For full sun, selecting blooming plants might be tough. In order to survive, annuals, perennials, and shrubs must endure at least six to eight hours of sunlight every day. Drought tolerant plants that prefer the sun should be able to flourish on little water and thrive in direct sunlight, on the other hand. For sunny blooming plants, try sunny borders, south-facing exposures, and full-sun container gardens.
Finding perennials, shrubs, and annuals in sunny locations is difficult due to the intense summer heat. In the hottest summer months, even plants that tolerate the sunniest conditions may struggle. Yet, you may create a stunning, colorful garden full of blooms that don’t fade in direct sunlight by selecting the right flowers and arranging them carefully. For sunny gardens, planters, beds, borders, and patios, this article provides information on selecting suitable flowering plants.
Flowering Annual Plants For Full Sun
Annuals that need the most sunlight are typically tough plants that can handle harsh conditions like summer heat and constant sun. Annuals are easy to grow and bloom all season if you deadhead them on a regular basis, which is why they’re so popular in a sun-filled garden. Snapdragon (Antirrhinum), Spider flowers (Cleome), Salvia (Salvia officinalis), Lantana, and Verbena are some of the most full-sun blooming annuals.
Flowering Perennial Plants For Direct Sun
Yards and patios that get full sun every day should be planted with flowering perennials. Many of the low-maintenance blooming plants that don’t need a lot of watering make it simpler to grow perennials. They will also not need to be replanted every year to appreciate their beauty.
Delphinium, Sedum, Coreopsis, Bearded iris, and Asiatic lily (Lilium) are among the most successful types of flowering perennial plants that bloom in full sun.
Flowering Shrubs For Full Sun
Planting native blooming shrubs in your property’s front and rear yards can brighten up the décor, add texture, and aesthetically enhance it. Borders, sunny foundation plantings, and specimen plants all benefit from full-sun shrubs.
Additionally, little plants may be protected from direct sunlight by large shrubs that bloom. Forsythia, Buttonbush (Cephalanthus), Common Lilac (Syringa vulgaris), Mock Orange (Philadelphus), and Spirea are some of the most colorful shrubs that thrive in partial shade for up to eight hours a day.
Full Sun Flowering Annual Plants (With Pictures) – Identification
Bedding, hanging baskets, pots, and borders are all good places to grow annual plants that prefer bright and hot conditions. Bushy, bright flowers bloom from late spring to early autumn on many flowering, full-sun annuals. The best full-sun blooming annuals are shown in this list.
Petunia
Because of their showy purple, red, orange, yellow, and white blooms, petunias are full sun flowers that come in a wide range of colors. Petunia blooms have vivid colors and are trumpet-shaped or funnel-shaped. If you keep the ground moist, the summer flowering plants perform best in full sunlight.
Petunia plants are treated as annuals because they are tender perennials. The sun-tolerant plants are perfect for hanging baskets, foundation plantings, ground cover for full sun, sunny borders, and containers because of their stunning flowering bushy plant with mounding growth and cascading flowers.
Sunflower
Sunflower is a tall annual flower that thrives in strong sunlight and produces a huge bright flowerhead. Because of their enormous yellow blooms with a huge brown disc-shaped center, sunflowers are simple to identify. From summer through autumn, these giant yearly blossoms tower between 6 and 10 feet (1.8 to 3 meters) tall.
In the shade, tall blooming sunflower plants struggle. Sunflowers, on the other hand, can be used as a stunning background for sun-drenched flower beds because of their height. Instead, you can place tall, full-sun annuals on the exterior of your home along a south-facing wall or corner.
Zinnia
Zinnias should be sown outside in a sunny spot to bloom. The spectacular blooms, which may be disc-shaped like asters or globose like enormous pompoms, bloom at the end of lengthy stalks. Zinnia plants bloom in orange, yellow, pink, red, and white hues and are long-blooming full-sun annuals.
Drought-tolerant Zinnia blooms are ideal for planting in pots, sunny borders, and mixed beds. Zinnias grow fast, produce blooms early in the season, and create a blaze of color all summer long, despite the heat and a lack of water, as do many other types of full-sun annual plants.
Marigold (Tagetes)
Marigold plants thrive in full sun portions of your front yard and are easy to care for. Hundreds of ruffled oval petals emerge in clusters to create a spectacular pompom flowerhead, which is long-blooming marigold. Tall flowering annuals that grow up to 3 feet (1 meter) tall include several varieties of marigolds.
Marigold annual flowers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, each with its own traits. Orange or yellow blooms with double flowers, for example, are found in African marigolds. Star-shaped, bright yellow blooms, Mexican marigolds are a sight to see. And yellow, red, and orange hues can be seen on the French marigold flowers’ crested, ruffled blossoms. Planting marigolds in sunny borders, beds, edges, or containers is beneficial for all types of marigolds.
