20 Sun Loving Perennials For All Summer Blooms

If you love flowers and are always looking for new varieties to plant in your backyard, you’ll love this list of sun loving perennials that bloom all summer. Some perennials bloom just a few weeks out of the year, but others keep on pushing up new flowers relentlessly through the hot summer months. 

I recently did a little research on some full sun perennials, and they are perfect for those full sun areas in your yard. Many of them work great in containers, so if you don’t have a large garden, you can still enjoy many of the blooms on this list.

1. Butterfly bush

If you love butterflies, a beautiful butterfly bush is a must-have perennial plant for your garden. It should be planted in a sunny spot so its bright colors will bloom abundantly.

Their beautiful white, purple, lavender-pink flowers and honey-scented nectar will enhance your garden. One butterfly bush could attract many butterflies to enjoy throughout the entire summer and into the early fall.

Fun Fact: Butterfly Bushes symbolize peace after struggle

2. Hollyhocks

Hollyhocks are beautiful, colorful, sun-loving perennials that bloom all summer. They are beloved by gardeners and flower enthusiasts alike because they can grow up to nine feet tall and will beautifully add a vertical element to a garden. Hollyhocks will definitely add personality and dimension to your landscape. They are easy to grow and will thrive when planted in rich soil in a sunny area.

Fun Fact: Hollyhocks symbolize the cycle of life.

3. Hardy geraniums

Gardeners and perennial flower enthusiasts love to grow hardy geraniums for their wide range of colors and elegant beauty. Hardy geraniums are considered wildflowers that will grow in just about any environment. They add a cheerful touch and enhance gardens because they happily bloom all summer filling a garden with gorgeous long-lasting blooms that will return year after year. They are perfect for potted plants and bouquets.

Fun Fact: Hardy geraniums symbolize friendship and positive emotions.

4. Coneflowers

For those looking for a striking, bright, fast-growing flower that stands upright between two and four feet high and looks amazing when many grow together, Cone Flowers (Echinacea) are the right perennial flowers for your garden.

Butterflies and songbirds love the seeds of coneflowers, so leave the seeds intact after the blooms fall. Coneflowers are members of the daisy family and are beloved for their bright colors and dark green leaves. They feature prickly lower stems and raised cone-like centers where the seeds are located. Coneflowers bloom in mid to late summer and early fall.

Fun Fact: Coneflowers are a symbol of strength and healing. It is also called, Echinacea, which is popular for promoting health and wellness.

5. Daylilies

Daylilies are perfect for any garden looking for beauty, dimension, height, and color. They are referred to as the perfect perennial because they are low-maintenance plants that provide a variety of bright colors and require little to no attention.

These flowers will grow just about anywhere, even in the poorest soil. However, they thrive when fertilized and are exposed to eight hours of sunlight. Day Lilies are showy flowers because they grow up to six feet high and spread out up to four feet wide. Each clump of flowers can generate up to four hundred blooms in one month. That’s good news because the flower’s blooms only last one day, hence their name, day lily.

My favorite daylily is the Stella D’Oro! It’s stunning!

Fun Fact: Day Lilies are a symbol of purity, devotion, and commitment. In China, they are displayed at weddings because they symbolize 100 years of love and good luck.

6. Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are long-living perennials with beautiful cup-shaped flowers that grow in many colors, sizes, and shapes. When planted in partial sun and watered regularly, they will provide beautiful blooms for up to 50 years. Hydrangea blossoms have flower clusters with blue, pink, white, and lavender petals. Fully bloomed hydrangeas are great cut flowers and look gorgeous in vases.

Fun Fact: Hydrangeas symbolize heartfelt emotion and genuine appreciation for others.

7. Shasta daisies

Shasta daisies are one of the showiest, most reliable perennial plants and are beloved by many gardeners and florists alike. They require little care when planted in rich soil and full sun and are low-maintenance plants that can adapt to almost any environment.

Daisies begin to bloom the first year planted and add a bright splash of color to your garden in early summer and throughout the fall. Shasta daisies make beautiful borders for your garden beds. The name daisy in Old English translates to day’s eye, reflecting how the flowers close their petals at night and reopen them during the day.

Fun Fact: Daisies symbolize loyalty, patience, purity, and simplicity.

8. Dusty Miller

Dusty Miller, or Quicksilver, is a silver-gray foliage variety that will add drama and dimension to your perennial garden. One unique feature of Dusty Miller is its fuzzy-textured leaves.

Dusty Miller thrives in full sun but will grow in partial shade throughout the summer and late fall. Its color and texture combine beautifully with other colorful perennial flowers and blanket flowers. Its lacy leaves are deer-resistant, making it a great addition to gardens where wild animals share the environment.

Fun Fact: Dusty Miller symbolizes happiness, joy, and delicacy.

9. Yarrow

Yarrow, also known as Achillea millefolium, gordaldo, nosebleed plant, or old man’s pepper, is a hardy wildflower that requires little care.

Some consider it a herbaceous plant because of its medicinal attributes. It is commonly used to aid digestive, upper respiratory, and arthritis issues. Yarrow is a gorgeous addition to any garden. It prefers full sun and will provide beautiful, colorful, feather-like florets and fern-like leaves throughout the summer.

Fun Fact: Yarrow symbolizes healing and protection; some consider it a good luck flower.

10. Potentilla

Absolutely stunning is a garden full of Potentilla, a perennial flower that provides luscious saucer-shaped blossoms in multiple colors, including white, pink, yellow, and red. It is perfect for bordering rock gardens, hedging, and for covering sloped areas.

Potentilla is perfect for providing colorful fullness to potted plants. This flower is one of the most popular landscape shrubs and is perfect for rock gardens, borders, and blending with other showy flowers. Potentilla attracts butterflies, bees, and other pollinators to your garden.

