5 Perennial Flowers for Summer

By Ken Lain | The Mountain Gardener

Can I still plant perennials in June? What is the longest blooming perennial? What flowers bloom all summer and come back every year?

There are two types of flowers, perennials, and annuals. Annuals bloom non-stop the entire season we spend outdoors, then fade in the winter cold. Perennials usually have a shorter bloom cycle but come back year after year for decades of garden enjoyment. June is when you will find the most variety of perennial flowers at Watters Garden Center, but here are my favorites for the best show through the summer heat.

1. Saucer Coreopsis

This orange perennial is a desirable substitute for annual marigolds; it’s the same color and similar shape. Perfect for “wannabe” gardeners with black thumbs because it is tough as nails and reseeds for a natural wildflower look.

2. Passionate Rainbow Gaura

Bears a profusion of rose flowers from spring to fall. Its variegated foliage of green leaves, white margins, and pink tones is as charming as its blooms. The 2’ tall plant has excellent tolerances to heat and drought. Hummingbirds love to visit each flower in rock gardens, borders, and containers.

3. English Lavender

English Lavender is used to scent linens, sachets, and pot pourris for an effortless touch of class to any home. Even gardeners with no interest in such domesticity grow lavender to “class up” their landscape, patio, and decks. A sun worshiper, lavender grows to knee height, is animal-proof, and only killed by too much water.

4. Dwarf Daylily

A sensational, award-winning selection that blooms with massive clusters of large flowers. If spent flower stalks are removed, the newest mountain varieties re-bloom freely into early fall. This easy plant forms neat, compact foliage clumps.

5. Red Hot Poker

Red Hot Poker is most aptly named. The standard red hot poker grows to a height of 3′ feet with red and yellow cylindrical flowers. A dwarf Popsicle series found at Watters Garden Center grows just 18” inches in Mango, Redhot, and Pineapple colors. This bloomer loves blistering hot sun, wind, and neglect. Javelina dislike them.