Geranium
Geranium plants are hardy perennials that bloom prolifically in heat and full sun and require little care. They include numerous drought tolerant species. Geraniums are very simple to establish and are extremely resistant to scorching heat. Moreover, in summer situations, several species are drought tolerant.
To add texture to a sunny yard, the lovely, low-maintenance flowering annuals include lush foliage. In a sunny garden, Geranium flowers provide long-lasting color. Purple, red, vivid pink, white, and light lilac hues are among the delicate, dainty summer blossoms.
Egyptian Starcluster (Pentas lanceolata)
Egyptian Starclusters are annual blooming full sun plants that are maintained as perennials in warmer climates. They’re also known as pentas. The dainty tubular, star-shaped flowers of this sun-loving, heat-resistant shrub-like plant range in diameter from 4 to 10 cm.
The 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 1 m) tall showy blooming annual Planters, bedding, borders, and containers all benefit from the Egyptian starflower. The pentas plant, which thrives in hot, bright, dry conditions, is a sun-lover and heat-resistant. The lovely foliage of pointed oval green leaves is complemented by the lilac, pink, white, or red blooms. The list of full sun flowers in Florida includes Egyptian star flowers.
Full sun Flowering Perennial Plants (With Pictures) – Identification
Summer-long blooming perennials that can tolerate hot, dry weather are the best options. Sun-loving perennial flowers are typically simple to establish, require minimal trimming, and need just a little quantity of water. Here are a few of the best full-sun blooming perennial plants for you to browse through.
Aster Flowers (Asteraceae) For Sunny Gardens
Several sorts of asps bloom in full sun and endure periods of drought. They are perennial flowers that thrive in direct sunlight. Because of their thin, lineal petals that surround a central yellow or orange disc, aster flowers are simple to identify. Aster blooms range from light pink to deep red, depending on the cultivar.
From late summer to late autumn, astil blooms for up to a week. Sunlight, drought, salty air, and damp ground are all tolerable for the tall flowering perennials. The bushy perennials spread up to 2 feet (0.6 meters) wide, while aster cultivars may grow up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall.
Coneflower (Echinacea) — Full Sun Perennials
Coneflowers are drought tolerant plants that perform best in full sun and need little care to thrive. They are one of the best perennial choices for full sun. The hardy flowers of coneflowers endure freezing temperatures and bloom year after year, despite their preference for full sun.
Purple blooms predominate over yellow, orange, or red blooms in most of these daisy-like tall perennials. Coneflowers, for example, are tall blooming, sun-loving perennials that work well at the rear of a flower bed. In a summer garden, the appealing, colorful blooms with the shuttlecock form bloom on long, upright stalks to create a brilliant floral show.
Dianthus
Dianthus flowers are evergreen perennials that thrive in bright, well-drained environments. The ends of tall stems that grow up to 3 feet (1 metre) tall produce the spectacular masses of pink, white, and red blooms. Ruffled serrated petals make up the attractive blooms, which may be solitary or double.
From late spring through the summer until the fall, flowers on dianthus plants appear and last. In garden beds, Dianthus plants make excellent companions. They’re ideal for brightening sunny rock gardens and can be planted along borders.
Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
Black-eyed Susans are eye-catching yellow perennials that thrive in full sun and may be planted at the rear of flower beds or borders. The bright yellow drooping petals stand out against a black brown center cone, identifying the tall low-maintenance flowering perennials.
Black-eyed Susans grow up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall and thrive in hot, arid conditions. The drooping petals, long 6-inch (15 cm) leaves, and slender, upright stalks that support the yellow blossoms distinguish them from other flowers.
Peony (Paeonia)
Peonies are full sun perennials with a variety of colors and sizes. The spectacular showy flowers bloom on a perennial shrubby plant and blossom year after year. Peony blossoms come in a variety of forms, from solitary to semi-double to double blooms.
Herbaceous peonies produce upright, robust flowering stalks and have lanceolate leaves that form a clumping mound. Mixed beds, city gardens, cottage gardens, and specimen plants all benefit from peony flowers. Depending on the variety, perennial peony plants can grow to be 3 feet (1 meter) tall.
Phlox
From mid-summer through autumn, Phlox is a low-maintenance and easy-to-grow full sun perennial that bears many colors. The lovely blooming plant has big deep green leaves, five united petals, and a pleasant fragrance that distinguishes it from other plants.
Garden phlox thrives in full sun and grows to be 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 meters) tall. Evergreen phlox plants with small growth are colorful and fast-growing ground cover plants. To create a mat of color in a sunny garden, for example, creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) has dense foliage, vigorous growth, and stunning purple, white, or pink flowers.