Fun Fact: Potentilla symbolizes youth and maternal affection.

11. Lavender

Lavender is a garden favorite thanks to its gorgeous purple flowers, deep green stems, and popular fragrance. Its distinctive fragrant flowers provide beauty and scent from mid-summer to early fall. Lavender is perfect for rock gardens and garden beds that include other perennials, herbs, and flower colors and are in full sun.

Lavender has a calming, relaxing fragrance and is commonly dried and used in potpourri, candles, sachets, and aromatherapy products. When these fragrant flowers are cut, they make gorgeous arrangements when displayed in vases.

Fun Fact: Lavender symbolizes spiritual healing, silence, purity, and grace.

12. Coreopsis

Coreopsis, also known as tickseed, is a multicolored, cheerful, daisy-like flower that blooms from early summer to midsummer. Its wide range of colors is sure to add a splash of color to any garden. Butterflies, bees, and birds are attracted to this showy flower, and they enjoy snacking on its seeds.

Coreopsis is a low-maintenance plant that requires little care, is planted in full sun, and watered regularly. They will also grow in partial shade, but the flowers will not be as brilliant and the stems may be longer and lankier.

Fun Fact: Coreopsis symbolizes cheerfulness and delight.

13. Bee balm

Bee balm, also known as wild Bergamot, is a very popular perennial flower due to its beautiful pink, red, white, and purple flowers.

The fragrant and showy bee balm flowers attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees when they bloom in the summer. Their seeds attract birds to the garden in the fall and winter.

Beautiful bee balm, a member of the mint family, loves the full sun but will grow in partially shaded gardens. Its flowers have a distinct aroma and are edible. They can be enjoyed as tea, added to salads, or used as a garnish.

Fun Fact: Bee Balm symbolizes protection from illness and is a hallmark of good health.

14. Gaillardia

Gaillardia, or blanket flowers, are daisy-like flowers featuring amazing, rich, deep colors. They grow by spreading throughout the garden bed and look like they are blanketing the area.

They are a long-blooming, hardy plant that thrives in gardens offering full, direct sunshine. The showy flowers are available in 12 species, perfect for borders, rock gardens, and potted plants.

Fun Fact: Blanket flowers or Gaillardia symbolize charm, joy, and cheerfulness.

15. Black-eyed Susan

Gardens that include black-eyed Susan flowers are stunning. They feature cheerful golden-colored flowers and a brown-domed center that blends well with other flowers. Gardens that include this wildflower simply radiate happiness.

These long-lasting, low-maintenance flowers offer beautiful, bright blooms from July to late fall. Birds and butterflies frequently visit gardens that include black-eyed Susans. They are great cut flowers and add a special color and dimension to bouquets.

Fun Fact: Black-Eyed Susan flowers are a symbol of encouragement and motivation.

16. Red hot pokers

Red Hot Pokers get their name from their vivid, bright, rich red, yellow, or orange color. These tube-shaped flowers are striking additions to gardens and are also eye-catching as a single stand-alone plant.

Red Hot Pokers are considered one of the hottest, most exotic flowers that thrive in full sun. Their beautiful blooms can last up to 18 days, so plant them front and center stage with other perennials, annuals, and sun-loving plants. Hummingbirds and butterflies are attracted to red-hot pokers.

Fun Fact: Red Hot Pokers symbolize awakening to your true self and inner teachings

17. Catmint

Catmint, or its more common name, Walker’s low, beautifully spreads throughout garden beds. Catmint is an aromatic herb that thrives in full sun and graciously blooms into fragrant purple flowers starting in the spring and continuing throughout the late summer.

Catmint is a hardy perennial offering bright, cheerful colors. It blends well with other flowers and foliage and adds a delightful touch to any sized garden.

Fun Fact: Cat Mint symbolizes fertility and love.

18. Peruvian lily

You know spring has sprung when a Peruvian Lily pops its beauty into your garden beds. Peruvian Lilies, also known as Lily of the Incas, are a very popular, striking perennial that features pink, white, orange, purple, red, yellow, and salmon blossoms.

Peruvian lilies are showy flowers that grow well in gardens offering full sun. These beautiful flowers require little care when planted in full sun and given plenty of space. Like other types of lilies, Peruvian lilies are great cut flowers and a perfect addition to potted planters.

Fun Fact: Peruvian Lilies symbolize devotion and lasting friendship

19. Russian sage

Russian sage is an all-time favorite of gardeners and flower enthusiasts alike. This beautiful, hardy perennial flower is vibrant purple and complemented by green leaves and stems. Russian sage is a fragrant member of the mint family and is easy to grow in a sunny spot in your garden.

It’s never too hot for Russian Sage, as it thrives in hot, intense sun, including by rock gardens, sidewalks, and a strip along a driveway. Russian Sage is both rabbit and deer resistant and attracts bees and butterflies to your garden.

Fun Fact: Russian Sage symbolizes power, success, and character

20. Hibiscus

Those wanting to add drama and dimension to their flower gardens should look to hardy hibiscus perennials. Hibiscus produces stunning, very large tropical-like pink, white, and red flowers. The flowers of hibiscus attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds to your garden.

It begins to bloom in late summer when other flowers are beginning to fade. Hibiscus thrives in full sun and rich, well-draining soil. Mix with other flowers to add eye-catching interest to your garden or potted plants.

Fun Fact: Hibiscus symbolizes youth, elegance, and beauty.

Shade Loving Perennials For All Summer Blooms

If you have a shady part of your yard, you might like to plant some of these shade-loving perennials for year after year of pretty blooms.

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