A wealth of plants flower here in July and midsummer.
North – Color in the Midsummer Garden
Here are some of the plants that provide summer color in the North:
Perennials
- Baby’s-breath
- Balloon flower (platycodon)
- Carpathian bellflower (Campanula carpatica)
- Coral bells (heuchera)
- Coreopsis
- Daylily
- Perennial flax (Linum)
- Gaillardia
- Lythrum
- Penstemon
- Phlox
- Physostegia
- Iceland poppy
- Viola
Annuals
- Ageratum
- Bachelor’s-button
- Larkspur
- Lobelia
- Rose moss (portulaca)
- Nasturtium
- Nicotiana
- Phlox (P. Drummond)
- Pinks (dianthus)
- Sweet alyssum
- Verbena
Biennials
- Sweet rocket (Hesperis)
- Hollyhocks
- Canterbury bells
Bulbs
- Lilies
- Tuberous begonias
- Gladiolus
44659 by Robert A. Phillips
West – Color in the Midsummer Garden
Summer color here is provided chiefly by annual and perennial flowers. It is the in-between season for most of our trees and shrubs (these bloom in spring, and the berries only color in late summer).
To make up for it, color from woody plants in summer can be provided by the occasional use of kinds with foliage of unusual colors such as golden elder, Redleaf barberry, red- and purple leaf plums and chokecherries, and variegated dogwoods.
Annuals provide our greatest mass of summer color and challenge the landscape designer to use creative color patterns in the garden during midsummer.
Perennials and Bulbs
- Daylily
- Gaillardia
- Gladiolus
- Heuchera
- Lily
- Oriental poppy
- Phlox
- Pinks
- Tuberous begonia
Annuals
- Marigold
- Pansy
- Petunia
- Poppies
- Rose moss (portuIaca)
- Zinnia
Biennials
- Hollyhocks
Woody Plants
- Mock-orange (philadelphus)
- Clematis
- Hydrangea
- Cinquefoil (potentilla)
44659 by Leonard A. Yager
Southwest – Color in the Midsummer Garden
A slowing down in the growth rate of plants in July always results in a decrease in the amount of bloom in the garden unless there has been good planning. Regular feeding, weeding, watering, and mulching are important.
The removal of spent blooms and seed pods helps extend the blooming period. Careful light pruning of rank-growing plants stimulates new growth for additional bloom.
In the Southwest, we depend on these plants for summer color:
Trees and Shrubs
- Butterfly bush (buddleia)
- Crape-myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)
- Desert willow (Chilopsis linearis)
- Althaea or rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)
- Vitex
Perennials
- Daylily (hemerocallis)
- Phlox
- Astilbe
- Gaillardia
- Verbena
- Monarda
- Gazania
- Anchusa
Bulbs
- Dwarf Unwin dahlia
- Canna
- Tuberous begonia
- Caladium
- Trivia
Annuals
- Petunia
- Periwinkle
- Snapdragon
- Bachelor’s-button
- Morning glory
- Coreopsis
- Tithonia
- Come
- Lantana
- Portulaca
- Marigold
- Snow-on-the-mountain
- Fountain-grass (Pennisetum rappel)
- Zinnia
44659 by Robert H. Rucker
Heartland – Color in the Midsummer Garden
If we had to depend upon our native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers for color in the summer, it would be a dial picture. But, unfortunately, almost all of these finish blooming before June.
A few native shrubs might, however, be used for summer bloom.
These include:
- Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
- Leadplant amorpha (Arnorpha canescens)
- Halberd leaf rose mallow (Hibiscus militaris)
- The wild hydrangea (H. arborescens)
Flowering Trees
- Silk tree or what is commonly called here mimosa (Albizzia julibrissin)
- Japanese pagoda (Sophora japonica)
- Golden rain (Koelreuteria paniculata)
Perennials
- Phlox
- Hemerocallis (daylilies)
- Lythrum
- Platycodon (balloon flower)
- Stokesia
- Coreopsis
- Artemesia
- Hardy veronicas
Although the production of rose blooms is slowed down during July and August, enough flowers are usually present to make an impressive showing.
