Be Inspired Blog - Arizona
SummerWinds Nursery Top 12 Summer Flower Picks
Summer Flowers are almost ready to bloom! With the hot summer months close at hand it’s time to start thinking about what to plant for the upcoming season.
Summer flowers paint your garden with some of the most spectacular colors of the entire year. It’s such an exciting time to start planting! SummerWinds has created a list of the best flowers, and our personal favorites, to plant for summer. To ensure your success we’ve selected plants that don’t require a lot of attention, have minimal watering needs, and produce blooms that will have you smiling all season.
Here's a list of our top 12 summer flowers selected by our staff.
1. Vinca
- Characteristics: Blooms in abundance, and is an excellent choice if you have little time to tend your garden.
- Uses: Great for borders, flowerbeds, rock gardens, and in containers.
- Care: Vinca likes to be watered when the surrounding soil becomes completely dry.
2. Celosia
- Characteristics: Celosia produces striking upright or crested spires, which have a unique twisted form, and blooms in all the colors of a summer sunset.
- Uses: Great for borders, flowerbeds, in containers, and the perfect flower for bouquets or as cut flowers for indoors.
- Care: Celosia likes rich, well-drained soil with moderate water.
3. Portulaca
- Characteristics: Portulaca produces vividly colored blooms in shades that range from rose, yellow, white, orange, red, purple and pink.
- Uses: Great as an eye-catching statement as border edging, in ground covering, and in containers.
- Care: Portulaca grows well in hot climates, is drought tolerant, and requires minimal moisture to bloom.
4. Blue Salvia
- Characteristics: Blue Salvia is a cinch to grow and flowers beautifully all summer with vibrant color.
- Uses: Great for flowerbeds, borders, and in containers.
- Care: Blue Salvia prefers to dry out between waterings and is extremely drought tolerant.
5. Red Salvia
- Characteristics: Red Salvia, like Blue Salvia, is a cinch to grow and blooms in a zesty color all summer long.
- Uses: Great for flowerbeds, borders, and in containers.
- Care: Red Salvia prefers to dry out between waterings and is extremely drought tolerant.
6. Zinnia
- Characteristics: Zinnias are one of the easiest plants to grow as it not only grows quickly, but also blooms often. It’s also excellent for attracting butterflies.
- Uses: Great in mixed borders, edging, window boxes, in containers, and as cut flowers indoors.
- Care: Zinnias prefer moderate soil moisture, and can bloom all season when flowers are deadheaded.
7. Pentas
- Characteristics: Pentas is a scrubby plant with an unruly unusual shape. It’s distinctive five point flowers burst open like fireworks. It’s also excellent for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds.
- Uses: Great for ground-cover, privacy, and in containers.
- Care: Pentas does best in well-drained, moist soil and with plenty of sunlight.
8. Angelonia
- Characteristics: Angelonia produces beautiful flowers of mauve, purple, pink, blue, or white, and flowers all summer long. It’s also excellent for attracting butterflies and bees.
- Uses: Great for flowerbeds, borders, in containers, and as cut flowers for indoors.
- Care: Angelonia likes hot, sunny, summer locations, and prefers moist, well-drained soil. However, it can withstand brief dry spells.
9. Lisianthus
- Characteristics: Lisianthus is an elegant rose-like beauty that has long been grown for its striking appearance.
- Uses: Great for flowerbeds, borders, and in containers.
- Care: Lisianthus do well in rich, well-drained soil in full sun. Keep them moist but do not overwater.
10. Cosmos
- Characteristics: Cosmos sport some of the most showy flowers of the summer season. They bloom in various colors across the spectrum from pink, orange, red and yellow, to white, and maroon. It’s also excellent for attracting butterflies, bees, and birds.
- Uses: Great in mixed borders, edging, window boxes, in containers, and as cut flowers for indoors.
- Care: Cosmos can handle drought, poor soil conditions and general neglect.
11. Coreopsis
- Characteristics: Coreopsis is what you need if you’re looking for lasting summer color. It will continue to bloom long after most summer flowers go out of season.
- Uses: Great in mixed borders, edging, window boxes, in containers, and as cut flowers for indoors.
- Care: Coreopsis care is limited to occasional watering during extreme drought, along with the deadheading for continued flowering all season.
12. Gomphrena
- Characteristics: Gomphrena produces globe-shaped blossoms in dainty shades of lavender, purple, pink, red, magenta, blue, orange and white. It’s an absolute must for any cutting garden.
- Uses: Great in mixed borders, edging, window boxes, in containers, and as cut flowers for indoors.
- Care: Gomphrena can handle drought, poor soil conditions and general neglect.
What better time, than summer, to get outside and enjoy one of the most rewarding planting seasons of the year? Nothing creates a more beautiful spectacle than the flowers of the summer season. With a little TLC, good soil, and proper watering, your summer flowers will bloom to perfection.
Want Even More Summer Color?
Check out some other summer flower favorites, including: Nierembergia, Ipomoea - Potato Vine, Golden Fleece and Gaillardia. Click the button for more brilliant summer blooms!
Let SummerWinds Nursery help you plan your very own summer flower garden that will fit your lifestyle and needs. SummerWinds has an incredible assortment of blooming summer flowers arriving daily; perfect for growing in flowerbeds, borders, and in containers. With SummerWinds plant guarantee, you're sure to succeed.
If you have questions about these or other summer flowers or additional measures you can take to guarantee your success, stop by your local SummerWinds Nursery to speak with one of our Trusted Garden Advisors! At SummerWinds, We Guarantee Success!
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