The table calls it a tie: Blue Salvia and Viburnum share the crown at 96 and 96 of 100, a gap smaller than the data can honestly split.
Six hours of direct sun is a promise most plant tags make and many plants regret. Everything here is documented for full sun, then ranked on what an open bed actually tests: months in flower, proof against heat and drought, upkeep, and who feeds the pollinators meanwhile.
The picks
The flowers that won
The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.
Bloom season in the sun: 6 months · Thrives when the sun bites: both: black walnut, clay soil, drought, heat, salt, urban, wet soil, wind · Care while it grows: low
Flaws, not dealbreakers:no flaw on record
Deer: seldom damaged (Rutgers B)
96/ 100tap for the breakdown
Bloom season in the sun26 / 306 months
Thrives when the sun bites25 / 25both: black walnut, clay soil, drought, heat, salt, urban, wet soil, wind
Care while it grows25 / 25low
Pollinator draw20 / 204 documented
Also great
Close behind on points. Neither beats the winner overall, but each is the better answer in a garden the winner would not suit.
Bloom season in the sun: 5 months · Thrives when the sun bites: both: clay soil, drought, heat, poor soil, sandy dry soil · Care while it grows: low
Flaws, not dealbreakers:no vase data in the postharvest literature
Deer: sometimes eaten (Rutgers C)
93/ 100tap for the breakdown
Bloom season in the sun23 / 305 months
Thrives when the sun bites25 / 25both: clay soil, drought, heat, poor soil, sandy dry soil
Care while it grows25 / 25low
Pollinator draw20 / 203 documented
The protocol
How the score is built
4 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.
Bloom season in the sun30 pointseight or more months 30; six to seven 26; four to five 23; three 15; two 8; one 3; no bloom data 8 Read from: the months it is in bloom.
Thrives when the sun bites25 pointsdocumented for both drought and heat 25; drought only 19; heat only 12; neither 5; no data 9 Read from: stress tolerances.
Care while it grows25 pointslow upkeep 25; middling 14; demanding 4; sources disagree, we average the range; no rating 12 Read from: how much upkeep extension guides report.
Pollinator draw20 pointsfeeds three or more pollinator groups 20; two 14; one 8; none documented 3 Read from: pollinator groups.
Not ranked here: not documented as a full-sun plant.
The full method ↗
The leaderboard
The top ten
The 10 highest of 73 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.
Thrives when the sun bites19 / 25a only: air pollution, drought
Care while it grows25 / 25low
Pollinator draw20 / 203 documented
Considered, not chosen
Not qualifying is a verdict too: the table simply says this question is not theirs.
not documented as a full-sun plantHydrangea macrophylla, Anthurium, Azaleas and 9 more
The winner's badge
Generated by the ranking above, and re-scored whenever the table changes.
Blue Salvia
The badge is generated by this ranking, not awarded by hand. When the
table changes, it re-scores itself.
How we rank
We keep one table of 85 flowers,
with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is
a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made
it. A flower that does not fit the question is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is
shown. When the table changes, every score and stamp updates itself.
The full method ↗
