11 Colorful Summer Flowers That Beat The Heat

Which summer flowers help you light up the hottest dog days of summertime?
Below are 11 flowers that bloom all summer and an tips of how they grow and where to plant them.
The descriptions also provide some required maintenance.

1. Butterfly Weed

By H. Zell – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

This is a butterfly attractor which will make butterflies flock your garden. Their flowers appear in mid-to-late summer and come in shades of yellow, pink, orange, and vermilion.
Butterfly weed can grow to a height of one to three feet and stay in the soil for longer in the spring; so spot its location well. They grow in several conditions including fairly dry areas.
They don’t thrive well in clay and poorly drained soil. It withstands many pests and diseases and can grow for many years.

2. Marigolds

Marigolds are one of the most useful and fabulous bloomers you should have in your garden. Besides adding exquisiteness and beauty to your garden, they also have the ability to keep the pests away from your vegetable garden.
They are easy to grow from the seeds and can grow to a height of four feet. During the winter, you can cut off their head to ensure continuous growth and save the seeds. They don’t thrive well in rich soil.

3. Heliopsis

By Matasg – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

This plant flowers earlier than others… by mid-March the flowers are already visible. It produces stouter plants than other similar species and is often called a perennial sunflower.
It can endure poor, dry soil and partial shade. They are available in different varieties with most of them bearing semi-double or double flowers in shades of yellow, yellow-orange with brownish-yellow or greenish-yellow centers.
They bloom in the month of July until the first frost, and their dark green foliage gives the garden deeper color.
They make great cuttings. They thrive well in well-drained soil and can spread to form an extensive clump as they’re shrub-like.

4. Boltonia

They form an ideal choice for the oblique garden and can achieve a height of three to seven feet tall depending on the cultivar.
It’s a native flower that explodes flowers of pink or white shades in the late summer or early fall. It thrives well in good drained soil and plenty of sun like these sun loving plants.
It can be an ideal choice for the garden borders and combines well with fall-blooming plants.

5. Russian Sage

Russian sage blooms in the late summer or early autumn and can rise to a height of three to five feet tall. Its flowers come in shades of gray and amethyst.
They combine well with roses as they provide color to the garden when all the other flowers have withered off. It thrives well in a well-drained soil and requires very little maintenance.

6. Heliotrope

Heliotrope is grown as a perennial in zones 10 to 11 and as an annual in zones 2 to 9. They bloom wonderful clusters of white or purple flowers that have an intense grapey fragrance.
Its leaves are attractive and glossy with slight ribbing. This plant can rise to a height of up to 4 feet as a perennial or one to two feet as an annual, depending on its variety.

7. Annual Sage

It forms an ideal choice for edgings, beds, containers and mass plantings.
Mealycup sage is an annual plant that is easy to grow and produces showy flowers that have spikes of silvery white and rich blue.
It blooms in the midsummer to frost. It can grow to a height of one to three feet, depending on soil moisture, fertility, and the species.

8. Yarrow

By Yerpo – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

Yarrow can be grown with little effort as it requires minimal maintenance. It is a perennial plant and is a common plant in the United States. It can withstand drought, heat, and cold.
It’s preferred by many because of its ferny, dark green or gray-green, scented foliage. They bloom flat-topped clusters of flowers that come in shades of red, pink, yellow, or white.
The flowers appear from late spring t early fall. Fern-leaf yarrow – Achillea filipendulina is ideal for drying as it’ll dry right in its container.
Common Yarrow – Achillea millefolium dries less, but it’s ideal for cuttings as well. Common Yarrow should be spaced properly as they can be invasive.

9. Zinnia

Zinnia have been garden stalwarts for generations. You can grow them from the seeds easily and can achieve a height of six inches for the dwarf varieties while the others can grow to a height of three feet.
They are butterfly attractors because of the plenty of nectar in their flowers.
The most common type of Zinnia is Zinnia Elegans while the narrow-leaf zinnia scientifically known as Zinnia Angustifolia is gaining popularity in the recent years, thanks to its low, sprawling habit.

10. Snow-in-Summer

Snow-in-Summer blooms attractive combination of snow-white flowers and low-silver foliage that can stop passerby.
It thrives well in well-dried soil and plenty of sunshine and can, therefore, be planted in a raised bed, wall, or rock garden. It blooms late in the spring or early summer and is best combined with spring-blooming bulbs.

11. Gaura

Gaura blooms rosy or delicate pale pink flowers that resemble a flock of butterflies. This plant can achieve a height of three to seven feet depending on the species.
It’s a native plant to Louisiana, Mexico Texas and blooms for many weeks, sometimes extending its blooming period to late spring through frost. It thrives well in poor soils that have little water.