27 Heat Resistant Summer Vegetables for Hot Climates

By Erin Marissa Russell and Matt Gibson

Looking for something to grow in your area that is resistant to quick fronts and hot climate environment that wo n’t go bad in the summertime ? you may always count on these 27 crop to hold up the heating system and bring about through the summer , no matter how hot it gets .

Amaranth

Recommended Varieties : There are several varieties of amaranth that can be raise in live weather climates , particularly in humid areas , like the Florida seashore . The upright one for edible gardens is comestible amaranth , which is also called Tricolor amaranth , tampala , elephant straits amaranth , tassel peak , flaming fountain , Joseph ’s coat , and fountain industrial plant . Its scientific name is Amaranthus . gangeticus .

Other edible varieties let in Purple amaranth ( A. cruentus ) , Guernsey pigweed ( A. blitum ) , Red Spinach , or Chinese spinach ( A. dubius ) , and Green Amaranth , or sylphlike amaranth ( A. viridis ) for leafy vegetable . Varieties that are cultivated for grains include Love - lies - bleeding ( A. caudatus ) , purplish amaranth ( A.cruentus ) , Prince of Wales feather , or Prince ’s Feather ( A. hypochondriacus ) , and Red Root Amaranth ( A. retroflexus ) . uncivilised amaranth is also see edible , but it is not as consistent in flavour and texture as the more pop cultivars are .

Though unremarkably get as an ornamental flora in North America , amaranth is actually an eatable food craw that is cultivated around the world for its leafy greens and metric grain . In the Caribbean , it is usually roil with onion and spices , in a dish called callaloo . Its leaves are either red , greenish or a variegated purpleness and greenish . For more data , you could record our articleHow to produce Amaranthus Cruentus ( Red Amaranth ) .

Armenian Cucumbers

Most cucumber sort wilt in importantly hot summer weather . However , Armenian cuke keep farm fruit and flowers all throughout the summer . Armenian cucumbers are loved for their melon - alike flavour and are typically eaten with salad or made into pickle . Harvest Armenian cucumbers when they are 18 in long . For more information , you could readWest Texas Organic Gardening ’s profile on Armenian cucumber vine .

Arugula

Arugula is a peppery - tasting green that works well in salads , sandwiches , soup , and wraps . It ’s also usually used in salad green admixture . To grow a uninterrupted harvesting , start direct sowing arugula in the springtime and continue every two or three week until the center of August . For more information , you’re able to understand our articlesHow to Grow ArugulaandCan You Grow Arugula in the Summer ?

Baby Chard

It can be a challenge to grow full - sized Swiss chard in hot , wry weather , but it ’s much soft to grow chard and prune it while it ’s unripe and the leaf are in their baby stages . This green is also passing nutritious — as alimentary as Spinacia oleracea , in fact — with 300 time your recommend day-to-day margin of vitamin K as well as plenty of dietary vulcanized fiber , atomic number 26 , atomic number 12 , manganese , potassium , and vitamins A , nose candy , and E. For more information , you may register our articleHow to Grow Swiss Chard .

Baby Kale

Kale is traditionally a cold - weather green , but like Swiss chard , you could well acquire baby kale when the weather is spicy and dry . To produce baby gelt , you do n’t need to space the plant out as wide as you would to get the leaves to their full size . you’re able to lay up your plants for baby kale with one in of place in between them , in row that are four inches apart . Keep embed new seeds every two or three calendar week until six weeks prior to your first expected Robert Frost of the fall for a continuous harvest .

Alternatively , you may use cut off - and - add up - again harvest so the plant will grow new leaves to replace the ones you eat . Just shave the leaves from the plant at their root , using uninfected , sterilized shears , and check that to leave at least a third of the leafage on the plant so it stay healthy . For more selective information , you could take our clause How to acquire Kale : let in Three Favorite Ways to Prepare Kale . You may also be concerned in our Q&A articleHow Do You Keep Kale from Bolting?andDoes Kale Grow Well in the Summer ? .

Beans

Bean varieties that are well suitable to live weather include immature beans , terminal noodle , fly bean , lima beans , and Asparagus officinales beans / chiliad long beans . Phaseola Vulgaris , the most common gullible bean variety , does n’t like much heat , but in addition to Southern diverseness , like southerly pea plant or Vigna sinensis , pink Eye , and purplish Kingston-upon Hull , the potpourri Formosan red noggin , light-green pod red semen , bloodless acre , and whippoorwill are all well - suited to the heating .

