Summertime is all about MORE! More heat, more fun, and more flowers. Summer brings blooms in abundance, when warm weather and longer days cue a host of plants to put on a beautiful floral display. Much to the delight of gardeners everywhere, along with their stunning visual display, flowers give us fragrance and provide food for pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Read on for tips on how to add more flowers to your Summer garden and how to keep them in bloom all season. Plus, discover some of our favorite flowers for both sun and shade!
Ways to Add More Flowers to Your Summer Garden
Add fantastic Summer blooms to your garden by using a combination of annuals and perennials. Annuals only live for a single year, but they make the most of their time by pumping out flowers non-stop until the season is over. Perennials won’t bloom quite as long as annuals, but they make up for it by returning year after year. The best gardens use both annuals and perennials to achieve ultimate Summer color!
Use Flowers on Patios & in Entryways
- Add hanging baskets or blooming container plantings next to your front door, on either side of your garage, and around seating areas.
- In existing pots, underplant around central plants using seasonal, blooming annuals—use every opportunity to fill in gaps after Spring flowers fade.
- Create new, fresh container combinations with thoughtful color schemes to suit your style and layer in flowers of all sizes.
Plant More Flowers in the Landscape
- Around existing shrubs, underplant with bedding plants to create blankets of annuals with a clean, uniform look.
- Where spring bulbs have gone dormant, fill the gaps with annuals or perennials.
- In existing flower borders and beds, squeeze in fresh perennials and annuals—you'll be amazed at how easy it is to shoehorn in a new plant and how quickly it reinvigorates your yard!
Plant in Layers
- Tall, blooming plants can help fill in an existing planting scheme by bringing the added dimension of height to lower or shrubby plantings.
- Low growing, colorful plants can help provide interest below your primary shrub layer and can help connect different seasons of blooms with continuous color.
BONUS TIP: Shop early for savings or shop peak season for options! You can purchase Summer-blooming perennials as early as February and March for a great selection of smaller plants at a lower cost, or buy gorgeous annuals and perennials in full bloom from May through August!
How to Get More Flowers & Longer Bloom Time from Plants
Once you have selected and planted your Summer flowers, don’t forget to follow a few essential practices to help maximize blooms all season long.
- Water and irrigate – Spring rain will help support early plantings, but you should provide Summer flowers with supplemental water when the dry weather arrives.
- Pinch and prune – By shaping your plant and reducing its height when it is still green, you’ll get a tidier, more flowerful plant thanks to the additional flowers formed on buds along the stem.
- Fertilize and feed – Give plants an early advantage with a starter fertilizer, and then feed throughout the season using regular applications of granular, organic fertilizer along with a liquid fertilizer for some extra oomph.
- Harvest and deadhead – Remove flowers either when they are at their peak to enjoy as cut flowers or by deadheading after they’ve faded to keep plants in peak production.
- Prevent pests and diseases – Stay vigilant and try to prevent issues before they begin by encouraging beneficial insects or treating with organic products as needed.
The Best Perennials for Summer Flowers
Perennials for Sun
- Agastache – Sprays of small, trumpet-shaped blooms in an ombre of color options ranging from yellow to coral on a minty-scented plant.
- Catmint – The fuzzy, sweetly pungent grey-green foliage boasts thousands of tiny blue, lavender, or pink flowers that pollinators just adore.
- Echinacea – Single and double coneflowers available in a rainbow of colors.
- Gallardia – Blanket flowers come in an array of yellows, terra cotta orange and brick red and provide drought-tolerant color on compact plants.
- Geum – Small, colorful flowers on airy stems will repeat bloom if deadheaded on this early Summer show-stopper.
- Roses – With endless color options, old and new beauties prove there is a rose for every garden.
- Salvia – Drought-tolerant and low-maintenance plants hold purple, pink, or red flowers and bloom even in the heat.
- Yarrow – PNW Native and Nativar Yarrows are a heat-loving, pollinator paradise with dozens of flat, open blooms in every shade under the sun!
Perennials for Shade
- Anemone – Graceful flowers in whites and pinks dance on the wind well into late Summer.
- Astilbe – Soft, textural sprays of flowers rise above glossy foliage and come in every tone of soft white to vibrant pink and red.
- Calla Lily – White trumpets are set high on strong stems above large, glossy spades of leaves.
- Fuchsia – Hardy fuchsias have hundreds of hanging, bell-like flowers in light pinks through to vibrant, well, fuchsia!
The Best Annuals for Summer Flowers
Annuals for Sun
- Calibrachoa – Commonly called “Million Bells” and with good reason, these plants produce endless numbers of round, short tubular flowers in every color imaginable.
- Cosmos – White, pink, and even chocolate-brown flowers bloom reliably all summer and kick into high gear with regular deadheading.
- Geraniums – A classic and easy-care plant that provides abundant blooms in white, coral, pink, red and more from Spring until frost.
- Petunias – Whether applied as a bedding plant or featured in a container, these classic plants are better than ever thanks to a multitude of new color options.
- Zinnias – Available as color mixes or single tones, Zinnias produce easy and reliable blooms even under the hottest summer conditions.
Annuals for Shade
- Begonias – Whether you favor the classic button-shaped red or white flowers or the gorgeous range of colorful ruffles of non-stop varieties, these plants bloom all summer with very little care.
- Fuchsia – Available with long, tubular blooms or flouncy, ruffled flowers, these heroes of the shade garden are perfect for containers and hanging baskets.
- Heliotrope – Purple or white clusters of miniature flowers produce sweet, vanilla fragrance even in the shade!
- New Guinea Impatiens – With larger blooms and enhanced disease resistance, these white, orange, or magenta blooms bring brilliance to landscape beds or containers.
Whether you prefer to plant ahead in Spring or would rather mix in vibrant blooms at their peak, making room for Summer flowers is easier than you think and is always worth it! Our garden centers and plant shops have a stunning array of annuals and perennials year-round to help you create lush blooms no matter the season. Come visit us to get inspired and find all the tools you need for endless blooms!