Explore hearty summer flowers good for planting in summer pots like Rio Dipladenia and other beautiful flowers to create vibrant flower pots for your deck or patio.
This post was updated throughout last summer to show you how our flowers blossomed!
Background
I just love spring flowers but I don’t have a green thumb. You see . . . I am a “wannabe” master gardener. This is when I miss my Dad. He became a certified master gardener late in life. He and my grandmother had green thumbs. However, with these flowers, my thumb is turning light green!
Rio Dipladenia
We discovered these flowers last summer which not only survived but thrived . . . even in the sweltering heat of Alabama! These are definitely hearty flowers for summer pots!
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Why? Because they are DROUGHT RESISTANT (i.e. they survive when I forget to water them).
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They are called Rio Dipladenia. We bought them at Home Depot.
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The pink ones pictured below were on my Mom’s deck last summer.
The red ones pictured below were on our dock last year.
Here is a close-up of these beautiful flowers.
Neal likes red and I like pink . . . so we put red in the hanging baskets on the dock and in the erns in front of our house (perfect for 4th of July gatherings) and pink ones on our deck, where we have breakfast each morning in the spring and summer.
Here is an updated picture from early July:
Yellow Tickseed (Coreopsis Grandiflora)
These hardy yellow flowers are perennials and thus delight every year when they grow back. It is like they are saying, “Spring is here!” They resemble a daisy and add a bright splash of color.
Creeping Jenny
Another hearty flower for summer pots is creeping Jenny! Our next discovery was creeping Jenny. It is a light, bright green, and cascades over the sides of pots or erns. It is a nice finishing touch. The picture below is what I planted the other day. Soon Creeping Jenny will be cascading around all sides of the pot. I love my new friend Jenny and am thankful she is a creeper!
The picture below is an update from early July. Creeping Jenny has been creeping! Notice we have replaced our deck railing since the earlier photos.
Zinnias
I love zinnias . . .
And so do bees and butterflies.
And butterflies…
They like FULL sun but must also be watered regurlarly.
Fond Memories
For many, many years I have loved zinnias. They remind me of my childhood. My parents planted an entire row of zinnias in our garden each year next to the green beans. As a child, I loved picking flowers but hated picking green beans.
My mother cut zinnias and made beautiful flower arrangements for our home. I have adopted this same practice. I love having beautiful flower arrangements in the house.
Zinnias need full sun and we have a lot of trees (i.e. shade). So Neal built this flower bed using leftover simulated stone from other DIY projects.
Check out our Zinnia garden now (early July) . . . these are also hearty flowers!
Here is another mid-summer photo.
Zinnias are perfect for flower arrangements. Check out How to Arrange Zinnias or any Fresh Flowers in a Vase (and other ideas).
Check out My Love Affair with Zinnias: From Planting to Care.
Geraniums
This year, we have added pretty light pink geraniums to the collection. They like full sun in the morning and light afternoon shade. We will see how these do.
We love the color; it reminds us of cotton candy. Again, I love pink and because Neal loves me, we have more pink flowers this year.
When we planted them, they only had small blooms.
Below is an updated picture from late June. One thing I learned is to pinch off each bloom at the node when the blossom starts to die. This keeps the flowers repeatedly blooming all summer. As summer progressed, it had more and more blooms! This was my favorite flower last summer.
To learn more about geraniums, check out Caring for Geraniums to Produce Beautiful Blooms.
Impatiens
And last but not least are impatiens. We planted these little beauties outside our basement apartment when we were newlyweds many years ago. Our toy poodle Jake would stop and smell them each morning. They are perfect for shady areas. We have them in small pots on the front part of our deck for that reason. And again, they are pink!
And there you have it!
Neal and I have been married for almost 35 years and it has taken us that long to figure out what flowers work for us in the hot Alabama heat. Our learning continues . . .
Since writing this post, I have learned a lot about composting so check out my post about Composting for Beginners.
What are your favorite flowers to plant in the spring and summer?
Don’t forget to Pin this for future reference.
Happy Planting!!!!!