If you want to enjoy gorgeous long-lasting blooms not only this year, but in years to come, you can surely consider planting summer perennials. With a bit of care, deadheading, weeding, pruning, feeding and regular watering these colorful blooms will adorn your garden all summer, and put on a show for many summers to come.
This long-blooming, full sun perennial displays fragrant, showy, dainty clusters of star-shaped blooms in pink, purple, white or red from mid-summer to fall. It does best in mild summer temperatures in a location that gets good air circulation. Also, to prevent uncontrolled self-seeding, deadhead the flowers that have withered away. Plant it in well-drained, rich, moist soil for optimum growth. Its taller varieties are great for borders, while its shorter varieties make good groundcover.
Height/Width: 2-4 feet/2-3 feet
Bloom Colors: Pink, red, lavender, purple, orange, white
Sunlight Requirement: Full to partial sun
USDA Zone: 5-9
Classic summer flower, with sunny yellow centers and white petals that just grabs the attention of any garden. This low-maintenance plant thrives in well-drained, fertile soil and continues to bloom until early fall. This daisy is a hybrid between the the Nippon daisy (Nipponanthemum nipponicum), European oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare), and two other species (L. maximum and L. lacustre). It received its common name from the white snow of Mount Shasta in California. It comes in a range of varieties, having different heights. While the tall ones create dramatic backdrops, short ones are perfect for borders.
Height/Width: 1-3 feet/1-2 feet
Bloom Colors: Classic white to gold and butter yellow
Sunlight Requirement: Full to partial sun
USDA Zone: 4-10
Commonly found in the eastern part of North America, this full-sun-loving perennial stand straight and tall to face the heated rays all season long. They require full sunlight, but one has to water them often as they love consistently moist soil. Thecentral disc of this flower is composed of tiny little flowers. So after the petals fall off, you will still have a flower, or to be precise, a central cone with many small flowers. The blooms come in both single and double varieties, giving a cheerful look to back borders, seasonal perennial gardens and even fresh cut floral arrangements. Like other summer bloomer, it is also drought tolerant and hardy.
Height/Width: 1-3 feet/1-2 feet
Bloom Colors: Purple
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun to partial shade
USDA Zone: 3-8
This daisy is named so, due to its yellow, daisy-like petals surrounding deep violet to burgundy center that appear almost black from a distance. The outer parts of the petals are lighter yellow, while the inner portion is almost light orange. This drought tolerant, easy-to-grow perennial is an excellent choice for borders, as well as containers.
Height/Width: 3-8 feet/1-3 feet
Bloom Colors: Yellow, orange, orange-red, mahogany
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun
USDA Zone: 3-7
Commonly known as Cranesbill geranium, this easy-to-grow, hardy, drought tolerant, deer-resistant plant showcases colorful blooms in a range of hues, including blue, purple, pink, and white with purple splashes. It makes a fantastic ground cover or garden accent from late spring until the middle part of fall, including summer. It can also be planted in containers, hanging baskets or window boxes.
Height/Width: 1-2 feet/1-2 feet
Bloom Colors: Pink, purple, blue
Sunlight Requirement: Full to partial sun
USDA Zone: 4-9
This perennial is a prized possession for any gardener due to its wonderful fragrance. As the blooms turn darker, the aroma also intensifies. Apart from blooming in the summer months, the plant also remains evergreen throughout the year. The dried scented blooms can be packed in sachets or used in potpourri. This drought tolerant, fragrant herb does best in full sun and well-drained soil, and is great for hedges, and borders.
Height/Width: 1-3 feet/1-3 feet
Bloom Colors: White, pink, blue, violet
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun
USDA Zone: 5-10
Native to the U.S., this sun-loving perennial boasts sunny daisy-like flowers that blossom early summer to midsummer in a variety of colors, such as yellow, pink, red or bi-color. The petals of each flower have a jagged appearance around the outer edge, adding to its beauty. This hardy, deer resistant, and drought tolerant can be planted as border, or even in containers. With regular watering, it continues to bloom whole summer.
