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Last update: 03 Jun 2025

Transform Your Garden with All-Year-Round Flowering Plants

Did you know you can enjoy blooming flowers even in January? With the right selection of all year round plants, there’s no need to wait until spring to add some colour to your garden.

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With thoughtful planning and a proper mix of hardy flowering perennials, you can transform your garden into a paradise that offers something new every month. You don’t need to be an expert gardener to accomplish this. Our guide will help you discover exactly which all-year-round plants you need to create a garden that blooms throughout the seasons.

Table of contents:

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Continuous blooms in your garden
Selecting plants with overlapping flowering periods
Flowering perennials month by month: January to June
Flowering perennials by month: July to December
Tips for combining flowering perennials
When to start sowing and planting
FAQ about year-round flowering gardens
Enjoy year-round blooms with flowering perennials

Continuous blooms in your garden

Gardens and flowers naturally go hand in hand. While most plants flower during spring and summer, with the right composition you can enjoy flowers all-year-round. Especially thanks to hardy perennials that flower even during the chillier months.

By cleverly combining early bloomers, summer flowering varieties and autumn performers, you can enjoy plants that flower all-year-round. From snowdrops and winter aconites during the frosty months to colourful asters in autumn—there are all-year-round garden plants for every season.

Selecting plants with overlapping flowering periods

Try to choose what plants flower all-year-round for each season. For instance, in spring, you might pair Pulmonaria (March) with Epimedium (April), followed by Aquilegia (May) and Lady’s Mantle (June).

Create a flowering timeline to ensure your all-year-round plants for raised beds UK provide continuous colour throughout the seasons.

We’ll provide you with a practical month-by-month guide to popular flowering perennials and evergreen flowering shrubs. This will make it straightforward to select the right blooms for your garden and make planning a year-round flowering paradise almost as easy as pie.

Flowering perennials month by month: January to June

The first months of the year needn’t be dull! Discover which flowering perennials can enhance your borders each month. Of course, you can also decide to place these perennial border plants elsewhere.

January’s winter wonders: Aconite and Helleborus

Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)

One of the all-year-round garden plants, is among the first flowers to break through winter’s grip. From January through March, its cheerful yellow blooms provide welcome splashes of colour.

These flowers only open in sufficient sunlight and close at dusk. Plant the bulbs between September and November in a sheltered spot with well-draining soil, preferably in partial shade.
Helleborus or Christmas Rose

Also one of the plants that flower all-year-round, blooming from January until June with greenish-white flowers. This hardy perennial requires minimal maintenance and thrives in partial to full shade.

February bloomers: Elegant Lenten rose and hardy Cyclamen

Lenten Rose (Helleborus niger)

The perfect all-year-round plant for borders, displays its elegant white blooms from February. This beauty prefers well-draining, chalky soil and a partially shaded position.

Treat your Lenten Rose occasionally with crushed eggshells for extra calcium.
Cyclamen (Winter cyclamen)

This flower brings delightful pink to purple blooms from December through spring. These bulbous plants, ideal for all-year-round plants for raised beds in the UK, prefer partial shade and calcium-rich, well-draining soil.

March awakening: Leopard’s bane and colour-changing Lungwort

Leopard’s Bane (Doronicum)

Doronicum produces golden-yellow flowers in April and May, resembling miniature sunflowers. It’s an excellent border plant that combines well with other perennials.
Lungwort (Pulmonaria)

A surprising spring bloomer that displays heavenly blue, purple, pink, or white flowers from early March. What makes this all-year-round plant particularly interesting is how its flowers often change colour from rose-red to violet or blue.

Lungwort prefers shade to partial shade and pairs beautifully with wild clematis.

April’s iconic blooms: Heart-shaped flowers and ground covers

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis)

One of the most charming all-year-round garden plants, flowers from April to June with its iconic heart-shaped blooms. Standing at approximately 60-70 cm (ca. 24-28 in) tall, this plant is perfect for borders and shaded corners.

It thrives best in dappled shade and moisture-retentive soil.
Barrenwort (Epimedium)

A splendid choice for all-year-roundplants for borders, graces your garden in April and May. This ground cover is particularly well-suited for shaded areas.

May’s cottage garden classics: Columbine and statuesque Lupines

Columbine (Aquilegia)

One of the plants that flower all-year-round, delights with its distinctively shaped blooms from mid-April through summer. This self-seeding plant flourishes in sunny to partially shaded spots.

