Prepare your garden for summer with gorgeous, brightly colored flowers!
Summer is a season of bright and saturated colors - those that make you think of pleasant atmospheres and long days spent outdoors. We certainly get this perception about the hottest time of the year also because of the colors in which Nature dresses herself: with the many fruits and, even more so, flowers with bright and saturated colors that peep out from balconies everywhere and show off all their vitality in the flower beds of which decorate gardens and the parks.
So, if perhaps you are looking for similar varieties to plant indoors to enjoy bright their exuberant blooms, you can consider some great classics, such as hibiscus or geraniums - but perhaps also some plants that you may not frequently see in the environment.
Gazania (African daisy)
It is a perennial plant that cannot tolerate frost, so if it is planted in open ground it can only survive where temperatures remain mild on average, even during winter. Even as a seasonal flower, however, it is truly beautiful and is worth considering for decorating flower boxes and flower beds.
It loves full sun exposure - like all plants on this list - and is shaped like a large daisy, only it has many more shades on each petal, ranging from yellow to red so dark that it looks black!
Geranium (Pelargonium)
Geraniums are among the timeless classics of summer flowers: we love to keep them on balconies, windowsills, walls, entrances. We refer to them as geraniums when it would be more correct to speak of pelargoniums - but after all, we all know which flowers we are talking about, even if it takes a moment to find out that there are infinite varieties of this plant that sometimes have leaves and flowers with unexpected and absolutely fascinating shapes.
Most of the more common "geraniums" love exposure in full sun and should not be watered too often - but there are also those which are a little more delicate and that prefer a minimum of shelter from direct sunlight during the hottest hours of the day.
Hibiscus
Another summer favorite, hibiscus is one of those plants that immediately make you think of tropical and exotic locations. Also, there are many different species and types of this plant, which sometimes reach giant dimensions (such as the moschetous); and other times they are the variety which becomes small trees or even hedges. Not to mention the infinity of nuances that we can see displayed by their generous corollas: in short, they are a real wonder every time they bloom.
Nasturtium
Now we come to two more "humble" flowers but which deserve to be displayed in such a way as to enchant us with all their splendor. One is the nasturtium, a very beautiful plant: it is considered a climber - even if, in reality, it only has a creeper-like posture. It is covered with five-petaled flowers that typically range in color from yellow to a very dark red, and there are now countless varities that come in a wide combination of colors (as well as the size) - some are even dwarfs! The leaves are also beautiful, being nearly round and with very light veins that spread out from a central, white pearl.
Hollyhock (or Alcea)
The other often forgotten plant that could turn a garden into a beauty spot is the Hollyhock or Alcea. These also love the sun, but they must be placed in a place protected from wind. Although they can be grown in pots, it is preferable that the pot be of very large size, and it is generally recommended to plant them in the open ground. In winter, the branches dry up and the aerial part of the plant often disappears - but will return to grow and bloom with the arrival of spring.
What are your favorite summer flowers?
