Sunny beds benefit from a touch of gold to complement blooms, brighten borders, and balance darker foliage. These sun-loving trees, shrubs, and perennials bring lasting color through golden foliage, cheerful flowers, and variegated leaves in shades ranging from soft yellow to vibrant gold. Together, they add warmth, contrast, and season-long interest to beds and borders in full sun.
1. Touch of Gold® Holly
Touch of Gold® Holly is fast becoming a favorite among gardeners looking for vibrant color in the foundation. This dwarf selection matures to just 2 feet tall and 4 feet wide for a fuss-free, evergreen structure. Plants maintain a compact, mounded habit without pruning. This heat and drought-tolerant cutie makes a colorful accent and looks stunning planted in mass.
2. ‘Sunshine’ Ligustrum
The soft, semi-evergreen foliage of ‘Sunshine’ Ligustrum will make your garden glow. A sterile, non-invasive selection, ‘Sunshine’ provides all the benefits of a ligustrum—deer and pest resistance, easy maintenance, and versatility—without the problem of reseeding. Mass in borders or plant as an accent. Smaller than other ligustrums, ‘Sunshine’ makes a compact hedge maturing 4 to 6 feet tall.
3. Forever Goldy™ Arborvitae
Carry those golden hues skyward with Forever Goldy™ Arborvitae. This upright, pyramidal evergreen maintains a small footprint in the landscape, providing height in even the smallest of gardens. Great for borders and hedges, or planted as an accent in entry beds, Forever Goldy offers a water-wise solution for tight spots. Plants mature to 10 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide.
4. Suntastic™ ‘Radiance’ Abelia
Suntastic™ ‘Radiance’ Abelia is a compact, vigorous evergreen shrub that grows 2 to 3 feet tall and 3 to 3.5 feet wide in full sun to part shade. Crimson stems, creamy variegated foliage, and fragrant white flowers from summer into fall give it standout appeal, while its deer resistance and naturally mounded habit make it an easy-care choice for borders, containers, and low hedges.
5. ‘Real Glory’ Leucanthemum
6. Pot of Gold Little Lucky™ Lantana
Pot of Gold Little Lucky™ Lantana is a compact, easy-care plant for full sun, reaching 10 to 12 inches tall and 10 to 12 inches wide. Its bright golden yellow blooms appear early and continue from spring into fall, until first frost, bringing long-lasting color to containers, borders, coastal plantings, and raised beds. Well-suited to hot, humid conditions, it also offers drought tolerance, salt tolerance, and low water needs, making it a strong choice for warm, sunny landscapes.
7. Miss Lemon™ Abelia
This gorgeous abelia is a must-have in any low-maintenance garden. Miss Lemon™ Abelia boasts brightly variegated foliage with green centers and a sunny yellow edge that matures to a creamy ivory color with maturity. An abundance of fragrant, light pink blooms attracts butterflies and bees to the garden. This easy breezy beauty requires little pruning, is deer resistant and pest-free, and drought-tolerant once established.
8. ‘Real Goldcup’ Leucanthemum Realflor®
‘Real Goldcup’ Leucanthemum Realflor® is a sturdy, easy-care Shasta Daisy that grows 36 inches tall and 18 inches wide. From spring into fall, it produces large, bright yellow, colorfast blooms that bring long-lasting color to the garden and perform beautifully as cut flowers. With its clumping habit, low water needs, and strong garden performance, it is a reliable choice for borders, containers, accents, and cut flower gardens.
9. Platinum Beauty® Lomandra
Platinum Beauty® Lomandra is a grass-like perennial that adds loads of texture to the garden. Long, arching, variegated blades are actually striped green and white, not yellow, but the combination gives the plant an overall golden appearance. These tough, low-water plants combine well with yellow, purple, and blue-tinged foliage and flowers. They tolerate both wet and dry locations, making them quite versatile in the garden.
10. ‘Color Guard’ Yucca
Add architectural style and vibrant color all year round with ‘Color Guard’ Yucca. The sword-like foliage radiates from a central rosette and stands strongly upright, looking fresh even beneath a dusting of snow. The green and yellow striped foliage takes on even more color in winter when rosy tones accent the leaves. Plants are tough as nails—tolerating heat, drought, poor soils, deer, and rabbits!
Golden foliage and sunny blooms are an easy way to brighten full-sun garden spaces and add contrast through the season. Whether you are looking for evergreen structure, long-blooming perennials, or low-maintenance color, these plants offer plenty of ways to bring warmth, texture, and lasting interest to the landscape.
Browse the full collection online to explore more full-sun plants for your garden, and use the Garden Center Locator to find a retailer near you.
