Long-Lasting Flowers for your Garden

If you want a flower garden that blooms all year round, carefully choose the types of plants you want to put in there. You need to know that certain flowers prefer a certain type of climate or season that they grow best in. You can combine spring flowers with fall flowers, so that your garden will be colorful all year. Or better yet, choose long-blooming perennials that are resilient to most types of climate. Most flowering plants bloom for two to four weeks, but long-flowering perennials have their flowering period in months and not weeks. 

Here are some great long-lasting flowers you can plant for your garden:

1. Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

Belonging to the sunflower family, black-eyed Susan is one of the best perennials as they can bloom all summer and persists into October. The coneflower-shaped bloom has a raised chocolate-brown center cone surrounded by bright yellow petals. The black-eyed Susan may be underrated plant because it’s too common, but there’s a good reason why it can be a great addition to your garden. The bold, yellow color of this plant can easily warm your yard. It’s so easy to care for because it’s resilient and doesn’t need a lot of care and tending to bloom beautifully.

2. Coneflower (Echinea purpurea)

Coneflowers produce petals surrounding a raised cone center, and is a popular native wildflower. These are drought-tolerant, making them on of the longest flowering perennials. They bloom for months, starting from early summer to early autumn. They thrive even in dry and hot conditions, and provides food for bees, butterflies, and other insect pollinators. They can bloom even with minimal irrigation and poor soil. There are a lot of coneflower varieties available to gardeners, but the common and longer-lasting ones are White Swan and Magnus. The White Swan has large blooms and white petals attached to a coppery-brown, spiky cone. Meanwhile, Magnus is the classic rosy purple coneflower with a dark reddish cone. 

3. Catmint Walker’s Low (Nepeta racemosa)

Catmint is a hardy plant that shows purple-blue flower spikes that are attractive to pollinators and beneficial insects. The Walker’s Low variety is not the type of flower you pick to be the star of your garden – in fact, they usually serve as a border in let’s say, a rose garden or a tulip garden. But these plants bloom from late spring to mid-autumn and usually lasts longer than your other flowers. Because they are well-loved by pollinating insects, they are drought-tolerant and long-lasting. Once the initial bloom begins to fade, shear the plant by about one half to make them bloom better again. Without trimming, the plant will still continue to flower moderately, but a good trim encourages neat foliage and blooms that will last until frost.

4. Coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata)

Commonly known as tickseed, coreopsis is a plant prized by many gardeners because of their bright flowers and ability to put up with most garden soils.  It’s an eye-catching, mood-brightening plant that’s among the longest flowering perennials. They bloom from early summer to early autumn. It also tolerates drought well. But even though they are low-maintenance, they need regular watering when first planted and a well-draining soil. Pollinating insects like butterflies love them, and birds like to snack on their seeds. One of the popular coreopsis variant is the Moonbeam, which has small, pale yellow blooms. 

5. Calibrachoa (Calibrachoa parviflora)

Calibrachoa flowers look like tiny petunias, and it’s also existing in a wide range of colors – pink, yellow, purple, red, orange, white, gold, green and even a combination of these hues. It’s a tender perennial that blooms from spring until fall without stopping until frost starts. You can place it in a large plant pot or container, or in a hanging basket to show off its spreading shape. These blooms thrive in moist soil, full sun and monthly fertilization.

6. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

Yarrow is one of the herb plants that bloom all summer. It’s a hardy and versatile perennial plant that has showy flower heads with many tiny, tightly packed flowers that form clusters above ferny foliage. This plant is virtually care-free yet it blooms robustly during the summer for 6 to 8 weeks. It grows best in full sun with well-drained soil. Yarrow flowers exist in many different colors, from soft pastels to rich jewel shades. This plant was widely used for its medicinal purposes in the past prior to the era of modern medicines, but now it’s more valued for its beauty than its herbal applications. 

7. Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus and Cosmos sulphureus)

The cosmos flowers may look fragile, but it’s actually a hardy plant that blooms twice a year: throughout the spring and summer. These plants belong to the same family with daisy and marigold. These plants are resilient and survive in most climates. The Cosmos bipinatus is the most common garden cosmos variety that can grow up to two feet in height, with flowers on thin stems. You can usually find it in pink or white, but it also blossoms in red, orange, yellow and burgundy. The flowers look so attractive, and they easily attract bees, butterflies and birds. They grow easily in plant beds or in containers, and they also last long as cut flowers. This plant can handle drought and even poor soil – they can even self-sow! But of course, to make them long-lasting and beautiful, expose them to full sun and well-draining soil.

8. Astilbe (Astilbe species)

A low-maintenance perennial flower, astilbe is a carefree plant with a long season of bloom. They look like ferns with tall and fluffy plumes in colors that vary from white, pink, red, lavender and violet. They are also attractive to butterflies and other beneficial insects. These plants can brighten shady gardens and are great to plant with other shade tolerant plants to contrast foliage and coordinate the color of your blooms. These plants are easy to grow and need ample moisture and regular watering during dry summers to prolong their blooming period.  

9. Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum species)

Chrysanthemum, or mums, are one of the most common year-round flowers. They have thousands of species that allow variety of colors. Most varieties of mums are easy to grow, and there are hundreds of varieties that can provide blooms from late summer through fall. Plant them in rich, well-drained soil and they will develop quickly. They bloom in shades of white, yellow, orange, red, lavender or purple. The colors of chrysanthemums have different meanings when you give it as a gift to portray your feelings. White means loyal love, red means love, and yellow means slighted love, among others.

10. Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus)

Another beautiful all-season flower, carnations bring a colorful and lovely vibe to your garden. They are easy to grow and they add a beautiful scent to their garden. The great thing about them is they can bloom all season! Their long stems also make them a great bouquet flower. The particular color of carnation has meaning: pink carnations mean mother’s love, dark red carnations means deep love, light red carnation means admiration and white carnation means pure love. 

11. Dahlia (Dahlia pinnata

Dahlias are brightly colored flowers that offer a splashy display of pinwheel blossoms with a fascinating geometry. They come in a myriad of colors such as white, pink, purple, red, yellow, orange and rust. They are great flowers for floral arrangements because they last long, even when cut and displayed on a vase. When planted, they bloom from midsummer up to the first frost, outlasting other plants that already stopped blooming. They grow best under full sun in moist and moderate climates, but they often attract insects and slugs, so make sure to plant other growth around it to deter the harmful insects. It’s best to plant them during spring. 

12. Salvia (Salvia species)

Also known as sage, salvias bloom for a long time and grow well in hot and dry areas. There are a lot of salvia species that bloom for long. They also provide different colors (mostly purples and blues), bloom shapes and fragrance. And as part of the mint family, salvias usually have velvety leaves. They attract a lot of butterflies and hummingbirds. Depending on where you live, you can pick a salvia that’s best to grow in your area. The May Night, Blue Hill and Caradonna varieties of salvia can bloom all summer.

13. Hyacinths (Hyacinthus species)

A spring flower, hyacinths are fragrant flowers that bloom in dense clusters. Hyacinths usually come in pink, purple, blue and white. They grow easily in well-drained and moderately fertile soil and produces a multitude of flowers. This plant is one of the easiest spring bulbs to grow and they need full sun to light shade to bloom. The common hyacinth, Hyacinthus orientalis, bears tight blooms that resemble grape clusters. 

14. Ice plant (Delospermacooperi)

Looking for a lovely, drought-tolerant flower? Try planting some ice plants. These sun-loving perennials are ideal for easy to care, and if you’re in zone 5, it can even survive winter. The name of the plant is derived from the tiny hairs on the plant that reflects light in a way that looks like ice crystals. Its foliage is fleshy and succulent-like, and it boosts vividly-colored flowers. The flowers bloom all summer long. They are planted mostly in sunny and sheltered gardens or rock gardens. 

15. Poinsettia flowers (Euphorbia pulcherrima)

Famous for being a Christmas plant and a Christmas flower, poinsettias are very lively and thrives during the winter months. The red parts are not technically flowers but are modified leaves called bracts. The bright bracts attract insects to the tiny yellow flowers in the center. You can keep the flowers indoors, but it’s best to leave them in cooler temperatures. They don’t need too much water and sun. Plant them in areas with a limited sun and in slightly moist soil.  

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