Hollyhock (Alcea rosea)
Hollyhock is a type of perennial blooming plant with tall, spectacular trumpet-like flowers that thrives in full sun along the rear of flower beds or down walls. The funnel-shaped blooms on the tall perennial flowering stalks may grow from 5 to 9 feet (1.5 to 2.7 meters) in diameter, ranging from 3 to 4 inches (7.5 to 10 cm) in diameter.
Hollyhock blooms come in a variety of colors, from purple to pink to red, and are typically solitary or double. The back of a flower bed is where this tall flowering full-sun perennial thrives. From mid to late summer, the showy Hollyhock flowers bloom. In the hottest climates, however, you may need to give some afternoon shade and water them well when there has been little rainfall. Hollyhock flowers thrive in full sun in USDA zone 3 to 8.
Full Sun Flowering Shrubs (With Pictures) – Identification
Sunny gardens need flowering shrubs that flourish in direct sunlight. Throughout the summer, sun-loving blooming shrubs offer more than just color and floral fragrances. In a garden landscape, the lovely blossoms on bushes attract pollinators and foster biodiversity. A tiny sample of great full-sun blooming bushes may be seen here.
Lavender (Lavendula)
For full sun, lavender is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant or a small shrub. Lavender (Lavandula stoechas) is a Spanish herbaceous perennial or flowering shrub that thrives in full sun and high heat. Little purple spikes with long stems are what lavender flowers look like.
The flowers and narrow leaves of the shrubby perennial plant emit a distinct lavender fragrance that is floral and woody. Lavender bushes may grow to be about 3 feet (1 meter) tall. In herb gardens, perennial borders, mixed beds, and full-sun foundation plantings in the front yard, the clumping sun-loving plant is ideal.
Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)
Butterfly bush is a full-sun blooming shrub with conical clusters of arching purple flowers, which thrives in well-drained acidic soil. It’s a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub that grows to be between 5 and 10 feet (1.5 and 3 meters) tall and 4 and 10 feet (1.5 to 3 meters) broad.
USDA zones 5 through 8 are ideal for growing butterfly bushes. The sunniest location in your yard, where it receives at least six hours of direct sunlight every day, is where the butterfly bush thrives. Planting in borders, foundation plantings, or as a specimen plant will benefit from the quick-growing flowering shrub. Pollinators are drawn to the fragrant purple blooms with spikes.
Cape Jasmine (Gardenia jasminoides)
The creamy-white aromatic flowers of cape jasmine bush add beauty and fragrance to sunny landscapes. In the summer, when it blooms, the shrubby plant erupts in color with its leathery green leaves. Between 1 and 10 feet (0.3 and 3 meters) tall, the evergreen blooming shrub grows.
In temperate zones, cape jasmine is a full-sun blooming plant. Florida is also home to the heat-loving sun-tolerant plant, but it should be grown in an area with afternoon shade. As a flowering hedge, container plant, or specimen plant, you may cultivate this unusual evergreen shrub in the sun.
Camellia
Camellia has a variety of white, pink, and red blooms and is commonly crossed with other Camellia species. Beautiful white, pink, or red blooms with layers of petals surrounding a pale yellow centre are produced by this winter-flowering shrubby plant.
Ruffled double blooms emit a pleasant fragrance and are among the showiest Camellia varieties. In comparison to other full-sun plants, Camellia shrub blooms are huge. The huge blossoms, which bloom on 5 to 6 ft. (1.5 – 1.8 m) high mounding plants, reach up to 4.7” (12 cm).
Forsythia
Forsythia is an ideal fast-growing flowering hedge for full sun when used as a decorative yellow flowering shrub. In the summer, the multi-stemmed plant with yellow, star-shaped blooms blooms with woody stems. Yellow forsythia bushes reach a height of 6 to 9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 meters).
Forsythia is a beautiful flowering shrub that is very cold-hardy. Foundation lines, hedges, and mixed borders are all brightened up by the dramatic yellow flowers. Heat, strong sunlight, and drought are all tolerated by the low-maintenance shrub.
Hydrangea
Hydrangea blossoms are a group of spectacular landscaping shrubs that prefer full sun and bloom best in large clusters. Rounded flower heads (mophead or snowball), cone-shaped clusters (panicle), or flat clusters of star-shaped flowers (lacecap) are all examples of hydrangea blossoms.
Hydrangea bushes reach a height of 3 to 5 feet (1.5 to 1.5 meters) during their maturity. For the best flowering results from this hardy shrub, plant hydrangea in full sun. The long-blooming shrub puts on a constant display of color throughout the summer, bringing beauty to your sunny front or backyard. As a foundation plant, shrub border, blooming hedge, or backdrop for perennial plants, hydrangea flowers may be grown.