Plants for full sun that love the heat.
A hot, sunny, free-draining border is a gift – it is home to some of the most colourful, long-flowering plants there are. The best plants for full sun are drought-tough sun-worshippers that flower for months and hum with bees, needing very little water once they settle in.
First design free · no card needed · UK plants
Designing a border for full sun
The mistake in a hot, sunny border is fighting the conditions – trying to grow thirsty, leafy plants that scorch and flop. The winning move is to lean into it with sun-loving, drought-tough plants that actually prefer heat and sharp drainage, and to plant them a little more openly so air and light move through.
Done that way, a full-sun border rewards you with the longest flowering season in the garden and a constant traffic of bees and butterflies, all with barely any watering once the plants are established.
Plants that thrive in full sun
Your planting plan lists them in full, with how big each grows and where each goes – so the garden in the picture is one you can actually plant.
Lavender
scented, silver and made for a hot, sunny spot
Salvias
months of violet, red and coral spires in full sun
Catmint
a haze of blue that bees work all day in the heat
Sea holly
steely-blue thistle heads that relish sun and poor soil
Verbena bonariensis
tall, see-through purple that dances in a sunny border
Achillea
flat plates of warm colour, a landing pad for pollinators
Ornamental grasses
golden movement that catches the sun
Sedum
fleshy, drought-proof and covered in late bees
Perovskia
airy silver-and-blue spires for the hottest spot
Coneflowers
bold daisies that flower all summer in full sun
See a full-sun border on your own garden
Upload a photo of your sunny border and get it back designed with real, sun-loving plants – a photorealistic picture, full of colour, with your paths and structure kept exactly as they are.
When you love it, the planting plan names every plant, how big each grows and where each goes. Your first design is free, so you can see it before spending anything.
Where to go next
A hot, open border is what Mediterranean planting and gravel gardens are designed for, and it is the one condition prairie planting will not do without.
Good to know.
Everything people ask about plants for full sun.
How does the AI garden design work?
Upload a photo of your garden or a single border, and tell us what you'd like: refresh your borders, keeping your garden's shape, or redesign the whole space with new layout, paths and planting. Pick a style, and we generate a photorealistic redesign of your actual garden. When you love one, unlock its planting plan – every plant, how big each grows, and where each goes.
Are the plants real – can I actually buy and plant them?
Yes. Every design can become a planting plan of real, available UK plants, with each plant's mature height and spread, where it goes and a month-by-month flowering guide. The plans are built on real horticultural data and shaped by a professional gardener – not generic AI guesses – so the garden in the picture is a garden you can genuinely plant.
Is it really free, and what does it cost after?
Yes, you get 3 free designs every day, straight away. Free designs carry a small watermark. If you want more designs, higher quality and clean images that are yours to keep, a one-off Fresh Look starts at £19 and covers your whole project. The £9 Design Pack is a separate one-off that gives any single design its clean image and full plant list, only if you want to make it real.
What are the best low-water plants for a sunny border?
Lavender, salvias, catmint, sedum, perovskia and ornamental grasses are all highly drought-tolerant once established, flowering for months in full sun with little or no watering. They are also excellent for pollinators.
More planting guides.
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