Columbine serves both as a vibrant garden plant and an excellent cut flower.
Lupins

Lupins flower from May to July with towering flower spikes in various hues including blue, purple, pink, yellow, and white. These stately plants, ideal for all-year-round plants for raised beds UK, can reach heights from 60 cm (ca. 24 in) to over 1.2 metres (ca. 4 ft), adding structure and vertical interest to your border.

June’s cheerful additions: Vivid Geum and versatile Lady’s mantle

Geum

Geum blooms from June to August with vivid colours. This hardy plant prefers full sun or partial shade and attracts bees and butterflies.

Position them at the front of your border, as the foliage typically stays around 10 cm (ca. 4 in) while the flowers rise gracefully above.
Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis)

Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis) displays chartreuse blooms from late spring. It’s a versatile plant that complements other perennials beautifully in your garden.

Flowering perennials by month: July to December

The second half of the year offers plenty of opportunities for colourful blooms in your garden. Discover which perennials bring colour to each month.

July’s fragrant favorites: Phlox and butterfly-attracting Agastache

Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata)

One of the most reliable all-year-round garden plants, is an essential summer bloomer featuring large, fragrant flower heads in white, pink, purple, or blue.

This summer perennial performs best in the middle of borders and flowers from June through September, so it’s one of the plants that flower all summer. Cut back the stems to ground level in late autumn.
Agastache

Agastache is also known as Giant Hyssop and emits a delightful fragrance and flowers from July to September with purple, pink, or white blooms. This plant, perfect for all-year-round plants for borders, thrives in full sun or partial shade and attracts numerous butterflies.

August stars: Long-blooming Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and pollinator-friendly Coneflower

Geranium ‘Rozanne’

Geranium ‘Rozanne’ stands among the finest plants that flower all-year-round. This hardy geranium blooms continuously from May until October with violet-blue flowers.

In 2008, it was crowned ‘Perennial of the Year’® for its extended flowering period and frost hardiness down to -20 °C (ca. -4 °F).
Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

An ideal all-year-round plant for raised beds in the UK. Coneflower is indispensable in the August garden with its striking blooms. The flowers feature a distinctive centre rich in nectar that attracts butterflies and bees.

September elegance: Michaelmas daisies and Japanese anemones

Michaelmas Daisies

Michaelmas Daisies flower until the first frost and come in white, lilac, pink, and purple. Growing to about 120 cm (ca. 47 in), they’re perfect for the back of borders.
Japanese Anemones

Japanese Anemones grace your garden from August to October with soft pink or creamy white flowers on tall, elegant stems. These plants thrive in partial to full sun and attract butterflies.

October’s autumn gems: drought-resistant Yarrow and drought-tolerant Sedum

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

Yarrow primarily flowers in summer, but often provides repeat blooms until November. The flat flower heads in white, yellow, pink, or red stand on sturdy stems and change colour as they age.

This plant prefers chalky, sandy soil and full sun. Which also means it’s one of the very drought-tolerant perennials.
Sedum

A reliable choice among all-year-round plants, blooms in September and October with pink, red, or white flowers above fresh green foliage. This ground cover thrives in dry soil conditions, making it perfect for challenging garden spots.

November’s last hurrah: Towering Black cohosh and frost-defying Asters

Black Cohosh (Actaea)

Black Cohosh displays impressive white to soft pink flower plumes above dark foliage in November. Not black, so the name seems a little misleading. This striking beauty reaches heights of 180 cm (ca. 71 in), providing a magnificent finale to the growing season in rich, moderately moist soil.
Aster ericoides ‘Snowflurry’

We mentioned asters earlier, and several varieties continue flowering into November. Aster ericoides ‘Snowflurry’, a compact white variety reaching just 20 cm (ca. 8 in), is one of the plants that flower all-year-round and suits almost any garden setting.

December’s winter heralds: Snowdrops and early bloomers

Snowdrops

Snowdrops break the winter silence and herald the approaching spring. Combined with the previously mentioned Christmas Rose, they create a subtle winter display in your garden. They are basically the finale of your year-round garden plants.
Christmas Box (Sarcococca confusa)

Christmas Box delivers winter magic with its tiny creamy-white flowers that appear from December through February. What this evergreen shrub lacks in flower size, it more than makes up for with its powerful, sweet fragrance that drifts through the winter garden. Growing to about 60-100 cm (ca. 24-39 in), this shade-tolerant plant provides structure and scent when most gardens lie dormant.

