Full sun plants that come back every year

Perennials are popular with many homeowners and landscape designers alike because they offer a variety of textures, colors, sizes, and shapes to a planting bed. After an initial investment, you get to enjoy them year after year instead of picking new plants every Spring. The plants in this article are all considered low-maintenance, adding to their appeal.

Benefits of Perennials that Require Full Sun

One of the biggest challenges with spots in your yard that get lots of sunlight—that aren’t covered in grass—is they quickly become overrun by weeds. Planting these areas keeps the weed populations down and brings beauty to those sections of your yard. Using perennials negates buying new plants every year since they regrow on their own.

Considerations When Taking Care of Plants that Require Full Sun

• When the sunlight is most intense in the late afternoon, it can still scorch plants, even if it is classified as full sun. It’s helpful if you can create some shade for them.
• Spots getting a lot of sunlight will dry out more quickly than shaded soil, so they need to be watered more regularly, especially if plants have high moisture needs. Mulching around these plants will improve soil retention.

Full Sun Low-Maintenance Perennials

1. Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.)

USDA Zones: 3 to 9

Daylilies are staples in perennial gardens and one of the easiest plants to grow. Despite their name, these plants aren’t true lilies but rather a highly hybridized genera with about 15 common species and over 80,000 cultivars. Plants bloom for a few weeks in midsummer with flowers ranging from white to a saturated red-purple, with yellow and orange the most common.

2. Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica)

USDA Zones: 3 to 9

Some types of irises are prone to problems with insects and leaf spot, but the Siberian iris is low-maintenance. Plants produce beautiful blooms in a myriad of stunning colors during late Spring, shortly after bearded irises have flowered. Their foliage stays gorgeous through the summer and fall, adding color and texture to the garden long after plants stop blooming.

3. False Indigo (Baptisia spp.)

USDA Zones: 3 to 9

Baptisia is native to the American prairies but brings an air of refinement to the garden while keeping the maintenance needs of a wildflower. Plants grow about 3 feet tall and wide with cool bluish-green foliage and blooms of yellows, whites, purples, and blues. These plants are great for cottage-style gardens and make a beautiful backdrop for other flowering plants.

4. Yarrow (Achillea spp.)

USDA Zones: 3 to 9

Another plant native to North America, yarrow’s tightly packed dome-shaped flower heads with blooms in yellow, red, pink (and any shade in-between) sit atop ferny foliage clusters. Plants are drought-tolerant, so you’ll have flowers during the driest summers or even when you forget to water. Legend has it, Achilles used yarrow to stop his soldier’s wounds from bleeding.

5. Coneflower (Echinacea spp.)

USDA Zones: 3 to 8

​​Echinacea, or the coneflower, is loved both aesthetically and medicinally. It has flowers reminiscent of daisies but with a “papery” or “dry” feeling. The classic cultivar has light purple petals that sharply curve downward to create an open flower face, surrounding the iconic reddish-orangish center disk. Other varieties are available in different colors, and plants have good drought tolerance. 

6. Sage (Salvia spp.)

USDA Zones: 4 to 7

After they become established, sage plants need very little maintenance. They are highly drought-tolerant and add a delicious fragrance to your garden. The different varieties bloom at various times of the growing season and come in multiple heights, foliage colors, and blossoms. Their fragrance also helps to deter insect pests from neighboring plants.

7. Thyme (Thymus spp.)

USDA Zones: 5 to 9

A thyme plant makes a great addition to your yard, whether you plant it to use in the kitchen or to admire its fragrance and delicate blooms. Plants stay low in stature, creeping along, so they are suitable for border edgings or ground covers. The tiny flowers come in red, white, pink, and purple and are a favorite of honeybees.

8. Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia spp.) 

USDA Zones: 3 to 10

Black-Eyed Susans are known for their cheery blooms with bright yellow petals and deep chocolate brown disks. These rugged and reliable plants are a cinch to grow and quickly spread to fill in an area. They are undoubtedly among the most popular wildflowers grown and come in single or double-flower forms on tall, sturdy stems.

9. Hibiscus (Hibiscus spp.)

USDA Zones: 5 to 11

Whether you choose a tropical variety suited for warmer climates or a hardy variety that can withstand colder winters, plenty of hibiscus varieties are available in a range of colors and flower sizes. There are over 200 species and many more cultivars and hybrids! Flowers are typically 4-6” across and come in yellow, orange, red, pink, and multicolored hues.

10. Bellflower (Campanula persicifolia)

USDA Zones: 3 to 7

Bellflowers bloom in early summer, with blue, purple, or white blossoms opening along erect stems. Plants can grow upright and tall or stay compact and spreading depending upon the variety, but they all have signature bell-shaped blossoms. They are among the few perennials with actual blue flowers, which is tricky to find in flowering ornamental plants.

11. Catmint (Nepeta cataria)

USDA Zones: 3 to 8

Catmint (related to catnip) is growing in popularity as a landscape planting. Unlike catnip which can look weedy, catmint is used by many as a flowering perennial in their garden beds. When in bloom, it forms a dense mass of periwinkle purple flowers. Besides being loved by felines, it’s also a favorite of hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.

12. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)

USDA Zones: 4 to 9 

Switchgrass is native to North America and does well in any soil type and moisture level. These low-maintenance grasses work well as privacy screens, hedges, or background planting and provide beautiful golden-yellow color in the fall. Varieties are available with steel-blue, reddish-tinged, or metallic blue-green foliage and seed heads that take on a pink hue fading into a reddish-brown.

13. Peony (Paeonia spp.)

USDA Zones: 3 to 8

Peonies are one of the most loved and well-known flowering perennials, making them a fantastic addition to your garden. When a variety is chosen for your specific soil type and climate, it can bloom for close to 100 years! The genus contains about three dozen varieties to choose from, with pink, blush, and white being the most popular flower colors. 

14. Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

USDA Zones: 3 to 9 

People don’t often think of milkweed as a plant they want to put in their yard, but butterfly weed is an excellent option for people looking to attract butterflies into their yard. This clump-forming perennial provides both food and habitat for Monarch butterflies with its glossy-green foliage and bright yellow-to-orange blossoms. Unlike other types, this milkweed variety doesn’t have caustic milky sap.

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