We might be in the middle of another heatwave, but now is an ideal time to give your garden a summertime refresh with flowering plants that add bold colour and lush foliage.
These easy-to-grow perennials love the heat, attract pollinators, and will brighten up your beds and containers all the way until autumn. Add them to your garden now and enjoy bunches of blooms in the months to come.
Salvia
These tall, flower-covered spikes add dramatic height to your garden beds and bloom until early autumn. They can tolerate dry conditions well and do best in full sun. They come in shades of purple, indigo, lavender, pink, red and white; the bright colours are a magnet for pollinators, especially bees.
Asclepias
Monarch butterflies use these colourful and fragrant native plants as a food source and a rare place to lay eggs. Most varieties of asclepias have small star-shaped flowers in colours ranging from green to deep pink. They typically bloom until August or September and have seed pods that split open in the autumn to sow more plants.
Before you plant asclepias, make sure you are planting one that is native to your area.
Zinnia
Candy-coloured zinnias are a cheerful (and prolific) addition to summer beds and containers, especially if you like cutting flowers for arrangements. Plant them in June for a steady supply of blooms until autumn.
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Yarrow
This hardy native plant adds a meadow-like look to your landscape with its tight clusters of tiny blooms in warm sunset shades of orange and yellow, as well as white. Yarrow requires little more than lots of sunshine and well-drained soil and will bloom until the weather turns cool.
Asters
Give your summer garden a major boost of colour with this late-summer showstopper. Asters have masses of vibrant blooms until early autumn and are easy to maintain. There are hundreds of varieties to choose from, including daisy-like plants and bushy sprays with smaller blooms.
Bee Balm
This old-fashioned plant makes a lovely addition to beds and cutting gardens. Bee balm flowers are unusually shaped, with thin, ruffled petals that come in bold, saturated shades. True to its name, it's ideal for attracting pollinators and typically grows through the end of summer, with some varieties lasting into the autumn.
Coreopsis
Also known as "Tickseed," this easygoing, drought-resistant plant thrives even in the height of summer. Most varieties bear flowers in sunny shades of yellow, orange, and gold, but there are also plants with bicoloured, pink and red blooms.
Sedum
There are many types of this succulent, but almost all of them are tough, drought-tolerant plants that bloom from early to mid-autumn. Creeping sedums are used as a colourful ground cover or to fill containers, and taller varieties work well in garden beds with other summertime bloomers.
Helenium
This native plant's other name—"Sneezeweed"—might turn you off immediately, but it’s actually a lovely mid- to late-summer bloomer. While some varieties look similar in shape and size to coneflowers, others have flat flower heads with striking bicoloured petals.
Cosmos
A cottage garden favourite, delicate cosmos will flower all summer long and require very little care. Pink, magenta, and white varieties are the most common types available in garden stores, but the plant comes in many other colours, including coral, yellow and chocolate brown.
Gardening must-haves
Handmade Lily Garden Water Bowl - Wildlife Water Dish for Garden
Hand Weeder
Wooden Seed Box
Reusable Garden Candle
Castor - Classic Garden Trowel
Garden Dibber - Cherry Wood - Marked in inches
Lisa Cericola (she/her) is a writer and editor who specializes in travel, food, and culture. A South Florida native, Lisa lived in New York City for 15 years and now resides in beautiful Birmingham, Alabama. She has been an editor at Southern Living and Food Network Magazine and writes for numerous publications including Garden & Gun and Late Checkout. When she’s not working on a story, or planning her next trip, Lisa is likely making and selling small-batch olive oil granola at her local farmers market.
