Summer is in full swing! How is your garden looking? By now, there should be many mid-summer blooms starting to appear! Learn more about ten mid-summer blooming perennials that have the most success in a Minnesota garden.

1. Garden Phlox – This perennial plant will definitely bring some color to your garden! Some varieties of garden phlox begin to bloom in mid-summer. Tall garden phlox can grow to be 2-3 feet and comes in a range of colors, including white pink, red, lavender, and purple. Because of their height, these flowers are best used as background plants.

2. Daylilies – Daylilies are well-suited for a variety of conditions, gardens, or landscapes. This beautiful perennial plant is available in a rainbow of colors. Daylilies require no special care and will reward you with blooms from the spring until the fall.

3. Shasta Daisies – This perennial blooms in clumps of 2-3 feet tall and 1-2 feet wide, returning in the early summer and blooming until the early fall. Shasta daisies have all-white daisy petals and yellow disk florets atop glossy, dark foliage. These flowers are also excellent for cutting!

4. Echinacea – Echinacea, or coneflowers, bloom from early to late summer. This perennial consists of large heads of flowers that come in an array of colors. They can grow to be 2-3 feet and are extremely hardy, making them ideal for a Minnesota garden. Coneflowers are also a great way to attract butterflies to your garden!

5. Monarda – Monarda, also known as Bee Balm, is an easy-to-grow, mid-summer blooming perennial that will attract pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, to your garden. Although it brings some friendly creatures in, it is a deer-resistant plant. They are 8-35 inches tall and their flower color can vary from red to pink to light purple.

6. Veronica -Veronica (Speedwell) blooms from spring to autumn, providing Minnesota gardeners with gorgeous mid-summer blooms. This easy-to-grow perennial tends to grow in clusters from 1-3 feet tall. It boasts tall spikes of tiny petals that come in purple, blue, pink, and white.

7. Campanula – Minnesota nights can contribute to the success of Campanula, or bellflower plants, in our gardens. This perennial blooms in June and July, but you can also see blooms into October as it thrives in cool nights and moderate temperatures. The bellflower’s most recognizable feature is the upturned, cone-shaped flowers, and they come in many sizes and colors.

8. Liatris – Liatris are 1-5 feet tall perennials that have attractive blooms during the summer. Tall spikes of grass-like leaves emerge with fuzzy blossoms forming along the leaves, flowering from the top to the bottom rather than the bottom to the top. They come in purple, rose, and white, with green foliage during the growing season that turns a magnificent bronze color in the fall.  

9. Asclepias – Asclepias, known as Butterfly Weed, is a tall perennial that grows 3-5 feet and blooms from June to August. The mid-summer blooms feature large balls of pink and purple flowers that are pleasant in smell. The odor is especially attractive to butterflies – asclepias milkweed is even the sole food source of monarch butterfly larvae.

1o. Hosta – Hosta plants are a great low-maintenance option for your Minnesota garden. This perennial has lush foliage, varying in leaf shape, size, and texture. With over 2,500 varieties of hostas, this plant is sure to be a success in your yard or garden (especially because they can be easily divided).