Signify (formerly Philips Lighting) will answer these questions as he discusses differing light measuring devices, the dos and don'ts of measuring light and so much more. Now you won't have to ask yourself questions you don't have answers to—you can simply attend this FREE webinar and learn all the facts firsthand, then if you still have questions, just ask Jason.

Click here to learn more about this FREE webinar thanks to the sponsor Signify.

While on the subject of lighting, if you're interested in the webinar mentioned above, you might also be interested in attending the 2018 Horticultural Lighting Conference on October 9, 2018 in Portland, Oregon. This one-day event is absolutely packed with keynote speakers, interactive interviews, live interviews and networking opportunities. Attendees will learn about lighting technologies, review case studies, discuss best practices and much, much more. Your future will be brighter after attending this great event.

Click here for event information.