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Full Sun Plants
Full Sun Garden Planting PDF Print E-mail

Sunny areas in your garden can be brutal for plants which are not adapted to full sun, with the sun quite literally cooking shade-loving plants. You will notice soon enough when plants are just not thriving. Most of the time, you have placed them in the wrong spot, they do not grow into healthy plants and they will look puny and attract diseases. Fortunately, there is a wide range of full sun plants available, and many even require a lot of sunshine to grow into healthy plants. By planting sun loving plants in a sunny spot in the garden, you can ensure that your garden will stay healthy year-round. Full sun plants are also primed to use water efficiently, which reduces the water demands of your garden.

When designing your a garden, one thing to consider in addition to areas of sun, shade, and dryness is what kind of garden you imagine to have. Native plants are often encouraged in sunny areas both because natives are already well adapted to the environment, and because a native plant garden can be used to highlight some of the plants and trees native to an area, creating a connection between the garden and the natural environment. Creating a garden with imported plant species can be very time-consuming, because you may have to struggle to keep your plants alive.

Many groundcovers such as alyssum, iceplant, ivy, plumbago, snow-in-summer, phlox, lamb's ears, stonecrop, and cinquefoil love the sun. However, you must be aware that some of these plants are invasive. Iceplant, alyssum, and ivy can all sprawl out of control very quickly. The advantage of groundcovers is that they will keep a sunny spot looking lush and green year round without too much effort, but the disadvantage is that these plants are creepers, and they can creep their way very fast into spots where they are not wanted. Once they have settled, it is very hard to remove the root system without digging up the whole patch. So if you plant these groundcovers, either place them in a large pot in the soil to prevent creeping, or place them in a confined border where they can spill over the edge, but won't grow beyond that.

Flossflower, columbine, daisies, yarrow, lavender, catnip, thyme, irises, petunias, sage, marigolds, day lilies, daffodils, and snapdragons also like the sun. Some of these full sun plants are annuals, so they will need to be replaced as they die off, but this can be an advantage for gardeners who like to change the look and feel of the garden periodically. In addition, you can harvest the seeds and replant the area. Many ornamental grasses are also suitable for planting in sunny areas.

Shrubs such as rockroses thrive in the sun, while trees like crabapples and most evergreens need sun to grow well. Sun-loving trees and shrubs can take some time to take off, but once their root system is firmly established, they usually thrive, adding texture and shade to the garden.

When you water full sun plants, you should be aware that if you get the leaves wet, they can burn in the heat of the day. It's a good idea to water them either early in the morning or late in the afternoon, both to protect the plants from burns and to conserve water. When you water in the cool of the day, the water has time to percolate through the soil, rather than just evaporating away. We try to plant in such a way that plans grow deep roots, thereby eliminating the need for watering. Also look in the Watering section of this web sites for more ideas.
Last Updated on Saturday, 23 January 2010 17:17
 
Full Sun Garden Plants PDF Print E-mail
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Friday, 08 August 2008 23:32


Full sun gardens require plants which are sun loving as they’ll be able to tolerate the hottest summer days as well as the dry conditions of this environment. Once established most perennials need little care, other than deadheading. Plant a variety of perennials with varying bloom times as this will provide your garden color from spring to fall.

Gardens which are considered full sun receive 6 to 8 hours each day. Like with any garden, a full sun garden should be designed to provide seasonal interest, making sure your garden is attractive throughout the year. Early, mid and late season perennials should all be included in the design. Most bulbs, the earliest of all garden flowers, can tolerate full sun conditions. Through spring and early summer a wide range of bulbs provide waves of colorful blooms. Late blooming, such as aster and sedum ’autumn joy’ can add color to the garden until frost. Leavy, spiky plants are extremely beautiful once the first frost arrives, creating white spears in your garden. Annuals, most of which prefer full sun, bloom all summer long.

When you start planting, make sure that you keep the mature height of the plants you are using in your garden in mind. Vigorous growers should be given ample space to grow, otherwise they’ll need to be moved or require frequent dividing. Tall plants should be placed in the back of the garden and can serve as a backdrop to the lower growing perennials in the front. Plan your garden on paper first, before planting and determine a color scheme. You can create borders based on colors, as we have done, but you can also fill borders with varieties of the same species for luscious, colorful borders. Always think carefully when mixing plants, you do not want to create a border full of plants that all stand out as this is not pleasing to the eyes. To add some color to an otherwise green garden, there are also grass and shrub varieties that are not green, but have black, red or yellow leaves. This creates a sense of variety that continues all year long.

