Full-Sun Plants: Perennials and Annuals to Grow in Your Garden

A full-sun plant is any vegetable, flower, or shrub that requires a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight to grow and thrive. Since these plants need continuous, bright light to grow and bloom, leaving them in low-light spots with indirect sunlight will hinder their growth.

While most full-sun plants are heat-tolerant, some are sensitive to warm temperatures. Place heat-sensitive full-sun plants in direct light when the temperature is cooler, such as early morning and late afternoon. You can also add mulch to the planting site to lock in moisture and prevent soil dryness.

When growing full-sun plants indoors, place the plant near a south-facing window or windowsill to ensure it receives enough light.

Perennials are plants that live for more than one year, so you don’t have to replant them at the end of the growing season. From flowering shrubs to fruit-bearing plants, many perennials prefer full-sun light conditions, including:

1. 1. Black-eyed Susans: Native to North America, black-eyed Susans are daisy-like flowers that bloom for weeks at a time. Black-eyed Susans are wildflowers, so they require minimal care, making them ideal for gardens and flowerbeds. Their long growing season allows them to stay in bloom for weeks, and they attract various pollinators.
2. 2. Chrysanthemums: Chrysanthemums, also called “mums” or “chrysanths” for short, are a genus of flowering plants in the Asteraceae family, which features a few perennial varieties. They have large flower heads with a proliferation of petals, though there are also varieties of mums that are more daisy-like with smaller petals. Chrysanthemums bloom in early summer or fall and serve as a vibrant ground cover for a rock garden or outdoor walkway.
3. 3. Crotons: Codiaeum variegatum, whose common names include the garden croton or variegated laurel, are tropical plants known for their large, patterned, colorful leaves. The garden croton is a shrub native to high-humidity areas of Southeast Asia like Indonesia, Malaysia, parts of Australia, and some western Pacific Islands. Outside of those regions, gardeners commonly grow garden croton plants as indoor plants.
4. 4. Daylilies: Daylilies (Hemerocallis) are a low-maintenance perennial plant, which blooms during the day, withers by night, and blooms new flowers the next day. Typically, daylily flowers have three petals and three sepals—leaf-like petals that protect the flower buds. The blossoms can grow anywhere from three to fifteen inches across and come in an extensive range of colors and fragrances.
5. 5. Peonies: Peonies (Paeonia) are large, fluffy flowers with blooms containing overlapping petals against green foliage. Growers have cultivated these highly fragrant bloomers for almost 2,000 years—in shades of red, pink, coral, white, and yellow. Peonies are perennials that grow back early or late spring from year to year—some peony plants can live up to fifty years.
6. 6. Sedums: Sedum is a low-maintenance perennial plant with succulent leaves and star-shaped flowers. It varies in size from three-inch-tall low-growers to three-foot-tall uprights; however, most sedum plants bloom red, yellow, or white flowers in late summer and fall. Their nectar attracts all types of pollinators, including hummingbirds.
7. 7. Sage: Sage is a fragrant culinary herb native to the Mediterranean. The easy-to-grow herb has fuzzy leaves and an intense herbal aroma, making it a bold addition to many dishes. There are many varieties of sage, but common sage—also known as garden sage, broadleaf sage, or culinary sage (botanical name: Salvia officinalis)—is the variety you’ll likely want to plant in your herb garden.
8. 8. Dianthus: With its spicy fragrance with hints of cinnamon, the dianthus is a popular cottage garden flower native to Europe and Asia. They are also known as “pinks” because their frilled petals look like a grower has cut them with pinking shears— serrated scissors that create a zigzag edge. Dianthus are usually perennial, though some types are annual or biennial, and they attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and pollinating insects.
9. 9. Hibiscus: Hibiscus flowers are tropical plants available in various sizes, shapes, and colors. While there are more than 200 hibiscus species, the three main varieties are hardy hibiscus, rose of Sharon, and tropical hibiscus. Their vibrant, tall blooms are a great addition to any garden or yard.

Annuals are flowering plants that last for one growing season, meaning they germinate, grow, produce seeds, and die within a year. If you want to keep annual flowers in your garden after their life cycle ends, you’ll have to replant them. These full-sun annuals serve as great houseplants or garden plants when placed in a sunny spot:

1. 1. Begonias: Begonias are common household plants with colorful flowers and lush foliage. This genus of flowering plants from the Begoniaceae family has more than 1,000 species. Some begonia species are ideal for hanging baskets, window boxes, or flower beds, while others flourish indoors.
2. 2. Geraniums: Geranium is a deer-resistant genus consisting of more than 400 flowering plants known as geraniums or cranesbills. Geraniums bloom in showy bright pink (and sometimes dark red) symmetrical flowers that serve as great bedding plants for a garden or flower bed or planted inside. During the winter months, outdoor geraniums remain alive underground via creeping rhizomes—a type of plant stem that grows horizontally underground or across the soil surface—sprouting again in the spring.
3. 3. Dahlias: Dahlias are tuberous plants native to Central America and Mexico. Dahlia flowers come in various colors and sizes, including the popular waterlily, collarette, pompon, and cactus dahlia varieties. Smaller bedding dahlias have flowers that are only a few inches wide, while taller dinner plate dahlias grow up to fifteen inches in diameter.
4. 4. Lantanas: Lantanas are drought-tolerant shrubs with green leaves and multicolored flowers from the Verbenaceae family. They have a woody stalk in the center and bloom flowers from the surrounding canes. Lantanas are popular options for gardens and houseplants because they bloom year-round. When growing lantanas indoors, place them near a sunny window, so they absorb ample sunlight. Lantanas grow best in high-temperature planting zones; in areas with cold winters, lantanas bloom as annual flowers rather than the tender perennials of warmer climates.
5. 5. Pansies: Pansies are cool-weather flowers that bloom in early spring—and they're also edible. There are about 500 different pansy flower species in the Violaceae family. Some of the most common varieties include garden pansies, Johnny Jump Ups, and field pansies. You can plant pansies in garden beds, but they also do well in containers, such as window boxes or hanging baskets, making them a great addition to container gardens.
6. 6. Petunias: Planting petunia flowers is an easy way to incorporate explosions of color into your landscape, either in garden beds or cascading from hanging baskets and window boxes. These popular flowering annuals with cheerful, gramophone-shaped blossoms are among the easiest to grow and maintain. Like most plants, petunias need fertile, well-draining soil, so add a layer of organic materials or fertilizer as needed.
7. 7. Phlox: Some phlox varieties are annual full-sun plants, including Intensia Blueberry, ‘Crystal Series,’ and ‘Giselle Hot Pink.’ With more than 67 species, phlox comes in a variety of sizes and colors. Common phlox flower colors include lavender, pink, orange, white, and red. Phlox also have bicolor blooms, which have an “eye” in the center of each flower or a color shade distinct from the outer petals.
8. 8. Sweet peas: Sweet peas are fragrant flowering plants known for their beautiful pastel and bicolor petals. Historians credit Francis Cupani, a monk from Sicily, as the originator of sweet peas in 1699, but famed horticulturist, Henry Eckford, popularized the plants in the late 1800s. Selecting only the most pleasing cultivars, Eckford created a breed of the plant now known the world over for its impressive display of color and sweet aroma. These climbing plants come in a wide array of colors, making sweet peas an irresistible choice for bouquets and arrangements.
9. 9. Zinnias: With their frilly, full flowerheads on single leafy stems, zinnias make for a spectacular display of cut flowers. A favorite of hummingbirds, butterflies, and summer gardeners alike, zinnia flowers are a low-maintenance, cheerful addition to everything from flower gardens to window boxes.

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