Summer is when our gardens truly become part of everyday life. Think about those quiet, daily moments:
- Morning coffee on the porch.
- Family cookouts on the patio.
- Watching butterflies drift through the flowers.
- Fresh herbs just outside the kitchen door.
- A quiet walk through the garden as the sun begins to set.
It's often during these everyday moments that you begin noticing opportunities. Perhaps there's a sunny corner that could use more color, a bare spot along a walkway, or a favorite sitting area that would feel even more welcoming with fragrant flowers and pollinator-friendly plants.
The wonderful thing about healthy, container-grown plants is that they can still be planted throughout the summer. With regular watering while they establish, they'll develop strong root systems before rewarding you with colorful blooms, beautiful foliage, fragrance, and pollinator activity for the rest of the season—and for years to come. After all, every beautiful garden begins with healthy young plants.
Fill the Spaces You'll Enjoy Every Day
The best gardens rarely happen all at once. They're created one thoughtful addition at a time.
Instead of looking at your entire landscape and feeling overwhelmed, take a slow walk through the areas you use most often and ask yourself:
- Could this patio use a little more color?
- Would fragrant plants make this walkway more enjoyable?
- Is there room for butterflies and hummingbirds near my outdoor seating area?
- Could this border use more texture or evergreen interest?
- Is there an empty space that would benefit from a low-maintenance groundcover?
Often, just one or two carefully selected plants can completely change how a garden feels.
Five Summer Garden Favorites to Plant Now
Blueberry Muffin Ajuga
Looking for an attractive evergreen groundcover? Blueberry Muffin Ajuga fills difficult areas with rich foliage and beautiful spring flowers while providing year-round texture in borders, beneath trees, and along pathways.
- Best for: Groundcovers, edging, foundations, shaded borders, and low-maintenance landscapes.
Creeping Rosemary
More than just an herb, Creeping Rosemary adds fragrance, evergreen beauty, and fresh flavor to sunny patios, containers, retaining walls, and herb gardens.
- Best for: Containers, herb gardens, sunny borders, patios, and cascading over retaining walls.
Coreopsis Uptick™ Gold & Bronze
Long-blooming golden flowers with rich bronze centers provide dependable summer color while attracting butterflies and other beneficial pollinators.
- Best for: Sunny perennial gardens, borders, pollinator gardens, and cottage gardens.
Midnight Rose Heuchera (Coral Bells)
Not every plant needs flowers to make an impact. Midnight Rose Heuchera offers striking burgundy foliage speckled with vibrant pink new growth, creating season-long color and contrast in darker corners.
- Best for: Partial shade gardens, borders, containers, and woodland landscapes.
Very Van Gogh Veronica (Speedwell)
One of our favorite long-blooming perennials, Very Van Gogh Veronica adds graceful, upright flower spikes that attract butterflies and pollinators while bringing vertical interest to sunny garden beds.
- Best for: Sunny perennial gardens, walkways, patios, and pollinator gardens.
Add Even More Summer Interest
If you're looking to attract even more butterflies, hummingbirds, and beneficial pollinators to your yard, summer is also an excellent time to add colorful favorites like:
- Blue Fortune Agastache
- Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)
- Sombrero® Salsa Red Echinacea
- Adobe Orange Echinacea
These dependable summer bloomers continue providing color, movement, and pollinator activity throughout the warmest months of the year, making your outdoor spaces even more enjoyable.
Why Container-Grown Plants Are Ideal for Summer Planting
One of the questions we hear most often at the nursery is: "Can I still plant during the summer?"
The answer is a resounding yes.
Healthy, container-grown plants establish beautifully throughout the summer months when they are watered regularly during their first few weeks in the ground.
Rather than rushing into heavy bloom immediately, many young plants focus their energy first on developing strong, deep root systems. As they settle into your soil, they begin producing fuller growth, more flowers, and stronger, healthier frameworks that will reward you season after season. That's why healthy, nursery-grown container plants continue to be an excellent investment all summer long.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you plant perennials during the summer?
Yes! Container-grown perennials can be planted throughout the summer with regular, deep watering while they become established in their new home.
What flowers bloom all summer?
Many dependable, long-blooming summer perennials include Coreopsis, Agastache, Veronica, Echinacea, Butterfly Bush, and Gaillardia. These varieties provide weeks or even months of continuous, colorful blooms.
What plants attract butterflies and hummingbirds?
Butterfly Bush, Blue Fortune Agastache, Echinacea, Veronica, and many native flowering perennials are magnets for butterflies, hummingbirds, honeybees, and other beneficial pollinators.
What are some easy-care plants for sunny gardens?
Coreopsis, Creeping Rosemary, Agastache, Veronica, and Echinacea are all excellent, low-maintenance, drought-tolerant choices once their root systems are fully established.
Gardens Are for Living
The most enjoyable gardens aren't always the biggest. They're simply the ones filled with plants that make your everyday moments a little more beautiful.
As you spend time outdoors this summer, take another look at the spaces you enjoy most. A little more fragrance here, a splash of color there, or a few more butterflies visiting your seating area might be all it takes to transform an ordinary corner into your absolute favorite place to be.
Whether you're filling a bare space, creating a pollinator-friendly border, or simply adding another favorite perennial to your collection, we're here to help you grow a garden you'll enjoy for years to come.