Asparagus beans , or thou - long beans , are best grown with a trellis for support . Do n’t let them mature to full size of it on the vine , as they will keep growing up to 36 inches long , and are no longer eatable at that sizing . Instead , harvest them when they are between one infantry and fifteen inches long . For more information , you may read LSU AgCenter ’s articleGive the Yardlong Bean a Try .

Broccoli (Sun King Hybrid)

Although in world-wide broccoli is not a crop to depend on in live region outside of the most temperate sentence of the yr . However , the Sun King hybrid miscellany is an exclusion . This variety is also know for produce high yields of crops with exceptionally large heads . For more information , you may read our articleHow to Grow Broccoli .

Corn

Recommended Varieties : Black Aztec , Country Gentleman

Corn will actually grow more enthusiastically when it ’s red-hot outdoors . However , you will need to leave the growing industrial plant with lots of moisture , as they require generous hydration and systematically dampish soil to cope with the high temperature and produce the magniloquent plants , and eventually , those sweet , juicy kernels . For more information , you’re able to interpret our articleGrowing Sweet Corn in the Home Garden .

Dandelion

You may be surprised to learn that you may eat the greens of dandelion plants . As gardeners in areas where dandelions are invasive are plausibly already aware , these inflexible and prolific lilliputian plants have no trouble hold on in the live , most desiccate experimental condition .

One caveat is that because blowball are trespassing , it will be hard to prevent them from retrovert in future time of year and expanding their district — whether you want them to or not . For more information , you could read theWisconsin Master Gardener Program ’s profileon dandelions . You may also be concerned in the Michigan State University Extension ’s articleFive direction to Eat Dandelions .

Hot Peppers

Recommended Varieties : Big Bertha , Cal Wonder , Cubanelle , Red Knight , Sweet Banana for sweet option ; any sort of hot pepper

live peppers are from the tender countries in Central and South America , so they thrive in areas where plants that do n’t have it away the summer sun be given to struggle . Any kind of spicy Madagascar pepper can be counted on to supply bushels deserving of blistering peppers to temper your food with even when the heat is at its gamy . For more information about growing the dissimilar case of raging peppers , you may read our articlesHow to spring up Cayenne Peppers , How to Grow Ghost Peppers(Bhut jolokia),How to Grow Habanero Peppers , How to arise Paprika Peppers , How to originate Serrano Peppers , andHow to Grow Tabasco Peppers(Capsicum frutescens ) .

Malanga

Malanga is a tuber , like Solanum tuberosum or sweet potatoes , and is the most popularly grow assortment of cocoyam . Above ground , the industrial plant resembles elephant ear , with leaves that grow to an norm of two and a half feet tall to two invertebrate foot broad . The overall flora can load to heights over five feet tall . The leaf and grayish brown to grim lateral genus Tuber , also called cormels , are both eatable .

Be sure to harvest your malanga before rime arrives in your area , as frost and freeze temperature will damage the plants . You must wash away and peel the tuber before cooking . If the tuber is extremely hard , it may even take to be cooked before it can be peeled . you’re able to train spoonflower much like you would a potato , by frying , broil , mashing , or roast .

you may learn more at theUniversity of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences extension profileon malanga .

arugula plant

Malabar Spinach

This leafy green aboriginal to Asia thrive when the temperature climbs above 90 degrees Fahrenheit ( 32.2 degrees Anders Celsius ) and when the soil is above 80 degrees Fahrenheit ( 26.7 degrees Celsius ) . However , as it prefer rainy atmospheric condition , it does best when the weather condition is warm but not too dry . put the climbing plant next to a fencing , trellis , or garden wall to give them a vertical surface to suffer them and cater at least a bit of specter if potential , though the plant will tolerate full sun .

Two plant are usually enough to feed an median small household during summertime through twilight . Like many other plants on this list , these greens are not in reality related to spinach but exploit much like Spinacia oleracea in culinary applications programme and also have a like flavour but a less slippery grain . Malabar spinach go by many other public figure as well , such asacelga trepadora , bretana , Ceylon spinach , climbing prickly-seeded spinach , gui , libato , Malabar nightshade , and vine prickly-seeded spinach . Learn more in our articleHow to raise Malabar Spinach .

