The shrub with the longest summer bloom time is the Butterfly Bush (Buddleia), which produces vibrant, nectar-rich flower spikes for 3 to 6 months continuously from early summer straight through to the autumn frosts.
The most reliable shrubs for season-long color include reblooming hydrangeas, butterfly bushes, and specific rose cultivars. These hardworking bushes produce continuous or recurring waves of blooms from early summer right through to the autumn frost.
Some of the best include Geranium Rozanne, famous for its incredibly long flowering season, and Salvia Caradonna, which blooms early and often. Gaura Whirling Butterflies, Verbena bonariensis, Scabiosa Butterfly Blue and Nepeta Six Hills Giant also flower for much of the summer.
True 365-day bloomers are rare, but several plants can provide nearly 12 months of flowers under ideal conditions. The best options depend on whether you are growing them indoors or outdoors:
The oldest individual flowering plant (angiosperm) is the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva). While often not thought of as typical blooming plants, they produce flowers (cones) to reproduce and can live for over 5,000 years.
October is the perfect time to plant trees, shrubs, conifers, and hardy perennials—or spring bulbs like tulips and daffodils—and if you're looking to sow cover crops or install lawns, now is the time for that as well.
For nonstop summer color, Zinnias, Petunias, and Lantanas are unbeatable. They thrive in the heat, are easy to grow, and will continuously push out fresh blooms from late spring all the way until the first fall frost.
The Century Plant (Agave americana) takes 10 to 30 years to bloom. It is a "monocarpic" plant, meaning it grows quietly for decades, shoots up a massive central flower stalk that can reach 30 to 40 feet tall, blooms just once, and then dies.
The classic plant that universally says "I love you" is the Red Rose. However, if you are looking for long-lasting houseplants or specific symbolic meanings in the Victorian language of flowers, there are several wonderful alternatives to express your deepest affections.
The most popular types of flowering shrubs we offer are:
Camellias are evergreen shrubs that can live for up to 100 years, offering year-round interest with their glossy leaves and stunning blooms. These flowers typically bloom in late winter to spring, providing a burst of color when many other plants are still dormant.
What are the best evergreen bushes? For structure and screening, options like Prunus laurocerasus and Photinia × fraseri 'Red Robin' are popular choices. For fragrance and winter flowers, Sarcococca hookeriana is hard to beat.
Hydrangea. Hydrangea have two flowering advantages. First, they are long flowering and secondly, they age gracefully with resplendent flower heads right up to the first frosts. The colours fade gracefully and make great cut flowers right up to the end of the season.
For a nearly foolproof flowering bush, you can't beat the Shrub Rose (such as Knock Out roses), Forsythia, or Spirea. These tough, fast-growing shrubs survive neglect, tolerate most soils, and bounce back easily if ignored.
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Flowers that bloom continuously throughout the year are the Anthurium, known as one of the longest-lasting flowers. Peace Lilies produce elegant white flowers year-round with proper care and thrive even in low-light conditions. Other reliable 365 day plants include Adenium or desert rose, Hibiscus, and Bougainvillaea.
The Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum) is famous for its massive structure and long, unpredictable blooming intervals. While some sources claim it blooms only once every 40 years, in cultivation, these rare plants typically bloom for the first time at 7–10 years old, and sporadically every 4–10 years after that.
The corpse flower does not have an annual blooming cycle. The bloom emerges from, and energy is stored in, a huge underground stem called a "corm." The plant blooms only when sufficient energy is accumulated, making time between flowering unpredictable, spanning from a few years to more than a decade.
Summer-blooming bushes transform landscapes by providing continuous color from early summer through late fall. Top varieties include heat-tolerant options for screens and borders, as well as low-maintenance choices that thrive in full sun.
Summer flowers burst to life with radiant sunflowers, fiery zinnias, glowing marigolds, and bold coneflowers. Vibrant petunias, dazzling lantanas, and striking dahlias paint gardens with brilliance, while salvias attract bees and butterflies.
Several flowers can bloom continuously throughout the year, primarily thriving in tropical climates or when grown as indoor house plants. These resilient bloomers require a stable environment and proper care to keep producing vibrant colors non-stop.
Hotter summers, extended droughts, and dry winds are becoming more common, and hydrangeas are paying the price. Gardeners from coast to coast report the same issues: leaves crisping and curling in early summer, stems wilting despite regular watering, and blossoms fading far too quickly.
Bill Gates argued against relying on planting trees as a primary solution to climate change, calling the idea "complete nonsense". He believes tree planting is insufficient, unproven at scale, and distraction from necessary technological solutions like direct air capture, arguing that emissions reduction requires fundamental industrial changes rather than relying on reforestation.
To help guide your fall gardening to-do list, here are 10 common perennials you should avoid planting in autumn if you want them to thrive.