Which summer flowers help you light up the hottest dog days of summertime?
Below are 11 flowers that bloom all summer and tips on how they grow and where to plant them.
The descriptions also provide some required maintenance.
1. Butterfly Weed
This is a butterfly attractor (along with the Butterfly bush – aka Buddleia) that makes butterflies flock to your garden. Their flowers appear mid-to-late summer and come in shades of yellow, pink, orange, and vermilion.
Butterfly weed can grow to a height of one to three feet and stay in the soil for longer in the spring, so spot its location well. They grow in several conditions, including fairly dry areas.
They don’t thrive well in clay and poorly drained soil. It withstands many pests and diseases and can grow for many years.
2. Marigolds
Marigold (Tagetes) flowers are one of the most useful and fabulous bloomers you should have in your garden. Besides adding exquisiteness and beauty to your garden, they also can keep the pests away from your vegetable garden.
They are easy to grow from the seeds and can grow up to 4′ feet. During the winter, you can cut off their head to ensure continuous growth and save the seeds. They don’t thrive well in rich soil.
3. Heliopsis
This plant flowers earlier than others… by mid-March, the flowers are already visible. It produces stouter plants than similar species and is often called a perennial sunflower.
It can endure poor, dry soil and partial shade. They are available in different varieties, most bearing semi-double or double flowers in shades of yellow, yellow-orange with brownish-yellow or greenish-yellow centers.
They bloom in July until the first frost, and their dark green foliage gives the garden deeper color.
They make great cuttings. They thrive well in well-drained soil and can spread to form an extensive clump as they’re shrub-like.
4. Boltonia
Boltonia plants (aster aster) are ideal for the oblique garden and can achieve 3′ to 7′ feet tall, depending on the cultivar.
It’s a native flower that explodes flowers of pink or white shades in the late summer or early fall. It thrives well in well-drained soil and sun like these sun-loving plants.
It can be ideal for the garden borders and combines well with fall-blooming plants.
5. Russian Sage
Russian sage blooms in the late summer or early autumn and can rise to 3′ to 5′ feet tall. Its flowers come in shades of gray and amethyst.
They combine well with roses as they provide color to the garden when all the other flowers have withered off. It thrives well in well-drained soil and requires very little maintenance.
6. Heliotrope
Heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens) is grown as a perennial in zones 10 to 11 and as an annual in zones 2 to 9.
They bloom in wonderful clusters of white or purple flowers and have an intense vanilla fragrance.
Its leaves are attractive and glossy with slight ribbing.
This plant can rise to a height of up to 4′ feet as a perennial or one to two feet as an annual, depending on its variety.
7. Annual Sage
It forms an ideal choice for edgings, beds, containers, and mass plantings.
Mealycup sage is an annual plant that is easy to grow and produces showy flowers with spikes of silvery white and rich blue.
It blooms in the midsummer to frost. It can grow to 1′ to 3′ feet, depending on soil moisture, fertility, and the species.
8. Yarrow
Yarrow can be grown with little effort as it requires minimal maintenance. It is a perennial plant and is a common plant in the United States. It can withstand drought, heat, and cold.
It’s preferred by many because of its ferny, dark green or gray-green, scented foliage. They bloom flat-topped clusters of flowers in shades of red, pink, yellow, or white.
The flowers appear from late spring t early fall. Fern-leaf yarrow – Achillea filipendulina is ideal for drying as it’ll dry right in its container.
Common Yarrow – Achillea millefolium dries less, but it’s also ideal for cuttings. Common Yarrow should be spaced properly as they can be invasive.
9. Zinnia
Flowering Zinnia has been garden stalwarts for generations. They grow from seeds easily and can achieve a height of 6″ inches for the dwarf varieties, while the other types of Zinnias can grow to 3′ feet.
They are butterfly attractors because of the plenty of nectar in their flowers.
The most common type of Zinnia is Zinnia Elegans. The narrow-leaf zinnia, scientifically known as Zinnia Angustifolia has been gaining popularity in recent years thanks to its low, sprawling habit.
10. Cerastium Tomentosum – Snow-in-Summer
Snow-in-Summer blooms attractive combination of snow-white flowers and low-silver foliage that can stop passersby.
It thrives well in well-dried soil and plenty of sunshine and can, therefore, be planted in a raised bed, wall, or rock garden.
It blooms late in the spring or early summer and is best combined with spring-blooming bulbs.
11. Gaura
The Gaura plant blooms rosy or delicate pale pink flowers that resemble a flock of butterflies. Depending on the species, this plant can reach 3′ to 7′ feet.
It’s a native plant to Louisiana, Mexico, and Texas and blooms for many weeks, sometimes extending its blooming period to late spring through frost. It thrives well in poor soils that have little water.