Annuals
- Zinnias
- Marigolds
- Asters
- Petunias
- Sweet alyssum
- Nicotiana
- Cleome
- Seedling dahlias
- Gloriosa daisies
Bulbs
- Allium giganteuni
- Tuberoses
- Hybrid lilies
- Gladiolus
- Tuberous begonias
Shrubs
- Tamarix
- Summer lilacs (buddleia)
- Vitex
- Althea (rose of Sharon)
- Hydrangea P.G.
- Crape-myrtle
- Caryopteris
44659 by Stanley R. Mclane
East – Color in the Midsummer Garden
Visits to other home gardens and trips to nurseries, public gardens, and seed farms are one of the best ways to add to the summer color of your garden.
However, it does not just happen; you must study flowering times and gaps in the succession of bloom in your place.
Just as some gather recipes for new foods, try making lists of plants to bloom when you need their color the most. Add some different annuals and perennials each year.
Some will perform better than others. What thrives in one garden may be a flop in another depending on light, soil, moisture, and variations in temperature according to the location of your property.
Perennials
- Dicentra exintia
- Gloriosa daisy
- Heuchera
- Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
- Statice
- Contra thus
- Campanula persicifolia
- Stokesia
- Heliopsis
- Plantain-lily (hosta)
- Many daylilies
- Evening-primrose (Oenothera missouriensis)
- Foxglove (digitalis)
- Phlox
- False dragonhead (physostegia)
- Torch-lily (tritoma)
Annuals
These are our most constant blooming kinds:
- Zinnia
- Marigold
- Periwinkle
- Verbena
- Celosia (regular and plumed)
- Nierembergia
- Sweet alyssum
Bulbs
- Summer hyacinth (galtonia)
- Trivia
- Tuberose
- Gloriosa lilies
- True lilies such as Aurelian and regal hybrids
- Henryi
- Aura turn
- Speciosum and formosanum
- Gahlias and gladiolus
Tender Plants
- Impatiens subtani
- Fancy-leaf caladiums
- Tuberous begonias
- Achimenes
- Wax begonias
- Geraniums
- Coleus (for striking foliage color)
Shrubs
- Butterfly bush (buddleia)
- Vitex (cut to the ground every spring)
- Sweet pepper bush (clethra)
- Stewartia
- Oxydendrum
- Hypericum
- Potentilla fruticose
- Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)
Trees
- Golden rain (koelreuteria)
Be careful that you get this and not the golden chain tree, which blooms in the spring.
Vines
- Scarlet runner and hyacinth bean
- Moonflower
- Cardinal climber
- Cypress vine, and named varieties only of morning glory
Plant the magnificent new hybrid clematis; try also the species montana rubens, tangutica, Latcsoniana and texensis (coccinea).
44659 by Victor H. Ries
Mid-South – Color in the Midsummer Garden
One of the best advantages of our summer flowering plants is their long bloom season.
We would only do with one of our spring flowering trees, such as dogwood, crab apple, and redbud. Oriental magnolias and flowering plum or peach, but their loveliness are often fleeting.
Crape myrtles bloom at the beginning of summer and continue for at least two months. If the spent flowers are not allowed to snake seed, they will continue even longer. The same applies to vitex.
Other plants that bloom here in the summer include the following:
Trees and Shrubs
- Mimosa (Albizzia julibrissin)
- Parkinsonia
- Daubentonia
- Cassia corymbosa (usually evergreen here)
- Roses
- Althaea
- Hibiscus
- Camellia sasanqua
- Kerria japonica
Perennials
- Shasta daisy
- Michaelmas daisy (fall aster)
- Chrysanthemum
- Rudbeckia
- Blue salvia
- Stokesia
- Tritoma
- Daylily
- Helianthus
- Liatris
- Phlox
- Hollyhocks
Biennials
- Honesty plant (Lunaria)
- Foxglove
- Canterbury bells
Annuals
- Petunias
- Zinnias
- Alyssum
- Amaranthus
- Marigolds
- Balsam
- Globe amaranth
- Periwinkle
- Coleus
- Sultanas
- Begonias
- Dahlias
- Dianthus
- Castor-bean
- Portulaca
- Verbena (a perennial in Shreveport)
- Snow-on-the-mountain
Bulbs
- Tiger lily (L. tigrinum)
- Lycoris
- Caladium
- Canna
- Ginger lily
- Montbretia
- Tuberose
- Crinum
Vines
- Antigen
- Moonflower
- Morning glory
- Cypress vine
- Clock vine
- Balsam vine
44659 by Minnie Hall Brown