One of our favorite summer blooming perennials for shade is Astilbe. Astilbe have foliage that is glossy and attractive, and bloom from late spring into summer. If you cut them back after blooming, they can bloom again. In pinks, purples and whites, they are a fluffy spire that can brighten any shady spot.
They grow 18 inches wide and inches tall, and are hardy to zone 4. Common name for this shade loving perennial is "Meadowsweet". The "Younique" collection of Astilbe from 'Burpee' are compact growing varieties with beautiful colors. A popular mid-summer bloomer, Moonbeam Coreopsis bears hundreds of small, soft yellow flowers.Astilbe .
Astilbe stands out among the longest flowering perennials. Besides being super easy to grow, they thrive in both sunny and shaded gardens, and have feathery flowers that offers months of graceful color. And speaking of color, the blooms can be white, lavender, purple, bubblegum, deep pink, apricot, or red, often with bronze or purple foliage as well. The plants form tidy clumps with the flower plumes emerging in early to mid summer and persisting into winter. The plants do appreciate ample moisture and regular watering in dry summers can prolong the blooming period. Outstanding cultivars include 'Bridal Veil', 'Pumila', and 'Fanal'.
Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' is one of the most popular perennials of all time. The brilliant gold flowers bloom for months and are beloved by pollinators and beneficial insects.Purple Flame Grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Purpurascens', zones 3 to 9). Maiden grasses add striking form and texture to the perennial border all summer long. By late summer, many cultivars produce soft, feathery plumes that emerge above the narrow foliage.
Purple Flame Grass is a medium-sized maiden grass, growing three to four-feet tall with foliage that turns from bright green to fiery reddish-orange in early autumn. The attractive plumes are silvery-white and persist on the plants throughout winter. Pruning is only necessary in early spring when the dried foliage and flower stems from the previous season are cut back before the fresh growth emerges. 'Walker's Low' is named for a garden in England, not for its height. It grows as high as 30" and can spread to 3 feet wide. Lavender blue flowers bloom profusely in early summer, as early as April or May in warmer climates, and then sporadically until frost.
Sheering after the first heavy blooming will encourage another bloom, but the plant will not reach 30". The spicy scent is a nice addition to a vase of cut flowers, or in potpourri. In addition to attracting cats, 'Walker's Low' will attract bees, hummingbirds and butterflies. Deer and rabbits are indifferent to the plant, being scented and gray foliage. 'Walker's Low' is hardy enough for zone 4 and will tolerate sandy soil, salt, humidity and drought. Seeds are sterile, so this perennial must be propagated by division.
Annual flowers, with their never-stop-blooming habit, are an easy way to create a colorful flower garden, either all on their own or in combination with perennials. Snapdragons flower impressively in late spring and bloom through early fall. Bright orange zinnias grow quickly and produce bright, full flowers for cutting. Globe amaranth, in rich burgundy, grows stalks topped with clover-like, papery globes suitable for cutting and drying.
Easy-care petunias, in a dazzling variety of colors and sizes, bloom from May to September and work as a mounded ground cover or a spilling container accent. New Guinea impatiens flower early and aren't too picky about how much sun they're given, from partial shade to full sun. Drought-tolerant, multi-colored moss roses creep across the ground and create a pleasing polka-dot effect with double flowers.
For more great ideas, check out the varieties in our Miracle-Gro® Brilliant Blooms line. Growing flowers that bloom all summer long can fill your garden with glorious colors from late spring until early fall. Whether you plant summer-blooming perennials or annuals that bloom all summer, your backyard will be a sea of color.
When planning your garden landscape, you can choose from a variety of flowers that bloom all summer. There are tall flowering plants, small flowering shrubs, or gorgeous blooming ground cover plants. If you love bleeding heart in your spring garden, try "Yellow Fumitory". This ferny shade loving flower has little yellow blooms from April through frost!
Perfect for a woodland or cottage garden, this shade perennial flowers all summer, is hardy to zone 3, and prefers a cool spot on your garden away from afternoon sun. Campanula has many different varieties, and are blue or white belled flowers in sizes from dwarf to several feet tall. They love partial shade and moderately moist soil, and will bloom June through frost.
