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20 Brilliant Blooming Flowers for Front Yards
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Susan Martin
Some plants rise above the rest with their extraordinarily brilliant blooms and foliage that are so distinctive that you can instantly identify them from a distance. We call them 55mph varieties – plants that turn heads even when you’re speeding past them down the highway. They make great flowers for front yards. If flashy flower colors are your style, try adding a few of these bright beauties to your containers and landscape.
BRILLIANT ANNUALS
Santa Cruz® cascading begonia
Thriving in containers in both sun and shade, this cascading begonia forms a lava-like curtain of fiery orange-red blossoms that keep on coming from planting time until frost. You might spot a hummingbird or bee enjoying them, too. Plant them where you won’t mind the self-cleaning flowers shedding onto the ground below.
Perfect for window boxes, porch rail boxes, hanging baskets and upright containers. Pair with Supertunia® petunias, Silver Falls™ dichondra and ‘Kimberley Queen’ fern.
Grows 12-16” tall and wide in sun or shade, average to low water needs, requires well-drained soil, fertilize weekly for best results.
Superbells Magic™ Pink Lemonade calibrachoa
There are loads of brilliantly colored Superbells® calibrachoa including Coral Sun, Blackcurrant Punch™ and the multicolored Superbells Magic™ Pink Lemonade, pictured here. Their small petunia-like flowers are produced in great abundance, making them easy to spot from a distance. See all Superbells calibrachoa.
Due to their need for well-drained, acidic soil, calibrachoa grow better in hanging baskets, window boxes and upright containers instead of in the ground. Pair multiple shades of calibrachoa together or mix with spiller like big leaf creeping wire vine and cascading vinca.
Grows 6-12” tall x 12-24” trailing in full sun to part sun, average water needs, prefers for the soil to dry out a bit between waterings, fertilize weekly for best results.
ColorBlaze® Sedona Sunset® coleus
Like Superbells, ColorBlaze coleus also comes in a myriad of rich colors ranging from red to orange, pink, purple and chartreuse. Some of the most brilliant you’ll find are ColorBlaze® Royale Apple Brandy®, ColorBlaze® Mini Me™ Watermelon and ColorBlaze® Sedona Sunset®, pictured here. All are bred to grow well in both your sunniest landscapes and shadiest containers, so you can confidently set your whole garden ablaze in colorful coleus. See all ColorBlaze coleus.
Coleus pairs well with just about any other plant in landscapes – making them great flowers for front yards. In containers, plant with vigorous companions like Supertunia® petunias, Surefire® begonias and Sweet Caroline sweet potato vines.
Size varies by variety, sun or shade, average water needs, add continuous release fertilizer to the soil at planting time, deer resistant.
SunPatiens® Compact Hot Pink New Guinea impatiens paired with ColorBlaze® Lime Time® coleus and Surefire® White begonias in part sun
If you’re looking to paint the edge of a garden bed with vivid color, consider planting SunPatiens. Their huge blooms blanket mounded plants which spread up to two feet wide. Paired here with coleus and begonias, all three require less frequent feeding than flowers like petunias and bedding impatiens. Grouping plants with similar cultural needs simplifies maintenance.
This pairing of annuals would thrive in full sun to part shade and average to moist soil in most climates.
Rockapulco® Coral Reef double impatiens
Few plants provide such vibrant splashes of color in partial to full shade like Rockapulco® double impatiens. With blossoms like miniature roses, they evoke the romantic feel of an old English or cottage garden. Try planting a few among the hostas and ferns in your shade garden or fill a whole basket or window box. If Coral Reef isn’t your jam, try another of the many brilliant colors in the series.
This type of impatiens is more shade loving than SunPatiens and blooms best with weekly fertilizing. Pair with Heart to Heart® caladiums, Summer Wave® wishbone flower and ivy.
Matures to 10-20” tall x 12-24” wide in part shade to full shade with consistent moisture and feeding.
Supertunia Vista® Jazzberry® petunia
Supertunia® petunias are known for their flashy blooms, but one of the most brilliant of them all is the newest member of the Vista series, Supertunia Vista® Jazzberry®. This is a color you’ll have to see to believe. The electric magenta purple blossoms can look more pink or purple on sunny or cloudy days, or in the morning or afternoon light. Count on Jazzberry to form a carpet of color like all the Supertunia Vista petunias you’ve come to love.
