Plant Once, Enjoy All Season: 5 Blooms That “Grow” the Distance
Why settle for a garden that peaks in May then fades by July? Achieving all-season garden color is easier than you think when you select high-performance varieties that work overtime. By incorporating reblooming perennials and long-blooming flowers into your landscape, you can create a continuous bloom garden that stays vibrant for months on end. From versatile spring to fall shrubs like reblooming azaleas to resilient annuals that thrive in the summer heat, choosing plants that "go the distance" ensures your outdoor space remains a showstopper from the first thaw until the final frost of the year.
From a strong start in spring to fall’s last glow, the five hardworking annuals you see below only need to be planted once for an entire season of color. They keep pollinators and hummingbirds happy all season with a single planting and no deadheading is needed for continuous bloom. We’ll show you how to style all five for the summer and fall seasons.
Chameleon-like Supertunia® Honey™ petunia is the perfect flower for transitioning through the seasons. You’ll notice most of its blossoms are yellow when you’re shopping in spring. Then, as the season progresses, pink, salmon and orange tones will blend into its petals, often with no two flowers looking exactly alike. The warm tones will be at their peak by the time autumn arrives, perfect for pairing with porch pumpkins and cornstalks. Spring through summer pairing: Superbena® Red verbena, Safari® Dawn Jamesbrittenia, Graceful Grasses® Prince Tut™ papyrus Fall pairing: Graceful Grasses® ‘Fireworks’ fountain grass, orange pumpkins and cornstalks Like all Supertunias, Supertunia Honey is self-cleaning so there’s no need to pinch off the spent flowers to keep the plant blooming all season. Regular feeding with Proven Winners water soluble plant food is recommended to fuel its vigorous growth. Best in full sun to part sun, containers or landscapes, 4-12” tall, trails to 3’ long. Not sure about this color? Explore 35+ more colors in the collection. |
| Superbells® calibrachoa are some of the first plants to arrive in garden centers each spring because they can tolerate cool nights with ease. However, that doesn’t mean they’ll start to shut down when the summer heat arrives. Since they are heat tolerant, disease resistant and self-cleaning, Superbells continue to bloom through the entire growing season. We love the versatility of velvety purple flowering Superbells® Grape Punch™ calibrachoa. Its saturated color pairs just easily with summery yellows and pinks as it does with jewel tones in autumn. Spring through summer pairing: Supertunia Mini Vista® Yellow petunia, Truffula™ Pink globe amaranth, Licorice Splash Helichrysum Fall pairing: Silver Bullet® wormwood, Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Jet Black™ sweet potato vine, teal pumpkins Like all Superbells, Superbells Grape Punch doesn’t spend its energy producing seeds so you won’t need to spend your summer picking off the spent blooms. Feed it regularly and trim it lightly during the growing season and you’ll get fresh flushes of growth and flowers each time. Best in full sun to part sun, best grown in containers, 6-12” tall, trails to 2’ long. |
| Luscious® lantana is often touted for its tolerance of extreme heat, but you might be surprised to learn it is also one of the last annuals to finish in fall - flowering right up until a hard freeze. Though all Proven Winners lantanas are bred to set little to no seed so they aren’t invasive, the sterile blooms of Lucious® Royale Red Zone™ make it particularly long-lasting. It continues to provide pollen and nectar for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds late into the season when other food sources are beginning to dwindle. Spring through summer pairing: Goldilocks Rocks® bidens, Virtuoso® Vibrant Violet™ dahlia Fall pairing: Suncredible® Saturn™ sunflower, Graceful Grasses® purple fountain grass, orange pumpkins and gourds Best in full sun, a sizable plant that thrives in landscapes and will grow in large containers, 12-26” tall x 12-24” spread. See the entire Luscious lantana collection. |
| Some of the first flowers to draw hummingbirds back to your garden – and the last they’ll feast on in the fall – are Rockin’ salvias. Extra-large flowers allow easy access to the nectar they and other pollinators are seeking. We especially love Rockin’® Deep Purple salvia for its rich purple flowers and black bracts which clasp the blooms onto the dark stems. They persist long after the petals have dropped, and both can be used as dramatic accents in bouquets. The more you pick, the more fresh blooms you’ll get. Spring through summer pairing: Supertunia® Pink Tiara™ petunia, Campfire® Marshmallow™ bidens, Superbena Sparkling® Amethyst verbena Fall pairing: Graceful Grasses® Vertigo® fountain grass, red garden mums, teal pumpkins Best in full sun to part sun, large containers and landscapes, 24-36” tall and wide.
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| With the look and shape of a small shrub, Vermillionaire® firecracker plant delivers a bright, bold splash of red-orange from planting time until frost. Other than Rockin’ salvias, there is perhaps no other plant more highly attractive to hummingbirds in our lineup. They’ll find it in no time and continually visit the cigar-shaped flowers all season. We think its warm tones are the perfect look for both hot summer and bright fall days. Spring through summer pairing: Southern Blaze™ Red Hot phlox, Mojave® Yellow purslane, Rockin’® Playin’ the Blues® salvia Fall pairing: Graceful Grasses® Toffee Twist sedge, Hot Pops Purple ornamental pepper, orange and yellow gourds. Best in full sun, large containers and landscapes, 18-28” tall x 12-24” wide. |
Want to dive deeper? Check out these resources:
- Read: Our Longest Blooming Shrubs and Perennials
- Watch: How to Plant a Fall Container That Lasts All Season
- Idea Board: Seasonal Sensations for Fall Container Gardens
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Patent Information: Supertunia® Honey™ Petunia USPP26888 US Utility 7,642,436; Superbells® Grape Punch™ Calibrachoa USPP29760 Can5784; Luscious® Royale Red Zone™ Lantana camara USPP33116; Rockin'® Deep Purple Salvia USPP35964 Can7285
Contributor Bio: Susan Martin is an avid zone 6 gardener and content creator who enjoys spreading her passion for plants to others across North America.
All images courtesy of Proven Winners.
