Lion's ear: One very striking orange-flowered perennial goes by the common name of lion's ear. Its botanical name is Leonotis Leonurus. Growing to four to five feet tall, with an almost equal spread, this shrubby perennial flowers only in the fall. But then it flowers with a profusion of the bright orange flowers.

Cigar flower: A similarly colored flower is found on the cigar flower, Cuphea micropetala. Shaped like tiny cigars, the flowers on this plant are orange tipped with yellow. The shrubby plant grows to four to five feet tall with a similar spread. It's tough as nails.

Phillipine violet (Barleria cristata) is known to some people as a greenhouse plant. But we can grow Phillipine violet outdoors here. Grown outdoors, the plant reaches a height of three to four feet, with a two to three foot spread. This time of year the plant is covered with dark lavendar flowers. As the flowers fall from the plant, the ground beneath the plant becomes blanketed with color also.

Firespike (Odontonema strictum) is an old favorite with many gardeners. Reaching a height of four to five feet, the plant is topped with tubular red flowers in early fall. Hummingbirds and some butterflies are drawn to the flowers. Firespike prefers partial shade or filtered sunlight.

Perennial Salvias: There are a number of salvias that bloom heaviest in the fall. Most are three to five feet tall and are attractive to hummingbirds.

- Salvia leucantha (Mexican sage): purple or purple and white flowers. One of the most popular.

- Salvia regla: orange-red flowers

- Salvia elegans (pineapple sage): bright red flowers

- Salvia vanhouttii: burgundy red flowers

- Salvia madrensis: yellow flowers

- Salvia guaranitica: dark blue or violet flowers

- Salvia 'Cherry Queen': brilliant red flowers all summer and fall. 

- Salvia x 'Indigo Spires': long spikes of blue-purple flowers

Swamp sunflower and willowleaf sunflower: (Helianthus angustifolius and H. salicifolius). These are large plants with spectacularly brilliant yellow flowers.

Chrysanthemums, especially the pink-flowering Korean mums, are also good fall-flowering perennials.

Ornamental grasses combine beautifully with fall-flowering perennials in the landscape. Many kinds of ornamental grasses are at their peak this time of year. Their flower and seedheads, backlit by the autumn sunlight, make spectacular additions in the perennial bed or border.

Most of these perennials are killed to the ground by hard winter freezes. So, in late winter, cut the plants back. Then in spring, they'll resprout from the base and grow to again become large flowering plants by next fall. Most of these perennials also require a fairly sunny spot in order to flower well.

Fall is one of the best times of the year for planting perennials. Planted in fall, the perennial plants will become well rooted over the winter and be better prepared to put on top growth in the spring. So, visit a local nursery, find the perennials you like, and get started planting so you, too, can enjoy the show of color next fall.

Flowers to Plant in Early Spring (February-March)

Each warm spell in late February draws many of us, anxious to plant for spring color, out to the nurseries. Fortunately, though, most of us are brought back to reality by the intermittent cold spells and reminded that it's too early to plant warm-season flowers like impatiens and begonias. Still, if we weren't wise enough to start cool-season flowers such as pansies back in the fall, there's no reason we cannot still get some color started now. There are flowers we can plant now with a fair degree of certainty they won't be hurt by the intermittent freezes possible until mid-March or early April.

Flowers to Plant for Spring and Summer

(March - August)

These are just a few tough ones. Don't forget to check the links at the beginning of this website for many other lists and ideas.

Perennials

Daylilies: Daylilies will grow in full sun or partial shade. They are perennials, coming back each year. Some flower repeatedly. The daylily definitely should be included in your list of easy-to-grow flowers.

Butterfly Bush: Another easy-to-grow perennial is the butterfly bush or Buddleia. So named because of its attractiveness to butterflies, the butterfly bush has flowers in shades of pink, purple, blue, or white, depending on the specific cultivar or variety. Most cultivars grow to a height of four or so feet with about an equal spread. Butterfly bush grows best in full sun but will still flower in filtered sunlight.

