Quick-Blooming Plants to Keep Your Garden Vibrant
After spring bulbs have finished blooming and summer flowers are still in the process of opening, it’s time to turn to annuals and fast-growing perennials to keep your garden looking lively. Garden centers and nurseries offer a wide range of options, so when you need to fill in empty spots, consider these 12 plants that grow quickly and bloom early for continuous color throughout the season.
Alyssum
Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) is a low-growing, short-lived perennial that makes an excellent ground cover or front-of-the-border plant. These 3- to 10-inch-tall plants spread rapidly, covering 12 to 18 inches wide with small white, purple, or pink flowers.
Plant alyssum in a spot that gets morning sun and afternoon shade, or place it under later-blooming perennials and shrubs to let them provide the shade. To encourage regrowth, allow the plant to go to seed at the end of the growing season.
Catmint
Catmint (Nepeta spp.) features pink, white, and purple flower spikes that open in early summer and continue blooming all season. This perennial grows quickly, filling an area up to 2 feet with a rounded, mounding form.
Its lacy, gray-green leaves pair well with perennials like roses, yarrow, coneflowers, daisies, and daylilies. For best flowering, plant catmint in full sun.
Coleus
Coleus (Coleus scutellarioides) comes in various sizes, from dwarf to shrub-like, making it suitable for every garden. These tender perennials are usually grown as annual foliage plants for their colorful, textured leaves.
Blue and white flowers form spikes but are secondary and often pinched out to encourage more leafy growth. Coleus can add 1 1/2 inches of growth per week and thrives equally well in pots. Plant in moist soil with morning sun and afternoon shade.
Foxglove
Foxgloves are showy, back-of-the-border plants that grow up to 5 feet tall and 1 to 2 feet wide. Common foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is a biennial, producing flowers the second year. Some hybrids bloom the first year, while perennial varieties bloom yearly but are short-lived.
Your best bet for blooms is to purchase a plant that is already budded out or blooming. Large tubular flowers in a rainbow of colors cover tall spikes in late spring through midsummer, making foxglove a standout in the early garden. Plant foxglove in a spot that receives full sun to part shade.
Hostas
Hostas (Hosta spp.) are hardy perennials grown for decorative foliage and are one of the most popular shade plants in the U.S. From miniatures to giants that can reach 4 to 5 feet tall with an even wider spread, hostas can double or triple in size in one season.
They break ground in early spring and are easily divided to fill other bare spots. These are primarily shade plants, but varieties have been cultivated to tolerate more sun.
Impatiens
Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana) are popular plants for flower beds, borders, and containers, beloved for their rapid growth and wide range of colors. You’ll find them already in bloom at garden centers in flats, hanging baskets, and patio pots.
Impatiens will grow 20 inches tall with a similar spread and produce flowers consistently with regular feeding. Plant 6 to 8 inches apart and protect them from direct sunlight.
Iris
From tiny native dwarf crested iris (Iris cristata) to tall showy bearded iris (Iris germanica), these impressive flowers cover the bloom season between tulips, narcissus, and daylilies. Bearded varieties are considered moderate growers, with each plant adding three to four new rhizomes annually.
Once the bloom period ends, tall swordlike foliage remains as a green placeholder until it reblooms or dies back in autumn. Plant in full sun for best flowering.
Lantana
With attractive single and bi-color flowers high in nectar content, lantana (Lantana camara) draws bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds from late spring through summer.
From dwarf- to shrub-sized plants, this rapid grower works as ground cover or specimen plant, flowering all season with plenty of direct sun, warmth, and humidity. Consistent pruning will promote spread, with a branching of 1 to 2 inches weekly.
Nasturtium
Nasturtiums (Tropaeolum spp.) are a versatile addition to any garden, blooming early in shades of yellow, orange, and red. They have a trailing growth habit, making them ideal for borders, hanging baskets, and rock walls, and can grow to a spread of 1 to 3 feet.
Prized as an insect pest repellent, they are planted in vegetable gardens to ward off aphids, caterpillars, squash bugs, and cucumber beetles. These rapid growers bloom from late spring to first frost. For best flowering, plant in full sun in average soil.
Petunia
Petunias (Petunia spp.) are one of the fastest-growing, early-blooming flowers you can plant. Traditionally used in flower beds, borders, and containers, mounding wave varieties and smaller flowered superbells will put out consistent flowers in all colors from early spring until first frost. Flowers may be single or double.
Petunias will grow to quickly fill spaces up to 3 feet wide. Plant them in full sun after the danger of frost has passed and pinch back to encourage consistent blooms.
Viola
Commonly called Johnny Jump-Ups (Viola tricolor), viola is one of the first plants you’ll find at your local garden center. This rapid grower bridges the gap between spring and summer, then summer and autumn, with profuse bi-color flowers showing the much-loved “happy face” of pansy varieties.
At 4 to 10 inches tall and wide, violas are a perfect filler plant. You’ll get the best blooms by planting it in full to partial sun.
Wax Begonia
Wax begonias (Begonia semperflorens) are popular as mass plantings in beds and borders. They flower early and grow rapidly to 6 to 24 inches tall and wide. Their prolific flowers in reds, pinks, orange, and white grow in a compact, mounding habit and bloom continuously without deadheading.
Grow them in full sun to part shade, depending on the cultivar. They’ll be drought tolerant once established.