Mizuna

Mizuna is an Asian leafy green with a flavor similar to baby chard , a bit sweet and vegetal . It ’s delicious when grown as baby leaves and picked after no more than a month . In Asiatic cuisine , mizuna is often pickle before serving or add together to soup and stir - fried dish . It works well for continuous harvest time when successiveness planting is used , even in the rut of summer . For more information , you may readCornell University ’s profile of mizuna .

Mustard Greens

Recommended Varieties : Green Wave , Golden Frill

Mustard greens are a staple of Southern culinary art , which means these plants are primed to execute well during hot weather . They also pair well with other heat - insubordinate veggies like Southern pea , okra , and sweet potatoes . find out more in our articleHow to Grow Mustard Greens(Brassica juncea ) .

New Zealand Spinach

New Zealand spinach is another leafy green that thrives in hot weather , and this plant is almost invincible against pests and disease . The Green try out very similar to stock Spinacia oleracea when cooked and can also be used in the raw in salad . plant life fate of surplus seed , as it is normal for New Zealand Spinacia oleracea to have a low sprouting rate . Soaking the seeds right away before planting can help assuage this middling , though . Once they ’re established , however , plant will thrive when the weather is warm even during times of drought . you could learn more at theCornell University profile for New Zealand Spinach .

Okinawa Spinach

Okinawa spinach is a Japanese leafy light-green similar to spinach plant that grows as a low slung ground - cover . It ’s also call dawn dewa , Gynura , handama , hang tsoi , leaves of the gods , Mollucan spinach , purple spinach , or simply “ red veggie . ” The leafage are tasty stark naked in salad or blend into smoothies and juice , or you could serve them steamer as a side dish , add them to stir - fries , or ruffle them into quiches and egg dishes .

The Gynura crepioides variety is green while Gynura bicolor bring about both light-green and purplish leaves . The plant get fairly tumid — up to around three feet tall — and will eventually bring out yellow flower . The more heavy and often you reap Okinawa spinach plant , the more the plants will create . Take shoots from the top four to six inches of the plant , and also pick the leaves . industrial plant will spring back from being heavily cut down . Propagate by stem cutting , as plant do not produce seeds . pick up more at theFlorida Gulf Coast University Food Forest profile on Okinawa spinach .

Okra

Recommended Varieties : Beck ’s Big Buck , Gold Coast , Stewart Zeebest

Any heirloom diversity of okra with a long chronicle of polish is a smart choice in warm weather because their cryptical rootage systems give them broad access to hydration when it ’s hot and dry . But as gumbo is aboriginal to Ethiopia , the plants of course prefer lovesome nights when the soil stick around 80 degrees Fahrenheit ( 26.7 degrees Celsius ) .

Harvest the pod while they ’re still vernal for a attender grain , and choose spineless sort to plant to void tough , fibrous pod . If sliminess , when organize , is a business , try crisp pickled okra , or roast the okra whole or sliced for a crisp , tasty agency to deplete them .

garden corn

get a line more at our articleHow to Grow Okra(Abelmoschus esculentus ) .

Onion

Many varieties of onion tolerate warmth well , especially those that come from Southern regions . you may always sprain to varieties cultivate by universities and exchange departments to contend with the heat for effective results . Even easier than waiting for Allium cepa to mature completely is growing onions to piece when they ’re still immature and enjoyment as gullible onions . Learn more at our articleHow to Grow Onions .

Quinoa

It would n’t be the first option to leap to mind , but like its cousin amaranth , quinoa is a impertinent choice for gardeners in raging area or those who struggle with wry conditions . There ’s a reason gardeners working in the heart of South America have been cultivating quinoa for literally millenia . Quinoa is also especially nutritive , consist of a utter protein — which have it an peculiarly important part of the diet of many vegetarians or vegans . Learn more at our articleHow to farm Quinoa .

Southern Peas (Field Peas & Black Eyed Peas)

The best stylus of beans to turn to when it ’s particularly fond in your region is a southerly criterion . The class of Southern peas includes both field peas and black - eyed peas , and as related plants their care penury are alike . These peas do their best under the warmth of the summer Sunday , and you ’ll be able to bring in plenty of peas to ready with no matter how gamy the temperature climbs .