Height/Width: 2-4 feet/1-2 feet
Bloom Colors: Yellow, orange, rose, lavender, white, or bi-colored
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun
USDA Zone: 4-9
It is a fantastic seasonal bloomer, producing abundant fragrant, ornamental flowers that make spectacular showings in sun-splashed borders, mixed cutting gardens, and throughout the summertime landscape. Also, its dark green, grass-like foliage provide a perfect contrasting backdrop for these amazing blooms. As its name suggests, each bloom only lasts for one day. However, this perennial produces multiple blooms right through the summer, with each one being replaced with a brand new one the very next day.It is drought tolerant, and come in a variety of sizes and colors.
Height/Width: 1-3 feet/1-3 feet
Bloom Colors: Red, orange, yellow, white, pink, purple
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun to partial shade
USDA Zone: 4-9
This pretty, sun-loving, mint relative blooms in a wide range of colors, from red to purple, and very easy-to-care.
Height/Width: 1-8 feet/1-3 feet
Bloom Colors: Blue, red, pink, purple, white
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun
USDA Zone: 3-10
Gerbera Daisies are a favorite amongst gardeners and make a wonderful smaller plant that, when deadheaded regularly, will send up bloom after bloom from the end of May right through to late summer. Gerberas are also much loved by children for their bright colors and almost cartoonish appearance, so are a good choice if you’re trying to get your kids into gardening.
Height/Width: 1-2 feet/0.5-1 feet
Bloom Colors: Red, yellow, orange, pink, white
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun
USDA Zone: 8-10
Pretty, thick succulent leaves that bloom large pink clustered flowers, sedum is the best of both worlds. Drought and freeze tolerant, it will spread as a great ground cover and also does well in borders and containers. Enjoy sedum blooms from late summer through November.
Height/Width: 0.5-1 feet/1-3 feet
Bloom Colors: Red, white, yellow
Sunlight Requirement: Full to partial sun
USDA Zone: 3-11
Russian Sage is a popular plant to use in Xeriscaping, landscaping that uses minimal water and is most common in desert climates. In truth, Russian Sage will grow anywhere, but it loves being dry. For a tall plant, Russian sage has rather small blossoms. But what it lacks in bloom size, it makes up for in bloom numbers, creating an attractive wispy look in the garden. This long-blooming perennial is showy, but in the most tasteful way possible. Plants grow to 5 feet in height, though they may sprawl. They bloom from July through October.
Height/Width: 3-5 feet/2-3 feet
Bloom Colors: Blue, purple
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun
USDA Zone: 5-9
Native to North America, this hardy and versatile perennial adds a touch of elegance to the garden with its showy, colorful blooms that rise above clusters of ferny foliage. If the dome-shaped or flat-topped flower heads are observed minutely, it can be seen that, a single flower is composed of tiny, tightly-packed yellow, red, or pink flowers. This low-maintenance, pest and drought-resistant plant attract different pollinators like butterfly to the garden. While they can thrive under a bit of shade, they do best with loads of sunlight and well-drained soil. This plant is perfect for borders, ground covers, and open meadows.
Height/Width: 1-3 feet/2-3 feet
Bloom Colors: Red, pink, white, yellow, orange
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun
USDA Zone: 3-10
Native to Europe, this herb is another great choice for long-lasting blooms during summers. Its miniature flowers make an amazing decorative piece. Like other thyme varieties, this delicious herb has a pleasant smell and can be used in variety of dishes.
Height/Width: 1-2 inches/1-2 feet
Bloom Colors: Pink, white, purple
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun
USDA Zone: 4-9
Where a low-lying, long-blooming perennial is called for, ice plant (Delosperma cooperi) is a good choice, both for its vivid flowers and unusual leaves. Growing only 3 to 6 inches high, it blooms from June through September. It is a borderline plant north of zone 6 but may survive in zone 5 if covered with mulch through the winter. Other than this, little maintenance is required.
Height/Width: 6-8 inches/1-2 feet
Bloom Colors: Red, purple
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun
USDA Zone: 5-9
Prized for their bright, vibrant flowers, bee balm plants are herbaceous perennials native to North America. Interestingly enough, they’re also considered herbs—bee balm is actually part of the mint family, boasting aromatic leaves and many culinary and medicinal uses.
