Full Sun Perennials
You might want to download this free ebook I wrote about the Perennial Plant Winners. Luckily, full sun perennials for the garden are usually easy plants to grow if a few simple conditions are met:
Soils & Sunlight & Care
They generally do not like heavy clay soils. The excessive winter moisture in these garden soils leads to rotting and winter death.
Full sun perennials prefer (obviously) full sun although many will tolerate shade in the morning or late afternoon.
Getting them the sun between 9 am and 3 pm is considered crucial to success.
Like all things though, the plants are more flexible than the written word and I encourage you to experiment with new settings. If the plant thrives, you win. If it struggles, then you can simply follow the directions elsewhere on this site and move it again.
Full sun perennials really appreciate soils with high organic matter content.
In my garden, I mulch the soil and this decomposing mulch adds organic matter. I also throw compost over the top of the plants each fall and spring (right on top of the mulch - it sinks down pretty quickly) to feed and nourish the soil.
High organic content in soils is a key to building a great perennial garden.
Full sun perennials appreciate regular maintenance. Tasks such as deadheading, perennial pruning and division are part of the skills of the perennial gardener and there are articles on the site dealing with these tasks. I hope the articles here help your garden; they come from my own garden experiences over the past 25 years gardening with full sun perennials.
Here's what you need to win with full sun perennials
Some Popular Plants (full list below)
Ornamental Onions or Alliums are one of the easiest full sun perennials to grow and even though they are technically a bulb, they deserve a place in the early summer perennial border.Monkshood or Aconitum is a wonderful plant for full sun or light shade and I particularly like the old-fashioned bicolor form. The fall blooming varieties bring fantastic blue shades to the fall garden.
Coneflower or Echinacea. is a sun loving beauty!
Peonies are one of the superb classic perennial flowers and I'll tell you how to quickly and easily stake them so you can't see the stakes.
Hollyhocks are one of the stateliest and easiest of self-sowing perennials. Here's how to grow and enjoy those blooms.
Coreopsis or Butter Daisy is one of the longest blooming plants in our garden
Beebalm or Monarda is on my easy-to-grow list. A favourite tea of mine - Earl Grey - is flavoured with this garden plant.
Lavender is an aphrodisiac- that this is entirely true as this article points out.
Lavatera is a tall, shrubby perennial that produces scads of pink flowers and is a good plant for the back of the border. It will take a bit of shade too so that makes it even more versatile.
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Mountain Bluet, Bachelor Buttons or Centaurea produces an early summer show of magnificently blue flowers.
Shasta Daisy is the perfect long-blooming plant for beginners to start growing. This plant is easy to grow and if deadheaded, it will bloom for a long time.
Poppiesare a visually exciting garden perennial. Their bright colours scream across the garden and here's how to grow them.
Russian Sage or Perovskia. Here's the secret to keeping this interesting plant alive.
Black Eyed Susan or Rudbeckia family of plants. These are North American natives and fill our fall gardens with those wonderful yellows we associate with fall.
Baby's Breath would come very close to being the most essential plant for every garden .
Bellis or English Daisy is a charmer. This dainty flowering plant is considered a mixed blessing. In cold climates, it flowers as a biennial giving us scads of spring daisies. In warmer climates, it can escape from the garden into lawns and other areas.
Perennial Hibiscus It is a show-stopping plant.
Perennial geraniums will quickly win your heart.
Full Sun Perennial Plant List
Achillea or yarrow is a superb plant for sunny hot spots.Aconitum or Monkshood
Agastache has been in every one of my gardens but here's a warning about the newer ones.
Alchemilla or Lady's Mantle is a love it or hate it chartreuse flower with wonderful foliage.
Allium or ornamental onions
Anemone have lovely flowers but they are mostly heartless spreading thugs. Love 'em but control 'em.
Aquilegia or Columbine is an excellent self-sowing perennial for sun or very light shade.
