Like many of you, my backyard gets a lot of sun. After killing more plants than I’d like to admit, I finally found flowers that actually love those sunny spots!
Let me share my favorites that come back year after year and don’t need much babysitting.
10 Native Flowers That Thrive in Full Sun
1. Black-Eyed Susan
These happy yellow flowers are my absolute favorites. They remind me of little sunshines dotting the garden.
They pop up on their own each year and make more babies without any help from me. Talk about easy!
I leave the brown centers standing in winter instead of cutting them down. The birds go crazy for the seeds, and it’s so fun watching them snack away.
2. Bee Balm
Want some wow factor? Bee Balm grows super tall – about as high as my 4-year-old!
The flowers look just like fireworks frozen in time. So pretty!
It does try to take over like mint does, but it’s easy to dig up the extra plants and move them somewhere else. My kids love watching all the hummingbirds and butterflies that visit these flowers.
3. Blanket Flower
My kids named these our “pizza flowers” because they come in red, yellow, and orange – just like their favorite food!
They don’t live forever, but boy do they put on a show while they’re here.
They’re perfect for busy moms because they basically take care of themselves. Even when I forget to water, they keep right on blooming.
4. Blazing Star
These tall purple spikes are total show-offs in the garden. They bloom from top to bottom, which looks really cool.
My daughter says they look like purple rocket ships taking off.
The butterflies love them so much that we often find ourselves sitting nearby just to watch the garden visitors.
5. Blue Flag Iris
These beauties bloom right when spring gets going. They’re like the garden’s way of saying “wake up!”
They grow about waist-high and love wet spots in the yard.
If you’ve got a place where water collects after rain, these irises will be super happy there.
6. Creeping Phlox
This is my go-to plant for covering ugly spots in the garden. It stays low to the ground and spreads like a pretty carpet.
In spring, it’s covered in pink, white, or blue flowers that look like someone sprinkled stars all over the ground.
Even after the flowers are done, the green leaves stick around and keep things looking nice until winter.
7. Goldenrod
Don’t worry – this isn’t the stuff that makes you sneeze! That’s actually ragweed.
These golden flowers show up right when summer is winding down, and they’re gorgeous in vases.
They last over a week in water, and I even dry some to decorate with in fall.
8. Swamp Rose Mallow
If you want flowers as big as dinner plates, this is your plant! Mine grow taller than my husband.
The flowers are total show-stoppers – like having giant pink and white party decorations in your garden.
Best of all, they stand up straight on their own without any staking or fussing.
9. Tickseed
These tough little flowers are like the energizer bunny – they just keep going and going.
When everything else looks crispy in the heat, these guys keep blooming away.
I cut off the dead flowers to get more blooms, but I leave some to make seeds for next year.
10. Virgin’s Bower
This vine is perfect for covering fences or ugly spots fast – it grows like crazy!
The trick is to plant it where the bottom can stay cool but the top gets lots of sun.
My favorite part is watching the goldfinches steal the fluffy seeds to build their nests. Free bird show!
These sun-loving flowers have made my gardening life so much easier. Instead of constantly fighting with picky plants, I can actually sit back and enjoy my yard.
Now I spend more time watching butterflies with my kids than pulling weeds. And isn’t that what we all want – a pretty garden that doesn’t eat up all our free time?