Reblooming Plants for Your Garden

Butterfly bush is the perfect name for this shrub — butterflies love it! We grow ‘Glass Slippers’ in the photo above in our test garden and it’s covered in butterflies from summer to fall. This variety can grow up to 4 feet tall and 5 feet wide. But there are some smaller ones, such as the Pugster™ series, that grows only 2 to 3 feet tall and wide.

Give your butterfly bush good drainage — plants hate wet soil conditions — to ensure it survives. Where winters are cold, plants will die to the ground. Be patient in spring: Butterfly bush is slow to emerge.

How to deadhead

Cut the main stem. Flowering stems are branched and the center one usually blooms first. Remove it as soon as it fades so the side branches will take off.

Type Shrub Blooms Blue, pink, purple, fuchsia, yellow or white from summer to frost Light Full sun Soil Well-drained  Size 20 to 180 in. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9

Azaleas are beloved spring-blooming shrubs, but did you know that there are a few that rebloom? The Bloom-a-thon^® and Encore^® series put on their biggest show in spring but also produce a lighter, but reliable, rebloom in summer and fall.

Reblooming azaleas don’t usually need pruning. But if there are a few branches you’d like to clean up, cut them off inside the foliage right after the blooms finish up in spring. Any later, and you may accidentally cut off developing flower buds.

No deadheading needed!

These shrubs are self-cleaning, which means new stems keep growing and cover the old flowers, so you don’t have to deadhead.

Type Shrub Blooms Semidouble pink blooms in spring, summer and fall Light Part shade Soil Moist, acid, well-drained Size 3 to 4 ft. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 7 to 10

Who wouldn’t want the frilly 3-inch blooms of Stoke’s aster filling their gardens with color all season? Expect a wave of flowers in early summer and then some slowing down as the season progresses. With some deadheading you’ll have more pretty blooms to enjoy by fall. Native to the Southeast United States, it’s drought-tolerant and doesn’t like wet soil, which can cause it to rot in winter. There are several cultivars, such as ‘Peachie’s Pick’ above, that are more compact than the species. You’ll also find ‘Blue Danube’, with large 4-inch flowers, white-flowering ‘Alba’, or ‘Mary Gregory’, with creamy yellow blooms. Stoke’s aster will self-sow where it’s happy but the hybrids won’t come true, or look like the parent plant.

How to deadhead

Snip spent blooms. Each stem has one to four flowers so snip them off as they fade to keep plants tidy. Then cut the whole stem back to a leaf joint.

Type Perennial Blooms Purple, pink, white or yellow in summer and early fall Light Full sun to part shade Soil Moist, acid, well-drained Size 12 to 24 in. tall, 12 to 18 in. wide Hardiness Cold-hardy in USDA zones 4 to 10

Easy-care shrub roses give you a lot of bang for your buck. There are many choices in size and habit so there’s sure to be one that fi ts your garden. But even better, shrub roses put on a big show of blooms in spring and keep flowering in waves until frost. Some, such as Sweet Fragrance above, even have a lovely scent.

One of the best things you can do for your roses is keep them watered, especially during the hottest part of summer. To encourage roots to go deeper, give these shrubs one deep watering a week instead of several shallow ones.

How to deadhead

Snip spent blooms. Remove spent blooms to the next leaf joint to encourage quicker regrowth.

Type Shrub Blooms Red, white, pink, yellow, orange, peach and bicolors in late spring to fall Light Full sun Soil Moist, well-drained Size 2 to 6 ft. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 10

‘Paris’ is one of the best reblooming coral bells you can find, with a big flush of small pink bell-shaped flowers in spring that hummingbirds love. Deadheading will help ‘Paris’ form new blooms until frost.

The tidy mound of foliage stays looking its best with regular watering. But winter’s freezing and thawing temperatures can sometimes heave plants out of the ground a bit. If that happens, gently step on the crown in early spring, after the ground thaws, so the slender taproot goes back into the ground.

How to deadhead

Remove long flower stems. Cut the long stems back below the foliage to encourage more to take its place.

Type Perennial Blooms Rose-pink blooms from early spring to early fall Light Full sun to part shade Soil Moist, well-drained Size 6 to 12 in. tall, 14 in. in flower, 12 to 14 in. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9

You don’t want to be without perennial geranium. Rozanne is one of the most prolific rebloomers, and has great heat tolerance, too. A garden workhorse, this variety produces 2-inch blue-purple blooms that last for weeks. Another reblooming variety is ‘Perfect Storm’. You can’t miss its magenta blooms with black centers and veins.

Perennial geranium is easy to care for. It doesn’t need a lot of extra water or feeding. Just apply a granular slow-release plant food in spring. As the first burst of blooms fades, perennial geranium tends to sprawl a bit. That’s when you’ll want to cut it back for a fresh mound of foliage and a second round of blooms in fall.

How to deadhead

Shear the foliage. Instead of deadheading each flower, cut the entire plant back to within a few inches of the ground when it gets leggy, usually in midsummer. This keeps the habit compact as well.

Type Perennial Blooms Blue-purple in midspring and fall Light Full sun to part shade Soil Well-drained Size 6 to 36 in. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9

Threadleaf coreopsis is one tough customer — it tolerates heat, humidity, drought and poor soils. And to top it off, deer don’t bother it at all. Perennial types, such as ‘Moonbeam’ or ‘Zagreb’, provide cheery yellow blooms for late-season combos. But there are also tender hybrids, such as ‘Jive’ and ‘Salsa’ in the photo above. They’re only cold-hardy in USDA zones 9 to 10, but share the same growing needs. Plants bloom prolifically with one big initial flush in early summer and more after being cut back. At 12 to 18 inches tall and 18 to 24 inches wide, they’re easy to work into containers or any sized border.

How to deadhead

Shear the flowers. Shear plants back by one third in midsummer when plants are getting a bit tired-looking. New growth will take off and produce a late summer to fall rebloom.

Type Perennial Blooms Yellow, orange, red, pink or white from early summer to fall Light Full sun Soil Well-drained Size 12 to 30 in. tall, 12 to 24 in. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 10

Keep your local butterflies well fed until the last hard frost with pincushion flower. Its 2-inch flowers take off in spring and just keep going — it even blooms all year in mild winter climates. ‘Butterfly Blue’, above, grows a compact 12 to 18 inches tall and wide. You’ll also find pincushion flower with pink flowers — look for Flutter^™ Rose Pink or ‘Pink Mist’.

To keep your pincushion flower coming back every year, provide well-drained soil—plants rot during winter in dense, wet soil. Dividing plants every 3 to 4 years can help extend the life of this short-lived perennial.

How to deadhead

Remove long flower stems. Pincushion flower will keep flowering on its own, but deadheading encourages a quicker rebloom. Follow the slender stem back to the clump of foliage and cut it off below the leaves.

Type Perennial Blooms Lavender blue, pink or white from spring to fall Light Full sun Soil Well-drained Size 4 to 36 in. tall, 4 to 18 in. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 10