Enjoy a sea of flowers in your garden all summer long. Do you also like a garden full of summer plants? And don’t you want to spend too much money on that? Here are some tips on how to have as many flowers as possible in your garden or on your balcony. Summer flowering bulbs are very suitable for planting in a pot and therefore they’re a perfect fit for any garden.
Summer plants
Typical summer plants are often annual plants, which have the characteristic that they grow from seed to adult plant in 1 year. They often make new seeds for the next year. So technically, you could enjoy annuals every year for years to come.
You can place summer plants in your border, between the perennials. But you can also create a vertical garden with summer plants on your balcony. It also looks very cozy in pots and containers. Some varieties are very suitable for brightening up your garden or balcony from a hanging basket.
Tips to keep your summer plants blooming for as long as possible
- Cut the faded flowers from the plant. That way the plant does not invest its energy in making seeds but in new flower buds.
- If the plant appears to be fully flowering, prune a little further to encourage new flowering
- Because the plant uses so much energy for long-term flowering, it does need some extra energy. You can supplement this by adding liquid plant fertilizer to your irrigation water. There are also special nutrient cones, which you apply in the potting soil near your plant. You can do this immediately upon purchase, so you don’t have to remind yourself during the summer
- Make sure the plants have enough water. Summer is of course the hottest, but often also the driest time of the year. You prefer to water the plants before sunrise or after sunset. If this does not work, make sure you water the soil and do not pour it over the leaves. Because the water droplets amplify the sun like a magnifying glass, there is a chance of burning the leaves when you do this.
- Be careful with summer plants with late-night frost. Summer plants cannot withstand frost. It is wise not to put the plants in the ground too early. It’s best practice to put plants in containers and baskets indoors overnight when frost is forecasted to prevent them from breaking or getting brown leaves
Strong summer plants
Knotweed
Persicaria amplexicaulis, knotweed is a perennial border plant with decorative fresh green leaves. The plant grows to a height of 100 to 150 and flowers from July to October with red spike-shaped flowers.
Coneflower
Rudbeckia fulgida “Goldsturm”, a yellow coneflower that grows to about 80 to 100 in height. This beautiful perennial blooms from late July to September with a brown-black center and yellow flowers.
Long flowering summer plants
Bowles Mauve
Erysimum “Bowles Mauve”, known as a wallflower or rock rocket, is certainly one of the long-flowering plants. The flowering time is from May to September. The purple compound flowers of this perennial grows to a height of 50 to 60 centimeters.
Fuchsia
Fuchsia or bubble plant is a lilac-purple-red flowering perennial that blooms from July to October. The height of the plant is about 100 centimeters.
Summer perennials
Verbena
Verbena Bonariensis, vervain is actually not a perennial, but a biennial plant. Since the plant self-sowing, you can enjoy it for years. The small lilac flowers can be seen from July to September. The height of the plant varies from 30 to 150 cm.
Gaura Lindheimeri
Gaura Lindheimeri, beautiful candle blooms with white flowers that resemble small butterflies. This perennial grows to about 30 to 75 cm high.
Licorice plant
Agastache “Blue Fortune” licorice plant, also blooms all summer from June to September with blue spike-shaped flowers. The height of the plant is 50 to 75 cm.
Annual summer plants
Cosmea
A fresh flower in red, pink, and white. The flowers can grow to about 90 centimeters high.
Mandevilla
A climber with white, yellow, pink, or red flowers. The height this plant can reach is 250 to 300. It flowers from June to October. In winter you can keep it frost-free, if you do, you have a good chance that it will bloom again in the coming year. This plant is also known under the name Dipladenia.
Geranium
Pelargonium, popularly known as (annual) geranium. You can find these in many different colors white, pink, red, burgundy, will, and multicolored. Its height is approximately 20 to 30 centimeters.
Petunia
A very suitable annual for the hanging baskets. The bell-shaped flowers are available in all kinds of colors and even in patterns. Available colors are white, pink, yellow, red, blue, purple, black. The patterns you can find are striped with one or several colors, with a color gradient, with a border, or even a dotted flower.
Diligent lies summer plants
Impatiens Walleriana, known as diligent lies. A very beautiful and easy continuous flowering annual plant that flowers in the colors orange, white, lilac, pink, and red. It grows to about 20-30 centimeters in height. The industrious Lizzie likes to have sufficient moisture, so in the summer it is certainly necessary to water regularly.
Snapdragon
Anthirrhinum majus, Snapdragon blooms from May to September with its special flowers. The flower color is diverse, yellow, purple, orange, red, pink, white, and multi-colored. Depending on the species, the snapdragon is available in heights from 20 centimeters to 100 centimeters.
Ornamental tobacco flowers
Nicotiana x sanderea, ornamental tobacco flowers with its beautiful tubular flowers in shades of pink, red, and white. The flowers, especially fragrant in the evening, attract moths. The height of the plant is 20 to 100 centimeters. Blooms from July to October.
Zinnia, summer plants
Zinnia elegans, zinnia is an annual with white, yellow, orange, red, purple, and lilac blooms. The flower resembles the bloom of a dahlia and blooms from July to October and grows to a height of 50 to 80 centimeters.