It has a wonderful deep blue color with a white eye, and is very floriferous. Yarrow plants are flowering perennials that have feathery foliage, fragrant, showy flowers, and a long blooming time. The long stems grow in clumps and can grow up to 3 ft. tall with a spread of 2 ft. (0.6 m). These herbaceous plants blossom with white, pink, red, cream, and yellow-colored flower clusters. Growing in full sun and partial shade, the summer-blooming flowers start in late spring and last until the end of summer. Monarda is also known as Bee Balm, Bergamot or Oswego Tea.
These 3 feet tall plants have red, pink, or purple flowers that bloom all summer. Monarda is a good plant for your garden if you want to attract bees, butterflies, or hummingbirds. The plants do very well in full sun where soil moisture is high. Hydrangeas are showy shrubs that add pastel colored flowers to your garden all summer—right from late spring until fall. These low-maintenance perennial flowering shrubs produce huge flower heads made up of colorful flower clusters.
You can grow hydrangeas in full sun or partial shade to enjoy their pink, white, red, and blue flowers from May until September. To keep hydrangeas blooming even longer, prune spent flowers to encourage vigorous blooming. Ornamental Onion 'Millenium' (Allium 'Millenium', zones 5 to 9). The flowers bloom for around six weeks each summer, attracting every bee, butterfly, and beneficial insect for miles around. The one-foot tall and wide clumps are perfect for the front of a perennial border or a rock garden where the ball-shaped blooms can be appreciated. Technically a bulb, this plant is usually sold as a potted perennial and can be planted in spring or fall.
Unlike many perennials, pruning doesn't produce more flowers. Rose Mallow can be planted in full sun or light shade. It grows best in moist soils, but is tolerant of drier ones. The yellow, pink, or red flowers are 4-6" wide and bloom summer through fall. This native prairie plant looks stunning in a bed or border. Baptisia plants are hefty; they measure 2 to 4 feet tall and wide.
In early spring, the plants are covered with long spires of blue, white, yellow, or bicolor pealike flowers. Baptisia is drought tolerant and takes very little care in order to bloom for years. The beautiful flowers on butterfly bushes start blooming in mid-summer and continue until the first frost. As its common name suggests, these delightful flowering summer plants attract a multitude of butterflies.
The clusters of purple, white, or yellow flowers form a cone shape. These shrubby plants grow as perennials and are evergreen or deciduous, depending on your climate. The beauty of growing butterfly bush cultivars in your garden is that they still flower when many other plants have stopped. Their stiff stems and flower clusters create attractive cut flowers for fall and winter displays. Attract beneficial bees and beautiful butterflies to your landscape with the bright colours and daisylike features of coreopsis. They make sensational cut flowers that round out summery arrangements nicely.
For flowers galore, consider often overlooked hardy geraniums. Available in a range of hues, including blue, purple, pink, and white with purple splashes. This native prairie plant looks stunning when in full bloom. Also called false indigo, baptisia plants are hefty; they measure 3 to 4 feet tall and wide.
In spring, the plants send up sturdy spires of blue, white, yellow, or bicolor pealike blooms. They make elegant additions to cut flower arrangements. Few plants are named more accurately, as the flowers of red hot poker match the name precisely. Spent flower heads should be removed immediately, but no division of clumps is necessary. Persicifolia blooms white or blue in early summer and is 2 to 3 feet tall with strong stems.
It tolerates dry shade, and is easy to grow from seed. Garden phlox is a flowering perennial that blooms profusely all through summer until early fall. The large fragrant flowerheads are pink, rose, red, white, and lavender colors.
The plant, with its lush green foliage, grows up to 4 ft. (1.2 m) tall with a spread up to 2 ft. (0.6 m). This attractive summer-bloomer thrives in full sun and partial shade. Red hot poker is one of the most unusual-looking perennial plants you can grow – and it provides color all season long. There are multiple cultivars and hybrids available, with the most popular being those in the "Popsicle" series. These flowers produce blooms up to two feet tall, each of which lasts all throughout the spring and summer. Most perennial flowers bloom for a short period, from two to four weeks.