Perfect for filling space in landscapes, and great flowers for front yards, large hanging baskets and upright containers. Pair only with other very vigorous companions like other Supertunia Vista petunias, Toucan® canna and Sweet Caroline sweet potato vines.
Grows 1-2’ tall x 2-3’ wide in full sun to part sun and average moisture, fertilize weekly for best results.
Rockin’® Playin’ the Blues® salvia with Supertunia Vista® Jazzberry® petunia and GoldDust® Mecardonia
Here’s another supersized annual that’s easy to pick out from across the yard. Rockin’ Playin’ the Blues salvia stands up to four feet tall, topped with long, bright indigo blue flower spikes that keep right on coming all season without deadheading. It’s one of the last annuals to finish in fall and delivers so much for so little. Pollinators of all kinds flock to Rockin’ Playin’ the Blues salvia.
Best planted in the ground given its very large stature, or with other vigorous companions like Supertunia Vista petunias in large upright containers. Great flowers for front yards.
Grows 2-4’ tall x 18-30” wide in full sun and average to slightly drier soils, add continuous release fertilizer to the soil at planting time, deer resistant.
Superbena® Red verbena
Here’s a series of annuals that we think deserves to be planted more extensively, not only for their prismatic blossoms but also for their durability and attractiveness to pollinators. Superbena verbena are disease resistant and self-cleaning, becoming covered in large clusters of flowers that come in a broad array of colors. Some of the most brilliant varieties include Superbena Red, pictured here, along with Superbena Raspberry and Superbena Cobalt.
Plant as an annual flowering groundcover or grow in hanging baskets, window boxes and upright containers. Pair with Superbells calibrachoa, Luscious lantana and Mezoo Trailing Red Aptenia.
Grows 6-12” tall x 18-30” wide in full sun to part sun and average to drier soils, feed weekly for best results, deer resistant.
BRILLIANT PERENNIALS
‘Visions’ astilbe
If you garden in shade, you need astilbe! It makes the perfect companion for hostas, ferns and other shade lovers, plus it draws in pollinators while being completely uninteresting to deer and rabbits. No matter which variety you choose, you’ll enjoy the sweetly scented plumes for several weeks in early to midsummer. We love ‘Visions’ Chinese astilbe for its extra-plump, raspberry colored flowers as well as its greater drought tolerance. See all of our astilbe.
Grows 14-16” tall x 12-15” wide, best in part sun but can handle more sun in cooler zones, also grows in full shade; shines with consistent moisture but can tolerate some dryness, hardy in zones 4-9.
Rainbow Rhythm® ‘Ruby Spider’ daylily
When you see this daylily in person, it will stop you in your tracks. Its huge 9” wide blossoms are brilliant ruby red with a prominent golden yellow center that radiates out onto the petals. Nearly equal in their vibrance are Rainbow Rhythm® ‘Primal Scream’ and Happy Ever Appster™ ‘Red Hot Returns’ daylilies. These perennials offer so much for so little in return — they live for decades and can be divided and spread around your yard. Every landscape needs at least a few daylilies! They make great flowers for front yards. See all of our daylilies.
Size varies by variety, ‘Ruby Spider’ stands 3’ tall in bloom, full sun to part sun, average soil and moisture, hardy in zones 3-9.
Summerific® ‘Evening Rose’ rose mallow
A total showstopper in the late summer garden, rose mallow produces some of the largest flowers of any hardy perennial, often measuring 8-9” across. You’ll find them blooming in shades of pink, red and white, including some with dark foliage that really makes the colors pop. You can’t go wrong with any of the amazing rose mallow we offer, but some of the most brilliant include Summerific ‘Evening Rose, pictured here, as well as Summerific ‘Holy Grail’ and ‘Candy Crush’.
Size varies by variety but generally ranges from 3-4’ tall x 3-5’ wide, best in full sun, consistent moisture is key, hardy in zones 4-9.
Pyromania® ‘Orange Blaze’ red hot poker
The unique torchlike form of red hot pokers makes them stand out in the landscape and easy to spot from a distance. Blooming in shades of red, orange and yellow, it’s tough to choose which is most brilliant but Pyromania ‘Orange Blaze’ certainly turns heads. Hummingbirds, butterflies and bees rarely miss this perennial when in bloom. When not flowering, you’ll enjoy its strappy grasslike foliage. See all of our red hot poker varieties.
Grows 2.5-3.5’ tall x 1.5-2.5’ wide in full sun and average to drier soils without much fertilization, deer and rabbit resistant, hardy in zones 5b-9.