Stringless mixture are the most tender and well-to-do to cook with . you may reap in two pile by clipping some former to utilize as green bean plant , then wait for the pod to ripen for a second harvest to the cuticle . For more selective information , you may read our articleGuide to Growing Southern ( Field ) Peas .

Summer Squash

All form of squash rackets plants are a good bet wherever summers get warm or when drouth strike otherwise temperate area . These plants thrive under climbing temperatures and will still allow a bountiful harvest to reap and use in the kitchen . Learn more at theUniversity of Minnesota Extension ’s profileon summertime squash and zucchini .

Sweet Potatoes

Recommended varieties : Georgia Jet , Vardaman , Wakenda

Sweet potatoes grow underground where they are passably protect from the heat , and the green parting at the surface love warm weather as long as they get a consistent supply of ample hydration . There ’s a grounds gardeners in the southern part of the U.S. have count on this crop to get them through swelter summer .

Sweet potatoes are originally a tropical plant and are aboriginal to the warm weather of Africa . verify to take your crop in before temperature douse below 55 degrees Fahrenheit ( 12.8 degrees Celsius ) . Learn more in our articleHow to Grow Sweet Potatoes in Your Garden .

Tokyo Bekana

Tokyo bekana is a pallid viridity , ruffled Formosan - dash cabbage first grown in Japan . you may harvest the greens at the babe level or let them mature into a loosehead and harvest the whole things at once . Use cut - and - come - again trend harvesting if you cut the greens too soon by trim back them at the base , and the plant will keep producing more greens as long as you leave at least a third of the leafage attached . read more at the Maryland Grows Blog ’s profileon Tokyo bekana .

Tomatillos

Tomatillos are a staple in Mexican preparation , where they take over for tomatoes as the master ingredient used in salsa and sauce . Tomatillos are aboriginal to such warm regions that they wave in red-hot weather , and they produce tons of tasty minuscule purple ground cherry . teach more in our articleHow to turn Tomatillos .

Tomatoes

Recommended Varieties : Arkansas Traveler , Brandywine , Equinox , Heatwave II ( cherry red ) , Jasper ( cherry ) , Neptune , Ozark Pink VF , San Marzano , Solar Fire , Sun Leaper , Sungold ( cerise ) , Sunmaster , Tropic VPN

Any eccentric of tomato that ’s developed to be mature in the Deep South is a honorable bet for hot areas or clip of drouth . you’re able to really count on varieties grown by university or prolongation departments to be reliably healthy and bring about well . Learn more in our articleHow to Grow Lycopersicon esculentum : The Complete Guide .

Turnip Greens

Humans have been raising Brassica rapa for centuries , and while you wait for the tasty , nutritious turnips to raise underground , you may harvest the greens from the developing industrial plant . As a fillip , trimming off the greens will encourage the plants to focus their DOE and resource on developing the turnips themselves or else of their foliage . memorize more inUniversity of Florida Gardening Solutions ’ profileon turnips and turnip greens .

Zucchini

All kinds of squash vine works thrive in the heat , and courgette is no exception . you’re able to count on courgette industrial plant to grow a respectable harvest even when the temperature climb . If your area struggle with problems with squash vine woodborer , protect your plant while they ’re youthful by starting them off inside , and waitress to move them into the out-of-door garden until June or July .

you may also use row covering to defend your plants until they bloom and need pollination . make the soil up around the stem turn of growing flora will help keep mash vine borer away , too . find out more in our articleEveryone Can raise Zucchini .

Woody - stemmed herbaceous plant plant also incline to do well during hot weather , and adding an herbaceous plant garden is a good direction to round out your crop to max out its use in the kitchen . When deal with hot atmospheric condition , it ’s also a skillful idea to allow the nursery to call down plant while they ’re young . The longer you wait to bribe your works , the more money and effort you ’ll make unnecessary watering your plants .

mustard greens

If you wait until plants are tight to flowering to make your leverage , you ’ll save between one and two month before you start out irrigate them at home . It ’s also a way to ensure your plants make it through this vulnerable time even during extreme weather .