If you want color longer than that, you need to plant perennial flowers that bloom from spring to fall. When planting your low maintenance perennial garden with long blooming perennials, you need to follow some basic design rules. Growing woodland sage in your garden will create a carpet of rich indigo-blue or purple colors in your summer garden. The best flowering sage cultivars to look for are Salvia sylvestris and Salvia nemorosa. These small types of shrubs bloom all summer from late spring until fall.
The stunning deep purple flowers look like colorful spikes that contrast with green foliage. Coneflowers are some of the hardiest perennial flowers that bloom all summer long. Showy, cone-like pink flowers grace the top of long straight stems. These summer-flowering plants will grow almost anywhere and are also drought-tolerant perennial plants. Growing in full sun, you can expect beautiful flowers from late spring until the first frost.
Long-blooming 'Millennium' Allium adds a pop of color to mid and late summer garden beds.Coneflower 'White Swan' and 'Magnus' . There are countless cultivars available to gardeners, but for months of flowers, it's hard to beat old school selections like'Magnus' and 'White Swan'. 'Magnus' is a classic purple-flowering coneflower, while 'White Swan' has large blooms with white petals and orange-copper cones. Both flower from early summer into mid-autumn, especially when deadheaded regularly. A slow grower, it has deep taproots that make it drought tolerant when established, and prefers full sun. Speedwell is a type of summer flowering plant that produces graceful flowers throughout the growing season.
The spiky flowers come in pastel shades of blue, pink, violet, or purple. One reason why speedwell is a popular plant is that it has flowers that bloom all summer and return every year. These tall flowering plants grow up to 4 ft. (1.2 m) and their slender, wand-like flowerheads brighten up a summer landscape. These flowers produce spikes of red, purple, yellow, and pink (with some bicolor blooms mixed in!), with each spike lasting at least three weeks. The starlike flowers of asters are the fall finale of the garden, almost completely covering the plants late in the summer and often lasting until the first frost.
Asters typically flower in deep purple and lush lavender, but there are also white and pink varieties. Plants can reach up to 6 feet tall, but there are also compact versions, some of which can grow in containers or window boxes. Bees and butterflies love asters, sipping up nectar as one of the garden's last big meals. Planting perennial flowers that bloom all summer means enjoying gorgeous long-lasting blooms not only this year, but in years to come. Keeping up with deadheading, weeding, pruning, feeding and watering is necessary even with perennials. But with a little knowledge and the right care, perennials that bloom all summer will pay off when they put on a show for many summers to come!
Learn more about which summer perennials thrive in full sun, which need some shade, and which are drought tolerant with the perennial summer flower guide from Gilmour. The feathery flowers of astilbe are a perfect pick for semi-shaded spaces.Yarrow . A butterfly favorite, yarrow is a robust summer bloomer with pretty, flat-topped flowers that bloom for 6 to 8 weeks.
The ferny foliage emerges in early spring and is followed by the two to four-foot tall flower stems in early summer. Flower colours can range from soft pastels to rich jewel shades. Deadhead spent flowers by clipping the flower stem back to the main foliage. Top varieties include 'Moonshine', which has pale, yellow flowers and 'Cerise Queen', a bright cherry-red bee magnet. This plant often gets powdery mildew, especially if there is high humidity. The flowers are white, pink, red, or purple and will bloom all summer.
Hostas are probably some of the most commonly used plants in shady areas. They can grow in deep shade to full sun, depending upon the cultivar. Height can vary from 8" to 3 feet tall. Hostas are often grown for their foliage, but they do have pale lavendar, white, or pink flowers that bloom spring through fall. The starlike flowers of asters are the fall finale of the garden. Traditional asters flower in deep purple and lush lavender, but there are also white and pink varieties. Bees and butterflies love asters -- sipping up nectar as one of the garden's last big meals.
Hardy, perennial geraniums differ greatly from the annual flower with the same name. The single-petal flowers of perennial geranium stay in bloom a long time so they're a big asset in perennial borders. Small varieties reach just 6 inches tall, while larger types can grow to 4 feet. Perennial geraniums are generally drought tolerant and very easy to care for. Plants form a nice mound making them ideal bed edgers. Tall garden phlox is a classic cottage garden perennial that adds height and draws butterflies to sunny gardens in Zones 3 to 8.