Westcountry™ ‘Manhattan Lights’ lupine
Lupines are eye candy for the landscape, and the Westcountry series includes some extraordinary new colors and bicolors like the burgundy purple and yellow cultivar, ‘Manhattan Lights’, pictured here. Its massive flower spikes are presented on sturdy, 2-3’ tall stems every year in late spring to early summer, bridging the gap between spring and summer flowering perennials.
Grows 2-3’ tall x 2’ wide in full sun and average to drier soils that are well-drained, deer and rabbit resistant, hardy in zones 4-9.
‘Little Goldstar’ black-eyed Susan
It’s easy to spot a mass planting of brilliant golden yellow black-eyed Susans from a distance, so if you need a bright splash of color that will persist from midsummer into fall, give them a try. They’ll keep your vases full of fresh cut blooms for months, too. We love this compact dome-shaped variety named ‘Little Goldstar’ for its prolific blooms and tidier habit, plus it is less likely to seed all over the yard.
Grows 1-2’ tall and wide in full sun to part shade and average soil including clay soil, deer resistant, hardy in zones 4-10.
BRILLIANT SHRUBS
Double Take® Scarlet quince
If there was any question of this shrub’s brilliance, consider that it was named because it literally made the breeders do a “double take” when they walked by. Its gorgeous scarlet red, double blooms are shaped like roses, borne all the way up the stems that have no thorns like true roses and other quince plants. You will look forward to seeing these blooms every spring, as they will be one of the first shrubs to flower in your front yard or landscape. See all the colors in the Double Take series.
Grows 4-5’ tall and wide in full sun and average to drier soils with little fertilization needed, hardy in zones 5-9.
Show Off Starlet® forsythia
Every garden needs at least one forsythia to mark the official beginning of spring. Their sunny yellow blooms are unmistakable even from a distance, and with the Show Off® series, you’ll get flowers from top to bottom. Pictured here is the mid-sized variety, Show Off Starlet forsythia which stands 2-3’ tall in bloom. Need something taller for screening? Plant the original Show Off®. Prefer something even shorter? Choose Show Off® Sugar Baby®. There’s a forsythia for every space!
Grows in full sun to part sun and average soil in zones 5-8 with little fertilization needed, deer resistant.
Let’s Dance ¡Arriba!® reblooming hydrangea
From across the yard, you’ll spot this gorgeous mophead hydrangea that’s the most reliable, abundant reblooming variety we’ve seen. Thanks to both bigleaf and mountain hydrangea parentage, it produces large, full blossoms from extra-cold hardy buds, even in zone 4. This hydrangea is also quick to rebloom, so once its first round of flowers is spent, you’ll see a fresh round of blooms start to appear after a short rest. Depending on your soil chemistry, the flowers may bloom bright pink, purple or blue. A great flower for front yards!
Grows 2-3’ tall and wide in full sun to part shade in cooler climates, best with some afternoon shade in warmer climates, hardy in zones 4-9, average to consistent moisture, fertilize in spring with Rose-Tone.
Fire Light Tidbit® panicle hydrangea with Double Play® Candy Corn® spirea
These two best-in-class shrubs will turn heads in spring, summer and fall! The show begins with the brilliant scarlet emerging leaves of Double Play Candy Corn spirea which continue to shift colors through the seasons. Summertime will bring purple-pink spirea blossoms and masses of fluffy white hydrangea panicles on a dwarf statured plant. As the nights begin to cool in early fall, Fire Light Tidbit’s blooms blush a deep pink that persists until frost.
Grows in full sun to part sun and average, well-drained soil, feed in spring with a general shrub fertilizer. Fire Light Tidbit panicle hydrangea grows 2-3’ tall x 3’ wide in zones 3-8. Double Play Candy Corn spirea grows 1.5-2.5’ tall and wide in zones 4-8.
Oso Easy En Fuego™ rose
Like red hot embers, the fiery orange blossoms of this show-stopping landscape rose will catch your eye every day it’s in bloom all summer long. What makes it even more special is its yellow and red bicolor flower buds, with all three super-saturated colors present on the plant at once. Clip them in any stage you’d like to enjoy in a vase indoors. Like all Oso Easy roses, this low maintenance rose is disease resistant and requires no deadheading.
Grows 3-4’ tall x 3’ wide in full sun with average moisture, feed with Rose-Tone in early spring, hardy in zones 4-9.
- Categories: Annual Flowers, Flowering Shrubs, Garden Perennials
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