7 flowering plants all summer long

Pelargoniums

Unmissable and timeless, Pelargoniums, commonly known as geraniums, are the reliable stars of summer flowering plants. There is something for everyone, from the most elegant like Ivy Geranium ‘Rainbow White’, to the most vibrant like Balcony King ‘Imperial Red’. The variety ‘Candy Flowers Peach Cloud’ is adorned with cute flowers blending peach pink and white, while ‘Atomic Snowflake’ releases a scent of rose and lemon with the slightest touch.

From the perfect zonal pelargonium in pots or even in borders, to the ideal ivy geranium in hanging baskets or window boxes, you are sure to find the variety or varieties that will brighten your summer!

Highly floriferous, Pelargoniums provide uninterrupted flowering throughout the summer

Erigerons

Charming small perennials with daisy-like flowers, Erigerons are easy-going plants, perfect for natural-looking gardens. They are commonly known as Fleabane, and depending on the cultivars, they can delight you with soft pink and white flowers like Erigeron karvinskianus, deep violet like the Erigeron ‘Dunkelste Aller‘, or lavender blue like Erigeron ‘Azure Beauty’.

Their summer flowering can sometimes extend into autumn, as seen with the particularly floriferous species Erigeron karvinskianus. Easy to grow, enjoying sun and well-drained soils, incorporate Fleabane in airy pots on the terrace or let them weave through your borders to add a touch of poetry and natural beauty to your displays.

The pastel shades of Erigeron karvinskianus

The Bowles Mauve Wallflower

One of my favourite flowers to bloom the beautiful season with elegance and ease is Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’. This wallflower is a marvel with its deep mauve flower spikes and the longevity of its flowering, which renews for months. Its tuft of slightly greyish green foliage forms a very dense and perfectly rounded mass, about 40 cm high and 60 cm wide. The flowers emerging well above are particularly nectariferous and attract graceful flurries of butterflies throughout the day.

Very comfortable in poor, stony, and dry soils, it requires full sun to thrive and needs almost no watering during the summer.

The generous flower spikes of Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’

The Silver Basket 'Masterpiece'

Candytuft are vigorous little carpet plants, perfect for brightening up a rockery, border, or sunny planters. Iberis sempervirens ‘Masterpiece’ flowers from spring to autumn, adorned with numerous bright white flowers, set against a thick, dark green evergreen foliage. Native to the Mediterranean region, Iberis withstands heat and drought exceptionally well and prefers well-drained soil. It prefers full sun but also tolerates partial shade very well. If you choose to grow it in a pot, be sure to provide regular watering, and it will brighten your displays with its long-lasting, vibrant flowering!

Iberis sempervirens ‘Masterpiece’

The Potentillas

Charming compact bushes highly valued for their generosity, the Cinquefoils are in bloom from May to September. Their cup-shaped flowers range from bright yellow to orange, white, and pink: perfect for brightening up the garden or the surroundings of the house for many weeks!

Deciduous, hardy, and very drought-resistant, Cinquefoils thrive in permeable, poor, and well-drained soils, but not too calcareous. In pots, you can choose compact varieties like ‘Double Punch Gold’, with bright yellow flowers, or ‘Danny Boy’, in raspberry pink. In the garden, you might consider bushy varieties like ‘Goldfinger’, which measures about 1.20 m in all directions. Plant them, in any case, in a sunny or semi-shaded position.

Massif de Potentilla fruticosa

Sweet Peas

Climbing voluble plants that cling to supports with their tendrils, sweet peas are incredibly useful for effortlessly brightening the beautiful season with their rustic charm. Sown in April, they then bloom abundantly from June to November, offering a multitude of colours, enhancing fences and other supports within weeks, while dwarf and bush varieties fill borders, beds, or window boxes. Sweet peas thrive in rich, deep, and consistently moist soil, ensuring good freshness for the roots.

High colour generosity of sweet peas

Gaura

Wonders of grace and generosity, the gauras are very easy perennials to grow, even for novice gardeners. From the beginning of summer, they form bushes of delicate flowers, white or pink depending on the variety. Flowering continues until autumn and can even extend into winter in regions with a mild climate. Some self-seed in the garden, colonising beds and refreshing them with their natural appearance. Unfussy, Gauras love full sun and are content with poor, well-drained soil.

Note: Gauras are now reclassified in the botanical genus Oenothera. So, let’s not be surprised if, in the near future, you find this plant under the name Oenothera lindheimeri.

Gaura lindheimeri