Height/Width: 1-8 feet/10-12 feet
Bloom Colors: Violet, purple, white
Sunlight Requirement: Partial shade
USDA Zone: 3-8
Veronica is a robust genus of flowering plants that includes more than 500 species, several dozen of which are cultivated as landscape flowers. Of these, one of the most popular is Veronica spicata, often known as spiked speedwell, which is often called just speedwell. It is grown for its showy spikes of long-lasting flowers that begin blooming in late spring or early summer. The flowers rise on stems from dense mounds of foliage to form tapered, spike-like racemes covered by tiny, star-shaped flowers in a striking shade of violet-blue.
Height/Width: 1-8 feet/10-12 feet
Bloom Colors: Violet, purple, white
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun to partial shade
USDA Zone: 3-8
It’s hard to believe this stunning flower is a close relative of the onion. Allium holds its stunning spherical blooms high above the foliage, adding whimsy and drama to your garden. With hundreds of species available in the onion family, it is quite easy to have blooming alliums every season in the garden.
Height/Width: 1-8 feet/10-12 feet
Bloom Colors: Violet, purple, white
Sunlight Requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Draught Tolerance: Whether a plant has high/medium/low loterance to draught conditions
USDA Zone: 3-8
As its name says, this plant showcasaes gorgeous, delicate, little, heart-shaped, pendulous, pink or white blooms on long arching stems, just resembling a bleeding-heart. These dainty flowers borne on arching stems appear in early spring adorning the garden. While some varieties bloom all summer, some drop their blooms and go dormant as soon as the days become warmer. As the plant wakes up from dormancy, the attractive bluish-green foliage emerges first. So, if you are planning to grow this plant, that blooms all-summer, choose wisely. A note of caution for this easy-to-grow plant is, it is very toxic to human, as well as pets. So, make sure to follow proper precautions if you are planting this one.
Height/Width: 1-3 feet/1-3 feet
Bloom Colors: Pink, white, red
Sunlight Requirement: Partial sun to shade
USDA Zone: 3-9
Hydrangea is one of these plants, and unlike most perennials, it keeps a shrub-like structure throughout the winter months that will add architecture to your beds. Throughout the summer, this amazing plant will produce large, mop-head style bright pink blooms that are ideal for creating showy displays.
Height/Width: 1-8 feet/10-12 feet
Bloom Colors: Violet, purple, white
Sunlight Requirement: Partial shade
USDA Zone: 3-8
Hosta is a clump-forming plant that grows from rhizomatous roots. It produces blooms on long stalks that extend well above the clumping foliage in late spring or summer, but the foliage is the main attraction. Among the hundreds of hosta cultivars, there are fast-, medium-. and slow-growing varieties. Smaller varieties tend to grow fastest and can reach their mature size in three to five years; larger types may take five to seven years. Hostas can be planted in early spring or as soon as the heat of summer ends in early fall.
Height/Width: 6-8 inches/1-2 feet
Bloom Colors: Violet, purple, white
Sunlight Requirement: Partial shade
USDA Zone: 3-8
Here are some more amazing summer-growing flowers with their ideal sunlight requirements:
Best Low Growing Perennials That Bloom All Summer: Phlox, Geranium, Lavender
Best Tall Perennials That Bloom All Summer: Oriental Lily, Hardy hibiscus, Delphinium
Most drought-tolerant Perennials That Bloom All Summer: Portulaca, Salvia, Shasta daisy
Best Bushy Perennials That Bloom All Summer: Bluebeard, Butterfly bush, Panicle hydrangea
Best Summer Blooming Perennials for Borders: Shasta daisy, Lambs’ ears, Plumbago
Best Blue Perennial Flowers That Bloom All Summer: Salvia, Russian sage, Spiked speedwell
Best Red Perennial Fowers That Bloom All Summer: Portulaca, Salvia, Shasta daisy
Best Purple Summer-blooming Perennials: Oriental Lily, Hardy hibiscus, Delphinium
Best Yellow Perennials That Bloom All Summer: Shasta daisy, Lambs’ ears, Plumbago
Best Pink Perennials That Bloom All Summer: Salvia, Russian sage, Spiked speedwell
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