Tips for combining flowering perennials

Creating a beautiful garden involves more than selecting suitable all-year-round garden plants. The key lies in combining them harmoniously for year-round interest. With proper planning, you can enjoy colour and structure throughout the seasons.

Combine heights for border depth

For a visually appealing border, work with varying heights. Create layers to add depth and dimension to your garden design:

Position taller plants (like Lupins and Black Cohosh) at the back
Use medium-height plants (such as Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and Coneflower) in the middle
Plant low-growing, hardy perennials (like Barrenwort or Japanese Spurge) at the front

This layered approach not only creates a stunning visual display but ensures each of your all-year-round garden plants receives adequate space and light.

For a well-designed border, plan for approximately 9 plants per square metre (ca. per 11 sq ft) to prevent overcrowding whilst achieving a dense plantation that ultimately restricts light penetration to the soil, naturally suppressing weed growth.

Utilise foliage colour and structure

While flowers often steal the spotlight, foliage remains present far longer, making it crucial to consider leaf colour and structure, particularly for all-year-round plants for borders during the winter months.

Create an engaging winter garden by striking the right balance between evergreen and deciduous varieties. Evergreen perennials such as Helleborus niger (December) provide a constant green foundation, making them excellent all-year-round plants for your garden.

Furthermore, deciduous plants can offer winter interest. Ornamental grasses like Pennisetum and Miscanthus create beautiful silhouettes during frosty weather, whilst the architectural structure of shrubs and hedges contributes to your garden’s winter appeal.

When to start sowing and planting

Autumn presents an ideal opportunity for sowing wildflowers, mimicking nature’s own cycle where plants scatter their seeds post-flowering. This season is particularly suitable for sowing perennial plants that flower all-year-round.

Some ‘cold germinators’ actually require a chilly period for successful germination, including aquilegia, cornflower, and field poppy.

Post-summer is also perfect for general maintenance. Trim unsightly spent stems if necessary. In autumn, apply a 3 cm (ca. 1.2 in) layer of compost over your all-year-round plants for raised beds UK.

For plants in open ground, a mulch layer of fallen leaves, straw, or bark chips proves effective, protecting roots from frost damage.

Looking to add container plants to your garden? For inspiration, have a look at our guide to the top 20 evergreen plants perfect for pots!

FAQ about year-round flowering gardens

How can I maintain flowering plants during winter?

For winter blooms, consider hardy plants that flower all-year-round such as Helleborus niger (Christmas rose), winter aconite, and snowdrops.
Pair these with evergreen plants for structure, and ornamental grasses to create striking silhouettes during frosty weather.

Which perennials have the longest flowering period?

Several all-year-roundgarden plants offer extended blooming periods. Geranium ‘Rozanne’ (flowering from May through October), Echinacea (coneflower), and Salvia (sage) are excellent choices.
These plants not only provide lasting colour but also attract pollinators like butterflies and bees.

How should I arrange plants that flower all-year-round in borders?

When planning all-year-round plants for borders, consider height variations: tall specimens at the back, medium-height plants in the middle, and low-growing varieties at the front.
Select species with overlapping flowering periods and consider foliage colour and texture.

Enjoy year-round blooms with flowering perennials

Creating a garden with continuous blooms using all-year-round plants for raised beds UK is entirely achievable with proper planning and plant selection. Even during the coldest months, you can enjoy colourful flowers.

Clever combinations with evergreen varieties ensure your garden remains attractive throughout winter.

Remember that gardens need time to establish. Start small, experiment with different combinations of all-year-round plants, and adjust your approach as needed. With knowledge and patience, you’ll transform your space into a flowering paradise that provides year-round interest.

Looking for more inspiration? Then you might want to explore our detailed profiles on different flowers like passion flower, camellia and foxglove. Evergreen climbers are also always an option. Have questions about hardy flowering plants or want to share your experience? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you!

Happy gardening!

Louis Hooft

Founder & Lawn expert

Introducing Louis Hooft, the founder of MOOWY and your reliable expert. With a profound love for stunning lawns and extensive experience in garden maintenance, Louis is here to assist garden enthusiasts in achieving a greener and livelier outdoors than ever before. Count on Louis for invaluable tips, clever tricks, and top-notch products to make your garden flourish!

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