Asters or Michaelmas Daisies are the stars of the fall, full sun perennials lineup (in more ways than one as this page points out).
Belamcanda or Leopard Lily or even Blackberry Lily is a short-lived but lovely iris- lookalike.
Buddleia or Butterfly Bush is one of the most fragrant of garden plants. And it really does attract butterflies!
Campanula or Bellflower are delightful bloomers but come with a spreading plant warning.
Caryopteris is a woody plant but it can be grown like a perennial in colder areas.
Centaurea, Bachelor Buttons, or Mountain Bluet are one and the same.
Chrysanthemums are one of the easiest of plants to grow. Here's a recipe for growing fall mums successfully to get you started.
Coreopsis or Butter Daisy" is a garden stalwart and long-blooming.
Delphinium flowers are one of the loveliest of mid-summer tall flowers.
Eschscholzia californica or California Poppy is an annual in my garden but a self-sowing perennial in many slightly warmer gardens.
Helenium is a superb bloomer if you keep it damp. If you don't keep it damp, it simply dies. One of the showiest of full sun perennials for the damp garden!
Hemerocallis or daylilies are stalwarts in the perennial border.
Hibiscus is an excellent late summer and fall blooming plant
Iberis or Candytuft is an excellent rock garden plant in the full sun or light shade.
Iris Garden general information is here. (see below for specifics)
Here's a page on bearded iris and controlling iris borer.
One of the specialty iris - the Japanese Iris growing instructions can be found here.
And just to make your day, here are the different plants all known as butterfly iris
Another delightful and easily-grown member of the Iris family is the Siberian Iris Here's how to grow it.
Arctic Iris are delightful dwarf iris that can't be killed by cold temperatures.
Lathyrus or perennial sweet pea is a good vine, ground cover or perennial border plant.
Lavander is among the most favourite of full sun perennials and belongs in every garden.
Lavatera
Madonna Lilies are one of the finest white lilies you can have in your garden.
Lupines are easy to grow if you give this plant exactly what it wants.
Lysimachia is good for sun or part shade.
Monarda or Beebalm is a garden backbone plant. Excellent but a bit of a spreader.
Nepeta or Perennial Catnip is a delightful perennial for full sun. One of my favorite plants and I collected almost every variety available.
Paeonia or peonies are classic perennials for the sun.
Papaver, what can you say about poppies other than they are spectacular.
Phlox paniculata or tall garden phlox is a backbone plant in the perennial cottage garden. Here's how to grow this must-have plant.
Scabiosa or Pincushion flowers blooms all summer if kept deadheaded. It doesnt' like clay but if you feed it - it blooms like mad. Here's the rest of the growing instructions.
Trollius or Globeflower are bright yellow relatives of the buttercup (but far better garden plants) and can be grown and propagated with instructions here.
Veronica is one of the great blue flowers of the sunny perennial border and you should grow it for this reason alone. Here's a few other reasons.
Questions and Answers
Folks, as much as I want to help everybody, there's no way I can answer every question (I get hundreds every week) I do my best and if you put your email into the box, you'll be notified of when I get to it. I do my best but no promises of when I can answer your question. My rudbeckia instantly get black spots in the spring. What to do?
My Sweet William won't come back - what do I do about them dying?
I have aphids on the lupins in my garden. What can I do?
My butterfly bushes don't bloom for a long time, what can I do?
Saving poppy seed - any tricks to learn?
There are ants on peonies in my garden. How do I get rid of them?
Ask a Full Sun Perennial Gardening Question
If you have a question about full sun perennials, then feel free to ask it using this form.
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What Other Visitors Have Asked about Full Sun Perennials
Click below to see questions from other visitors to this page...
Can't ID this purple foliaged perennial I have a number of these purple foliaged perennials in a full sun garden bed. It is about 36" tall and has begun to bloom with these tiny pink/white flowers ...