Pentas: Another perennial that attracts butterflies is pentas. Pentas flowers in either red, pink, or white. Most cultivars grow to about three feet tall. Pentas flowers best in full sun. Though pentas generally comes back most springs, it is often slow to come back. For that reason, many gardeners just treat it as an annual, replanting each spring.

Verbena: 'Homestead Purple' verbena is one of the toughest perennials around. The flowers are vibrant purple and the growth habit of the plant is that of a spreading groundcover. Full sun is needed for flowering. Other perennial verbenas are available in pink and white.

Lantana is yet another extremely tough perennial for our area. Lantana comes in either groundcover types or bush types. Flowers vary from bright gold to orange to magenta, depending on the cultivar. Lantana is very attractive to butterflies. Lantana needs full sun to flower well. Lantana has a bad name in some circles. The old, wild type of lantana that produces berries or seeds is somewhat of a problem because of its invasiveness. Farmers don't like it because lantana is poisonous to livestock. And the berry-producing types have the tendency to sprout up where they're not wanted. For the same reason, ecologists don't like lantana because of the potential problem of lantana seeding and taking over habitat from native plants. However, some of the newer lantana cultivars that don't produce seed should not be a problem in terms of invasiveness.

Jacobinia: While most perennials flower best in full sun, one that flowers well in shade is jacobinia (Justicia carnea). The most common jacobinia has pink, plume-shaped flowers. But there is a white-flowering form. Jacobinia grows to two or three feet tall.

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a native perennial with flowers that are actually more pink than purple. The centers of the flowers are gold-colored cones, thus giving the flower its common name. Purple coneflowers grow two to three feet tall. They flower best in full sun but will tolerate a little shade.

Salvias: There are many species and hybrids of salvias that can be grown as perennials here. Salvia guaranitica (sorry, no widely accepted common name), has blue to purple flowers, depending on the cultivar. Salvia regla and S. minniata have red flowers. 

All of the flowers mentioned so far are perennials. Perennials are great because you don't have to replant them every year. But, most perennials flower either for short periods of time or in cycles or flushes of blooms. To maximize your enjoyment of flowers in your garden, mix in some annuals, too.

Impatiens are great for shade and come in white or a multitude of shades of pink, red, lavender, or orange.

Melampodium, a tough-as-nails yellow flower, grows in somewhat of a mounding growth habit, will grow in full sun to partial shade.

Coleus, though grown for its colorful foliage rather than flowers, is a great plant for adding easy color. Most of us have always considered coleus a shade plant. But in recent years some fantastic sun-loving coleus varieties have been developed.

Narrow-leafed zinnias are another good choice for summer planting. Flowers come in either yellow-orange or white.

Globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) also belongs on the heat-tolerant list. The flowers resemble clover flowers of purple, lavender, pink, or red.

Torenia (wishbone flower) flowers in full sun or partial shade. It’s a low-growing plant in shades of pinks, lavender, purple, and white.

Angelonia (summer snapdragon) has become very popular in recent years because it is such a reliable summer annual for full sun to partial shade.

Salvia vanhouttii has beautiful burgundy flowers.  S. vanhoutii will freeze in the winter, but it is very worthy of planting in the spring as it will perform spectacularly in the fall. 

Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender'  is a relatively new introduction, very useful for light shade to filtered sunlight. It is rapidly becoming very popular.

Perennial peanuts: The perennial peanut has cheerful yellow blooms that are low enough to not be mowed by a lawn mower if the mower is set on a high setting. Or if they are mowed, new blooms pop back out in no time. So perennial peanut can be interplanted in a lawn, or they can be used in a separate bed area. Some of the cultivars, such as Ecoturf, lend themselves particularly well to landscape use because of their lower growth habit.

Once established, perennial peanut is very drought-tolerant, and it is perennial. It's one downside is that it dies back to the ground in the winter, so there's nothing to see then if it's in a bed. However, it pops back out very reliably the following spring.

Perennial peanut needs lots of sun to thrive and flower well.