10 Long-Flowering Perennials

Perennials generally aren’t known for producing endless flowers, like annuals do. Perennials tend to bloom for just one season, putting the bulk of their energy into growing strong roots, not lots of flowers. There are ever-blooming perennials that bloom longer, producing flowers for a couple of season. They’re almost always sun-loving plants, because growing lots of flowers usually takes a lot of sun. Here’s a list of long-flowering perennials that will bring color to your garden all summer and into the fall.

Caryopertis

Also known as blue spirea, this perennial shrub blooms from late summer till early fall. Its flowers range from blue to blue-purple and bloom in round clusters that look like a blue cloud. 

Yarrow

This tough plant produces flat-topped clusters of flowers in red, yellow or pink atop ferny, silver-gray foliage. Yarrow blooms from late spring to early fall as long as you keep cutting off the spent flowers.

Pincushion Flower 

Dainty blue flowers bloom all summer and into the fall, making pincushion flowers, or scabiosa, one of the longest of the long-flowering plants in a perennial flower bed.

Daylily 

There are varieties of daylilies that bloom all summer if you pinch off the spent flowers. Some of most popular of these long-flowering plants are 'Stella de Oro', 'Happy Returns' and 'Stella Supreme'.

Black-Eyed Susan

This iconic flower is one of the most popular of the long-flowering plants. It blooms from early summer to frost. Pinch off spent blooms and the yellow flowers just keep coming and coming and coming. 

Hardy Hibiscus

This perennial shrub produces showy blooms the size of dinner plates all summer long. Flowers come in red, pink, white and yellow. 

Rose of Sharon

This small tree is an old-fashioned favorite that has made a comeback in the world of long-flowering perennials. A member of the hibiscus family, it produces blooms all summer and into the fall. 

Russian Sage

This woody, shrub-like plant produces light blue-purple flowers all summer. It has gray-green foliage that contrasts nicely in a bed of greener plants. It uses little water and thrives in hot, dry conditions.

Coneflowers

Coneflowers bloom all summer, and its flowers last a long time on the stem before fading. It’s a native prairie wildflower that can be grown all over the country. Its flowers come in white and orangey red, but purple is the most common color. 

Catmint 

One of the sturdiest long-flowering plants, catmint forms a low, rounded mound of silvery blue foliage with spikes of perennial purple flowers that keep coming all summer long. It attracts birds and butterflies and makes a nice cut flower.