Need to identify a perennial I have a perennial growing in my garden and I don't know the name of it. It has fuzzy leaves and looks very much like lamb's ears until a little deep ...
Black Eyed Susans Hardiness
Do they multiply, will they come back every season?
Doug says that there are multiple articles and comments on this page about this plant but the specific ...
delphinium in pot?
Can delphinium flowers be grown in flower pots.
Doug says that any plant can be grown in a pot if you give it a big enough pot. In this case, a delphinium ...
Properly deadheading shastas How far down do I trim to properly deadhead shasta daisies? I planted these in the spring. They are fairly tall (2.5'). After the first blossoms, the leaves ...
Hollyhock transplanting
We found some old hollyhock plants around an old farm house and we are wondering when we can dig them up and transplant them into our garden.
Doug says ...
Hollyhock Trimming off the top
If I trim the tops of hollyhocks will I get flowers and what will happen to the plant?
Doug says - you want to trim the tops off your hollyhocks? They ...
pruning perennial hibiscus
Hello,
I would like to know if I can cut back my perennial hibiscus in the fall. The stems are very thick and they seem to be woody, I was wondering ...
Perennials that grow well in pots I live in an apartment in Villa Park Illinois and I love Perennials can you please give me a list of Perennials that I can grow in pots on the patio in ...
survival of hardy mums my mums did not come back this year, planted in the ground or in the pot. After growing season should mums ...
Pinch back mums one more time? I've pinched back my mums a few times this year, but still they are very large and I am afraid they will flop over when they bloom. There are a few tiny ...
New Perennials Dying I live in Western Saskatchewan and planted new perennials this spring. The one flower bed faces south and the other is on the west this all near the house....
Goblin Gaillardia
How do I dead head this flower?
Thank you!
Doug says you deadhead this perennial flower by following the stem as far down as you can with your ...
Potted Hibiscus
I live in northern CT In the winter I bring in my hibiscus when can I bring my hibiscus outside? What temperature range?
Doug says that this isn't ...
Hibiscus
I didn't know I had to prune my hibiscus back in the fall. Should I do it now in May or just leave it and see if it will grow. It looks dead to me
Doug ...
Hibiscus transplanting time
Can I transplant now in the spring before it has started to grow? Or is fall the best time?
Doug says that first thing in the spring always worked really ...
Pruning Perennial Hibiscus Can I still trim (cutting down the old stalks) it in the spring or wait now for fall? Do you even recommend trimming? It's about 5' tall & about 3' wide ...
Wedding Garden for Late Fall I have a small garden in the middle of my yard that has been planted with a rose in the center, then lantana's in a circle around it. Gerbera daisies ...
When is the time to plant a new perennial garden? I am going to plant a new perennial garden, and I've pre-ordered some plants which will arrive a tad early (at least i think its early) and I can't adjust ...
Planting my potted Mum outdoors
What is the best location for planting a mum outdoors? Part sun, full sun, shade?
Doug says that full sun is usually the best for Chrysanthemums. You ...
white powdery mildew on peonies
every year the peonies bloom well but then a white powdery stuff coats the leaves. Later the leaves turn black. what is it and what should I do?
Doug ...
Winter preparation for Dwarf Hardy Hibiscus
I live in Ottawa (zone 5, temperature may drop to 30 below cero)Canada, does this plant need any type of winter preparation? should I cut it down?
thanks ...
too many black eye susans I have too many. If i cut off all the flower tops will the plants come back next year by the roots? Can I give the seeds to a friend and can see spread ...
Liatris
How to handle Liatris after blooming?
Doug says that he assumes you mean the flower is finished - so it gets cut off down as far as you can cut the ...
Lavatera's root system I planted a Lavatera about 5' from our pump house, 4 yrs ago.Do their roots go straight down or spread out? My Husband is concerned if they area like a ...
