I love Pentas, so easy and long lasting. But the star in my full sun gardens are Angelonia, which thrive in my Alabama heat and sun, in a non irrigated area. No deadheading required and the only insects I’ve caught on them are butterflies and bees. Hummingbirds will feed on the nectar, too.

Colors are limited, however. Angelonia (an jel OWN ia) is available in various shades of blue, purple, pink as well as white.

Thanks for the info you two!

And I am so glad you mentioned another plant that I have never/rarely tried ie Angelonia

Annuals that thrive in heat and sun are my kind of flowers :).

(Correct me if I am wrong but Angelonia are like Snapdragons?)

Same family as Snapdragons, Plantagaceae. Visually similar to the newer open faced snapdragons that lack pouches.

Floral s right; they are only slightly similar to snaps in appearance….not in cultural requirements. Angelonia laugh at the summer hear and blazing sun without fading or pouting. I love them.

Where I live I don't see a lot of snapdragons in gardens and so when I see some I am always impressed...so pretty they are (especially the bright yellow flowered ones).

I love pentas! Nice plant habit and foliage, large flower heads that bloom all "annual season" here. They look terrific in pots. I have found that they are sometimes slow to really take off and put on a lot of growth, so starting with larger transplants is better. They do fine in either full sun or part-shade for me. If you like white, the white is a pure, crisp white that sparkles against the deep green foliage. A drawback is they do need deadheading, but since the flower trusses are relatively large it's not a tedious task.

Never tried them myself - will keep an eye open.

Thanks for the info @mxk3 z5b_MI...very useful.

A drawback is they do need deadheading

Maybe take it with a grain of salt but Proven Winners 'claims' their Pentas dont need dead heading

From https://www.provenwinners.com/plants/pentas/sunstar-lavender-egyptian-star-flower-pentas-lanceolata

"Extra-large clusters of flowers on dark green foliage, these heat tolerant plants bring on the pollinators and bloom nonstop all summer without any deadheading"

It's Proven Winners -- take it with a grain of salt, they're expert marketers. IME pentas needs deadheading unless you like looking at spent flower trusses. But hey, give them a try and report back, maybe there is something new in the world of pentas.

FWIW -- pollinators don't flock to my pentas. Never did. That could be because they have a veritable buffet of other goodies to choose from, IDK.

'rosa' and I can compare notes :)

Pentases are the backbone of my front garden here in (warm temperate) Sydney. They flower almost all year and I have to force myself to cut them down in spring to give them a break till early summer, when they start flowering again. This year, all the cosmoses I was counting on for an extra hit of summer and autumn colour were infected by a virus and I had to bin them and just be glad I had the pentases to keep my garden colourful. I’ve decided to put in more perennial salvias as well. They are also very long-blooming and tough, especially the microphyllas. I’ve given up fertilising both pentases and salvias. They flower just as well with no food.