I enjoy caster druids more than wildshaping melee types, may not be optimal, but I like it. With that in mind I do three thinds when not summoning, if the fight looks to have alot of action remaining maybe a buff on fluffy or a twolegs friend, usually an area control/ denial like entangle or spike stones. If things are under control, I eat a sandwich.
I've only had to cast summoning spells twice with my Druid in his 7th level career. Of course, he is a martial oriented Druid (nature fang archetype) and tends to wade into combat with the best of them. Once, I summoned a Crocodile to tackle other crocodiles when I got yanked into a river. The other was more recent. 1d3 (3) Small Fire Elementals to deal with a bunch of spider swarms.
General tactic is to cast Product Flame on my familiar (crocodile domain) and wade off into the fray. While it lays down cover fire for me, I can generally get one more spell off before the melee happens. Armor of the Mountains or Ironskin are my go-to defensive spells. Or Flame Claws if I want to really impress someone.
Barkskin for natural armor.
Bristle to turn natural armor into natural attack bonus.
Entangle for holding down big groups.
Frostbite for fatigue.
Cheetah's Sprint for long distance charges on Wildshape Druids.
Negate Aroma if you wanna sneak.
Snowball to stagger.
Thunderstomp for caster Druids to trip.
Burst of Radiance for AoE blind.
Frigid Touch to stagger.
Wall of thorns for being hilariously overpowered crowd control. Also prepare Greensight to see through it, if the DM rules that it blocks line of sight.
This is basically levels 1 and 2 and it's not even everything, but, suffice to say, you have plenty of options.
I had an archer elf druid in 3.5 that used Point Blank Shot & Rapid Shot combined with produce flame. At 8th level, he could shoot three produce flames per round, each for 1d6+5 (or +6 if within 30 feet), which isn't bad for a 1st level spell.
That druid was the primary spellcaster in a group of 3 (fighter khopesh & board and fighter/rogue/wizard/arcane trickster), so he was built to be very versatile. And druids can fill lots and lots of different roles: blaster, healer, battlefield controller, transporter, scout, tank, buffer, anti-buffer, face, summoner, crafter, and utility magic user.
Cast entangle and then plant growth. Watch them trying to wade at you with their 5 feet speed. Every round new save versus entangle. Wildshape to something with 15' reach. Cast air walk and beat them to death while they are unable to retaliate. Even better if you cast Sickening entanglement as they are sickened and entangled while you tear them apart.
Every character at our table that has access to healing winds up healing the front line idiots who act like they are indestructible. I guess they kinda are, cause everyone heals them...
:(
Smarter choices:
Low levels, Goodberry. Food AND healing, like tiny little tasty potions.
Barkskin is frequently used.
Stonecall. Huge area, ok damage, slows people down. Better than Entangle IMO.