We have placed Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) in the back of our garden. The purple coneflowers grows to 3 to 4’ tall has large daisy-like flowers. The purple variety is the most common but they’re available in white and pink as well. If you buy several species and put them together you will create a stunning effect, with large, attractive flowers. Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida), another variety of the coneflower, work exceptionally well with Echinacea and will add visual interest to the garden. Birds are attracted to its seeds once it’s done blooming. A great choice for the full sun perennial garden, the cutting garden or for naturalizing the landscape. The flowers are strong and bloom wel into the fall.

Daylily (Hemerocallis sp.) is a wide ranging perennials with endless colors and sizes available. Extremely easy to, day lily is tolerant of almost any soil and can tolerate dry conditions. Daylilies bloom all summer on long narrow stalks. Use for stand alone plantings, edging, in borders or in containers. Daililies can be divided once they establish themselves, thus it is easy to create a large patch full of them. This also ensure that you have continuous flowering and creates healthy plants.

A low growing, full sun perennial is Threadleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis sp.). Perfect for the front of a perennial border or for edging a path, coreopsis blooms in mid-summer. A low growing perennial, coreopsis grows to about 12-18” and has fern-like, airy foliage. Its yellow flowers are tiny, but since the plant produces so many its actually quite showy. Coreopsis is tolerant of poor soils (as long as they are well drained) and is very easy to grow.

Pink Friesland Meadow Sage (Salvia nemorosa ‘pink friesland‘) is a great repeat blooming perennial. It flowers in late spring and with deadheading will start to bloom all over again. It has dark red stems loaded with pink flowers that bloom from June to September. It has a plant height of 18” and a spread of 12-15” and stays in excellent compact form. Pink Friesland should be planted in full sun in a moist well-drained area. Pink Friesland is a magnet for butterflies, bees and hummingbirds and is deer-resistant. It is hardy for container gardening and provides excellent cut flowers. There are many Sage varieties in all kinds of sizes. In the spring, we selected 7 kinds and placed them in a border together. Their colors are magnificent and it is well worth the effort as these plants continue to flower until the first frost arrive in the winter. There are hotpink, fuchsia, red, white and purple flowers available which creates a striking effect.

The fragrant perennial Catmint (Nepata sp.) is one of the most maintenance free perennials available for the garden. Cutting back in the fall and dividing every few years is about all this plant needs. Its blue, fragrant flowers make it an ideal plant for the planting near a patio.

For fall color, as well as lush summer foliage, Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Sedum 'Herbstfreude'), is probably one of the best. Also known as stonecrop, this plant is exceedingly easy to grow. Its flowers range from pink to red and actually resemble broccoli florets. Sedum ‘autumn joy’ grows in clumps which increase in size each season. Dividing this plant every few years will help control its size and increase your plant inventory. We do not grow this plant in our garden, as we do not like it much. However, it is very strong and therefor a good choice in any full sun garden.

Shasta Daisy (leucanthemum superbum) is a vigorous growing perennial. Its abundant white flowers (with bright yellow centers) bloom on tall stalks which grow up from lush green foliage. Shasta daisy will grow to the height of 3’ and a spread 18-24”. Staking is usually necessary to prevent the flowers from tipping over as they can become top heavy. This is particularly true after summer showers. Shasta daisy requires a little more water than other full sun perennials but it can still thrive in the full sun. Deadheading will encourage a longer bloom time. It's suitable for both the formal and informal garden, as well as the cutting garden. Shasta daisy is perfect for those looking for a low maintenance perennial.

Peony (Paeonia sp.) is a standout in the full sun garden. One of the best flowers for the cutting garden, the peony’s very large spring and summer flowers bloom in a wide variety of colors, including pink, red and white. Peonies are tolerant dry to moist sites and many require staking as they’re larger flowers become heavy enough to bend their stalks. Keep in mind that peonies will not flower the first year that you plant them as their root system must be firmly established first. If you add peonies to your garden, be very sure about where you place them, since transplanting means no flowers for 2 years.

Yarrow (yarrow sp.) is another tall perennial which blooms on long stalks which emerge from a mound of lush foliage. Yarrow is available in a wide variety of colors. Tolerant of dry gardens, yarrow is well suited to the full sun garden and is able to tolerate hot humid summers. Remove faded flowers to encourage more growth and divide every 3-4 years. For an attraction to butterflies, deer and rabbit resistant, one can’t go wrong with this plant.

Liatris (Liatris spicata), is a tall perennial with spike-shaped purple flowers which grow up from dark green foliage. The flowers open from the top down and bloom from June to September. Liatris should be planted in full sun in a well-drained area. They are wonderful perennials for the back of flower garden, liatris is a treasured cut flower. Liatris will also help attract butterflies to the garden.
Last Updated on Saturday, 23 January 2010 17:20
 


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