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Best 5 Summer Annual Flowers North Dallas
The summer season is upon us and many of the bright North Texas flowering spring annuals and spring blooming plants will begin to fade as the summer heat ushers in. Don’t despair…there are a great number of annuals to choose from that keep your color going all summer long. Here is a list of what we consider the best 5 summer annual flowers in North Dallas.
Lantana
Lantana is a special summer flower as it absolutely loves the sun and grows in a shrubby style, so it can often take the place of a low border shrub in your garden and makes a great option for landscaping your front yard flower beds.
The flower blooms from April all the way through October. Often confused as a perennial, you will often see Lantana reemerge in the spring if our North Texas winter is mild enough.
Lantana is available in a wide variety of colors including: pink, gold, yellow, red, orange, lavender and a confetti of pinks. With enough sunlight, Lantana will easily grow to between 12” and 16”.
Penta
Pentas are another long-blooming annual to consider when landscaping during the summer season. Showcasing their robust, star-shaped blooms, they will bring loads of hummingbirds to your garden as they keep their color from May until October.
Pentas comes in a variety of blooming colors: white, red, violet, lavender and pink. Pentas grows in a rounded fashion to a height of between 12” and 15”.
Purslane
If you have an especially sunny spot in your garden, Purslane (also known as Portulaca) might be the perfect choice. It loves the sunshine so much that the blooms actually close in the late afternoon as the sun begins to fade.
Purslane is really a blooming succulent which spreads out in a low-growing, creeping fashion, so remember to account for extra space when planning your next landscape design project.
It also comes in a variety of colors such as red, yellow, purple, pink, yellow and orange. Purslane stays compact with a maximum height of between 4” and 6”.
Vinca
The Vinca, also referred to as Periwinkle is a popular choice for those who are looking for a heat loving, bold bloomer. This flower is a great choice for outdoor container gardens and patio pots that sit in full sun.
While the Vinca can fall victim to fungus knows as Aerial Phytophthora, especially if we have a rainy summer, we believe it’s worth the risk. Vinca will bloom steadily between May and often all the way into November, if we have a late freeze, so plan to remove while preparing your garden beds for wintertime.
Vinca can be found in shades of white, pink, blush, strawberry, magenta and red. Traditional Vinca grows to between 10” and 14”, but a cascading variety can also be found that sprawls lower to the ground between 4” and 8″.
Zinnia
Zinnia is actually part of the Sunflower and Daisy family. While they bear some resemblance to their kin, the Zinnia has a more compact and dense blooming flower structure.
They love sun and will grow in almost any soil condition. The Zinnia will bloom for 60 to 70 days, so plan on installing in landscaped areas during late spring/early summer. You can also plant Zinnias late in the summer and enjoy their blooms into the fall.
Zinnia boasts some of the boldest blooms of all the summer annuals and can be found in yellow, orange, pink, green, blue and red. Zinnia will grow to an average height of between 12” and 14”.