
With temperatures in the 70’s heading into the start of summer, right now is an opportune time to be considering the plants you want to enjoy in the season ahead, and beyond. Planting when temperatures are cooler is best practice, and lessens the chances of transplant shock.
Summer is when we spend the most time outdoors so make it as beautiful as can be with a diversity of blooming plants, especially ones that pollinators love.
We asked our staff about their favorite summer bloomers to help guide you on your discovery. Here’s a list of must-have summer bloomers from short to tall:
A Foot to 5 Feet Tall Plants
LANTANA
Bright yellow to orange or pink to orange flowers bloom in pom-pom like clusters which make fun additions to raised gardens and container gardens. They are adaptable dry conditions making them a resilient plant for summer gardening. Flowers can last until the first frost, and are a nectar-rich food source for butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. Lantana is generally considered unattractive to deer.
SEDUM ‘AUTUMN JOY’
This succulent grows up to around 2 feet tall and wide in summer, and survives our winters so will rebloom each year. It blooms prolifically in late summer when many flowers have already faded, making it a great late season food source for pollinators! The foliage dies back over winter and returns in spring.

PENSTEMON
Penstemon flowers have adapted to the special pollinators who visit them by growing a platform of sorts to assist in the pollination process. How kind! Penstemon encompasses a huge group of summer to late summer flowering plants, available in a wide array of colors. The blooms attract both bees and hummingbirds. Very durable to dry or rocky soil, and several native types can be special ordered.
JOE PYE WEED
This bloomer typically reaches 6-8 feet high at maturity and grows in clumps that can eventually be separated and spread around the yard. Joe pye weed attracts all kinds of pollinators, especially native bumblebees and sweat bees. It has beautiful pink blooms that sway languidly in the summer breeze. As it goes dormant, prune back to around 8″ from the ground and this plant will regrow in the spring!
HEBE
Drought tolerant, pollinator friendly and deer resistant. From low growing varieties with fine textured leaves to 4 feet tall and wide broad leaf types. There is great diversity in hebe foliage as well as flower color, ranging from pink, blue and purple. Hebes are also an ideal plant for the coastal garden!
CARYOPTERIS
Caryopteris features dainty clusters of pink or blue flowers along the branches from late summer to early fall that are loved by pollinators. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application.
HYDRANGEA
The Queen of summer flowering shrubs. Traditional partial shade hydrangeas are available in an amazing array of colors and sizes, with re-blooming types providing a spectacular show from June through fall.
There are also sun-loving hydrangeas that feature big cone-shaped clusters of flowers! Known as panicle hydrangeas, they thrive in full sun, are in flower all summer long with white spikes of flowers gradually aging to green, pink, or maroon (depending on variety). The panicle sun-loving hydrangeas also dry to an even more beautiful color as summer transitions to fall for extremely long lasting enjoyment.

ITEA VIRGINICA – VIRGINIA SWEETSPIRE
White goosenecks of flowers on the shoulders of the season, early to mid summer. Lightly fragrant and enjoyed by pollinators. New varieties (Scentlandia, Fizzy Mizzy) are much smaller than older types (maturing around three feet). Itea thrives in wet heavy soils; not quite evergreen, leaves turn deep burgundy in fall and persist late into winter, the last few often dropping just before new leaf emergence in spring.
SPIRAEA DOUGLASII – WESTERN SPIRAEA
Medium to large Pacific Northwest native shrub, lots of pink flowers early to mid summer. Huge resource for native pollinators, and great butterfly plant. Very adaptable – can be flooded in winter, can dry out in summer, and keeps going – but looks best with some summer irrigation.
BUDDLEIA – BUTTERFLY BUSH
Intensely fragrant and colorful flowers from mid- summer to fall, are very attractive to a wide variety of pollinators. The variety ‘Blue Chip’ is great for containers and only grows to 2-3 feet tall.
Though there are invasive types, modern varieties available in Oregon are sterile and seedless which is what you’ll find at our garden center.

6 Feet to 10 Feet Tall Plants
ESCALLONIA
A common shrub but for good reasons. From 6 feet tall to 2-3 feet tall and wide varieties, escallonia is a pollinator friendly evergreen shrub that performs well as a hedge and grows excellent in coastal gardens.
CRAPE MYRTLE
Flowers bloom in abundance at the ends of the branches from early to late summer. The bark in winter is also of interest; the bark peels to reveal multi-tone under layers in shades of reddish-brown, tan, and cream. We have miniature, bush, or tree type crape myrtles in several colors.

ELAEAGNUS – SILVERBERRY
An underrated summer bloomer since the blooms are inconspicuous, however they pack great fragrance. Though the flowers are hard to spot, the smaller bees love them! The evergreen varieties are great choices to create privacy. This plant is also a great choice for the coastal garden as they are known to be wind, drought, and salt tolerant.
15 Feet or Larger Plants
HONEYSUCKLE VINE
A vigorous and wild growing vine with memorably sweet fragrant tubular flowers will stop you in your tracks. If a sweet scent catches you in mid-June, it’s probably honeysuckle! Hummingbirds love to nest in the vines, and feed on the nectar. Butterflies, moths and bees love this nectar and pollen food source too!
CHINESE FRINGE TREE
Consistent and abundant blooms starting in late spring through early summer. This strikingly beautiful small multi-stemmed tree offers fragrant blooms that are frothy upright panicles of very fine strap-like flowers atop the foliage. The flowers transform into attractive berries in fall that are a good food source for birds and wildlife; interesting bark provides winter value.
HEPTACODIUM – SEVEN SON FLOWER TREE
A large plant that grows to be around 12 feet tall and can be grown as a single or multi-trunked shrub or small tree. It has beautiful peeling bark and blooms white in late summer to early fall when not much else is blooming. This makes the Seven Sons a great late season nectar source for butterflies, hummingbirds, bees and other pollinators. After flowers fade, brilliant pink bracts are left behind until late fall for a grand finale to the season!
We Can Take a Special Request!
If we don’t have the plant or variety in stock that you are interested in, we are happy to submit a special “wishlist” request for you! Call us at 541-929-3524 to ask about what’s in stock.