The Best Plants to Add to Your Garden This Summer
Whether you are looking for something new, or are just not sure what to plant for the summer, the plants below are well worth checking out.
16/03/2023
Gardening
is a great pastime. It provides you with a
beautiful yard full of colors, and potentially
food to eat, too. It even offers a way to
connect, as you get to bond and talk with your
neighbors and other locals about the plants that
do best in the area and the common struggles of
gardening in your climate.
Whether you
are looking for something new, or are just not
sure what to plant for the summer, the plants
below are well worth checking out.
Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs
Peppers
Peppers are a versatile mix
of fruits that come in all sorts of varieties.
Pretty much every type of pepper does best in
the hot summer sun. If you like spicier foods,
look at growing jalapenos, serranos, and bird’s
eye chilis. If you like peppers, but not their
spice, look at shishito peppers, banana peppers,
and bell peppers.
They do need a long
time to grow, so you might want to start them
inside a little before summer actually arrives.
Make sure they aren’t planted outdoors until it
is above 60 degrees Fahrenheit at night or else
they can freeze.
Sage
Sage is a great herb to grow over the summer.
It does well in full sun. Some varieties are
edible, and some are decorative and add a
pleasant smell to the air. They can be grown
alongside other plants like cabbage, carrots,
and rosemary.
However, one plant sage
should never be placed near is cucumbers.
Something about aromatic herbs, with the
exception of oregano, stunts cucumber growth, so
they should be planted far apart from each
other.
Sage can be dried or eaten fresh
and is used to flavor butter, root vegetables,
chicken, and sausage. It tastes a little peppery
and earthy.
Beets
You may be confused to see beets on this
list. After all, beets are usually considered
spring root vegetables. Beets are an amazing
plant that can grow in spring and summer. While
they don’t do extremely well in the heart of the
summer, you can plant them again in late summer
and have a second harvest.
They can
handle both hot and cool days to a pretty high
degree, so they work in late summer when the
temperature is a little variable. A good rule of
thumb is to plant them about six weeks before
your first frost is supposed to occur. That
gives them time to grow to a good size before
they need to be harvested.
Flowers
Cosmos
Cosmos are annual flowers, meaning that after
they die out for the year, they won’t come back
in the next. While this is a bit of a bummer,
they are easy to regrow every spring or summer
and grow fast thanks to their limited lifespan.
Cosmos have flowers that look a lot like
daisies, though they can be open or cupped. They
are also tall, growing up to six feet in ideal
conditions. They come in many colors, including
pink, orange, red, white, and yellow.
They attract many different
pollinators, like birds, butterflies, and bees
to add life to your garden. However, if you are
tired of pests attacking your plants, you may
want to avoid these as they will bring in some
of the usual pests, or plant them next to other
plants that scare away pests, like marigolds.
Zinnias
Depending on where you live, zinnias can be
planted all year round, but they do especially
well in the summer. They are low maintenance and
can handle drought and heat without a problem.
They are annuals, so they will have to
be planted every year, but they grow quickly and
can stay blooming for most of the year. Some
people say they are so low maintenance that you
can just throw the seeds on the ground, water
the area, and you will have flowers soon enough.
Zinnias have big,
bold flowers that come in almost every bright or
pastel color you can imagine. They can be one
solid color, or have a mix of two or three
colors on their petals. The different species
have fun names as well, such as Candy Cane,
Color Crackle, and Queen Lime Red.
Viburnum
Viburnum does well any time in spring or
summer, though you may have to find one species
that works a bit better for your zone and
season. This plant comes in a variety of
different colors, shapes, and sizes.
White is a common color, but they can have red
or pink flowers as well, and the berries are
bright blue, pink, red, purple, and black. The
leaves can also come in a variety of colors.
While green is the most common, they have white,
yellow, and even bright reds during the fall
season.