Mid-Summer Blossoms

Posted on Tuesday, July 6, 2021 · Leave a Comment 

Mid-summer is often a quiet time for flowers – many gardens have fewer dramatic blossoms than in the spring. I have made an effort to have plenty blooming now. It’s true that my Japanese primroses, peonies and Siberian iris have gone by. But I have many others, both old favorites and lesser-known beauties.

 

Beebalm ( Monarda didyma) has started early this year for me. Contrary to what most gardening books say, beebalm does not need full sun. In fact, full sun makes it dry out and go by more quickly. It does well in moist, rich soil but will grow anywhere. This year I planted some wild beebalm, a native prairie plant. Its scientific name is Monarda fistulosa, and some better garden centers are selling it now- even though it is not as flashy as its domesticated cousin. It’s a light lavender in color, and shorter than the standard varieties. It is terrific for butterflies and bees.

 

Campanula glomerata spreads by root but it is not a thug

Just finishing up for me is one of the bellflowers, clustered bellflower or Campanula glomerata. It stands about 24 inches tall with purplish-blue globes of small blossoms. It is a fast spreader, but pulls easily if it gets out of its place. A relative, peach-leaved bellflower ( C. persicifolia) is preferred by some, as it is better behaved. It has flowers growing up its tall stems, and comes in blue or white. Both species are good cut flowers.

 

Feverfew ( Tanacetum parthenium) has been used traditionally to cure many things, but I like it as a white cut flower with a yellow center. Each blossom is small – say half an inch – but there can be hundreds on a big plant. It is rambunctious. It sows seeds and shows up around my garden, but it is easily pulled. It keeps well in an arrangement.

 

Betony humelo is a good cut flower

Betony (Stachys officinalis) is in bloom now, too. It is in the same genus as lamb’s ears, but has green, not silvery leaves, and sends up lovely purplish flowers on stiff stalks that look great in a vase. The best variety is one called ‘Hummelo’, named after the Dutch hometown of Piet Oudolf, designer of the High Line Gardens in NYC. But Hummel means bumblebee in German, which is appropriate – it attracts bees over its long bloom time. Small flowers appear all along its tall stems.

 

An uncommon flower in bloom for me now is called false hydrangea (Deinanthe caerulea) because the leaves are similar to those of the PeeGee hydrangea, although the flowers are totally different. This gem grows in full to part shade in moist, rich soil. It has small bluish-lavender cup-shaped flowers.

 

False hydrangea comes in blue or white blossoms

There is another false hydrangea, Deinanthe bifida, which has white flowers. Both are rated as hardy to Zone 5. I am in Zone 4 and have lost some plants, but others have survived.

 

A huge, dramatic plant is giant fleece flower (Persicaria polymorpha ). The blooms of this giant are a bit like astillbe flowers on steroids. The hollow stems stand up to 8 feet tall, and flower panicles are sometimes 18 inches from top to bottom. It does not spread by root, but each year the clump gets larger. I just cut back a good portion of mine, as the plant was shading out nearby plants. It would take a pickax and a strong back to dig it up – which I have, on one occasion. It likes moist soil and full sun,

 

Japanese iris love wet places to grow

Moist soil is also good for Japanese iris (Iris ensata). In fact, it is often grown in shallow water. I have one clump which has just begun blooming – after all the others. Its foliage is similar to Siberian iris, but the “falls” or petals lie back flat, looking up. It does not like the competition of weeds, I have learned, as we weeded it well early on, and it is going to bloom dramatically this year.

 

Great masterwort ( Astrantia major ) has small domed blossoms in white or pinky-purple that look like pins stuck in a small pincushion, surrounded by delicate bracts (petal-like structures). Deer won’t eat it, and it blooms for weeks, preferably in moist, sunny locations. Each year my clumps get bigger and more wonderful.

 

At the front of a prominent flower bed I have installed lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis ), a tidy plant with lacy clusters of chartreuse flowers, a color that accents others nicely in a vase, or in the garden. It is probably best known for its tidy foliage which traps rain drops or dew and shows them off. It works as a ground cover, spreading a bit each year and providing dense foliage that helps reduce weeds. It will grow in full sun or light shade, but does not thrive in hot, dry soil.

 

In addition to perennials, each year I grow some annuals. Last year we started many dahlia tubers for their big, colorful blossoms, and saved the tubers indoors to reuse this year, and to share with others.