Worms in daisy seedheads I have some 3ft. tall yellow daisy-like perennials. They flowered beautifully for the last month but now the new buds are stunted. When I open the bud ...
is my hibiscus dying? I bought a hibiscus moscheutos about 6 weeks back. It was growing phenomenally until we went out-of-town and could not water it for 3 days under extremely ...
PHLOX PANICULATA 'BARFOURTEEN' I have purchased the above phlox and it remains in a container on my full-sun exposure deck. The flowers are beginning to fade and I am concerned that ...
Purple Coneflower Problems I recently purchased 3 purple coneflower plants and pride myself in having a green thumb. All my plants are doing well but we went on vacation and had ...
Watering and Killing Black Eyed Susan Plants I recently purchased two Black-eyed Susan plants at my local Wal-mart. They are outside in pots with drainage. We have be getting rain almost every day ...
Moving Hollyhocks
when & how do I move my Hollyhock to a different area?
Doug says you wait till it's dormant and then you use a shovel and dig. :-) Always assuming ...
reblooming Stella d'Oro daylily Stella D' Oro My plants have begun to get a green bulb on them and are not blooming the yellow flower much any more. Do I cut them back? Is ...
daylily buds die I have a large daylily bed which up until 2 years ago was loaded with blooms from late spring through late summer. I have noticed a definite drop in the ...
russian sage
Some of the leaves on my russian sage are turning yellow. What am I doing wrong?
Thank you for your help
Doug says that this is a plant for high heat ...
lychnis coronaria I have tried lychnis coronaria, rose campion for two years. Last year no blooms and the leaves rotted. The same is happening this year. Up the street ...
Fertilizing Peonies I have heard that bone meal and rose fertilizer are good for peonies...I have put in organic matter for my peonies but they aren't as vibrant in color ...
White spit like stuff on my Helenium My Helenium has a milky substance pooling at the site where a few of the leaves and stems meet. It is white and feels like spit. The plant is located ...
Bordering with Perennials
what is the best perennial to use as a border around the back side of a flower bed?
Doug says that this depends on what conditions you're looking ...
Do You Trim Dianthus pixie
Do you trim the dead flowers after bloom?
Doug says - yes. Simply prune or pinch off the dead stems as low to the rest of the plant as you can. If ...
Unhappy " Becky" Shasta Daisy I have planted two shasta daisy plants, one is doing wonderful the other is obviously "unhappy". The plant is druping and the leaves have started turning ...
mums
i bought a mums plant . i want to know if i can plant it outside
thank you
Doug says you can plant it outside for sure but it isn't likely ...
hibiscus in the South My hibicus has long and spindely limbs and the limbs have very few leaves. They are tall and somewhat bare. What can I do to correct this? I Miracle ...
Where are my black eyed Susans? My newly planted black eyed Susans bloomed beautifully last year but I am still waiting for some sign of life this year. It is the middle of May and all ...
hollyhock leaves are yellow
Of my three hollyhock plants, one has yellowed, anemic looking leaves. All were in approximately the same soil and sunlight.
What's up with this?
Doug ...
Building a full sun perennial garden I am building a full sun perennial garden that is about 3m in length and 2m in width. I was wondering if you could suggest a few perennials that have varied ...
flamingo phlox, coneflowers and clay soils I had some flamingo phloxx and coneflowers last year and they did not do so well. They are in clay soil that gets moist often. Could these conditions be ...
cutting back perennials
Should coneflowers and black-eyed susans be cut back to the ground in the spring?
Doug says they should be cut to the ground in the fall if possible ...
storing perennial roots/bulbs(I'm moving)
I live in upstate NY. I have many flowering perennial flowers/small plants. I am moving in early summer and want to take the roots/bulbs with me.
How ...
perennials for western exposure My house faces west, and it gets full sun and is very hot in the front yard from noon until dusk during the summer. I'd like to plant some perennials ...
poppies dying out I have had a poppy bed for 10yrs, all of a sudden no poppies,do deer eat poppies?all other plants near the poppies are fine, usually if deer eat plants ...
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