 

This year we bought some canna lilies for their interesting foliage – one variety has deep purple leaves – and bright orange or yellow flowers. They stand from two to six feet tall, and have been blooming consistently for a month so far.

 

If your garden is a bit short of flowers just now, try some of those mentioned above. There is always space for a few more flowers.

 

You may reach Henry at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net. He is the author of 4 gardening books.

 

 

 

Filed under Article · Tagged with false hydrangea, persicaria, purple flowers, Siberian iris

Fall Flowers

New York Ironweed

Almost every flower gardener has great June flowers: peonies are dramatic and go well with the Siberian iris that bloom at the same time. Bachelor buttons are blooming and poppies are popping out everywhere. But now, in September, some gardens have plenty of green but lack color. It need not be that way.

The first and easiest “quick fix” are the chrysanthemums that are for sale everywhere. Although many are sold as “perennial”, I treat them as annuals. That is because it order to get a clump of mums to have hundreds of blossoms, someone has to cut back the growing stems at least once, and probably twice.

After cutting them back in June, each stem sends out two or more new branches, each of which should flower. But on the occasions when I have let mums come back, I rarely did that. So to me, it is worth just buying new ones every year.

The same technique of cutting back early stems is used for those intensely purple fall asters that are for sale at farmers markets and grocery stores. I love them, and I am willing to pay someone to create that dense crown of blossoms. I often put them along my front walkway or keep them in pots on the front steps. Left on their own, they get much taller.

But what about perennials that come back every year? Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), tall New England asters, turtlehead, Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ and Joe Pye weed are commonly planted. But let’s look at some others you may not know.

Persicaria

A lesser-known plant that has been flowering for me for many weeks and still looks good is pink bistort (Persicaria bistorata Superba, also called Polygonum bistorta). It has pink to red bottlebrush flowers that stand up 2 to 3 feet, rising above glossy green foliage. It is a skinny little flower – actually lots of little flowers on a forked thin stem. Each group of flowers is 2 to 3 inches. They grow, for me, near where my primroses bloom in spring – under an old apple tree with rich, moist soil. It does well in a vase.

Also in bloom for me is ‘Henry Eilers’, a named variety of Rudbeckia subtomentosa. It was found growing in the wild in Montgomery County, Illinois by Mr. Eilers, and introduced to the gardening world in 2003. It is unlike most black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) in that it has gaps between the petals, giving it a distinctive look. Each petal looks as if it were carefully cut out with scissors – with a straight edge and separated from the next, like teeth on a Jack-o-lantern.

Henry Eilers Rudbeckia

Henry Eilers is usually a very nice plant and requires little or no staking. This year mine grew to be 6 feet tall and is flopping over. Each year any given plant tends to grow differently.

New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis)is another tall plant in bloom for me now. According to my bible for flowers, a wonderful 800-page book called Manual of Herbaceous Ornamental Plants by Steven M. Still, ironweed likes full sun with moist acidic soil. I moved mine from such a location to a drier location with part shade. I did so because it was too vigorous and too tall and floppy, when given ideal conditions. Even so, it is about 6 feet tall and somewhat floppy. It has intense purple flowers similar to those short asters for sale right now.

Fall anemones (Anemone japonica and hybrids) are fabulous flowers, albeit a bit fussy. They come in shades of pink and white with lovely 5-petaled blossoms 2 to 3 inches across. I have lost them more than once as they really do not like moist roots in winter, but need plenty of moisture in summer. That’s a tough requirement. According to the book mentioned above, they want morning sun and filtered afternoon sun. But if they are happy for you they will spread and produce plenty of great fall blossoms. I’d say, plant them in rich dark soil in a well-drained location, and water regularly if it is a dry summer.

Another great fall flower is called “showy autumn crocus”, but they are not really crocus. They areColchicum, a different genus of bulb flowers. They look like crocus on steroids- they have 4 to 6-inch flowers on long tube-like stems. They pop up now without leaves; leaves appear in the spring, then disappear.

The stems have little strength, so they generally flop over. For me, they always flop over, except for a few of the doubles, which sometimes stand up. One way to avoid the flop factor is to plant a ground cover like myrtle or pachysandra in the same area. The vines support the flowers a little.

So go visit your favorite garden center. You might be surprised what you find – fall flowers are still blooming.

Read Henry’s blogs at https://dailyuv.com/gardeningguy. His website is www.Gardening-guy.com. He is on vacation and will not be answering-mail this week.

Copyright © 2014 Henry Homeyer

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