|
By now, in midsummer, you may find that your garden is beginning to look less fresh and vibrant than it did in spring, with fewer flowers being produced. Our mild climate encourages many plants to have long bloom seasons, but by July, many flowering perennials have passed their peak bloom period. . If you went overboard with the spring bloomers or failed to keep mid-summer bloom in mind as you planned your garden, you may now find that it now needs added color. Annuals can help fill this gap but many gardeners prefer long-lived plants. Here are some suggestions for perennials that are stalwart bloomers in the midst of the summer.
Dahlia - These tuberous rooted perennials with incredible diversity of form, size and color produce truly spectacular flowers, beginning in mid-summer. Lovely in the sunny garden and in arrangements, you can find practically any color but true blue. In cold climates, gardeners lift and store the tubers in the fall, but if your garden is well drained, they can be left in place for the winter here. New cultivars are available each year. Echinacea - Purple Coneflower is a hardy reliable midsummer flowering plant familiar to most gardeners. The cultivar 'White Swan' is just as useful, and a new-this-year cultivar 'Sundown' has coral petals tinged salmon on 3' stems. These plants can begin blooming here in June and if spent flowers are removed, continue blooming right through fall. If the last flowers are left to mature on the plant, goldfinches will come to your garden in winter for the seed, though deer usually bypass them. Give sun and moist soil. Hemerocallis - Daylilies are old-fashioned flowers, giving a cottage garden look to the landscape. Devotees have hybridized this plant relentlessly so the colors, form and sizes now available are truly amazing. Some are repeat bloomers; others are early, mid-season or late bloomers. Check the label or with your nursery professional for time of bloom to get a succession. They are tough plants, like sun or part sun, and regular irrigation. Rudbeckia - Often called Black-eyed Susans, these perennials now also come with eyes of green, gold or brown. They are cold tolerant reliable mid-summer producers of many large flowers, and usually deer-resistant. Check the tag for life expectancy since some are perennials and others are biennials or short-lived perennials. Give sun and moist soil. Salvia - The ornamental sages love the various Santa Cruz climates, and most bloom prolifically well into winter. Available in virtually all colors, but especially blue-purple and pink-red, and sizes from a few inches tall to towering shrubs, you are sure to find a sage suitable for your garden conditions. The flowers are favorites of hummingbirds, and the foliage on some is aromatic, making them unpalatable to deer. Most like sun but a few are tolerant of partial sun, and many are quite drought-tolerant. |
Previous Articles |
Mid-Summer Blooms
Coreopsis - Most people think
bright yellow when they think of Coreopsis, but newer cultivars are in more
subtle shades of reds and plums. C. 'Limerock Ruby' is a deep burnished coppery
red with the narrow leaves, size and reblooming habit of the soft yellow C.
verticillata 'Moonbeam'. C. 'Limerock Passion' is similar but the flowers are
closer to plum-purple. Another newer cultivar is 'Tequila Sunrise.' Single
flowers with golden petals centered with dark red are produced on sturdy plants
with strongly variegated green and cream leaves, though few growers yet produce
this plant, making it sometimes hard to find. Deer-resistant Coreopsis is an
excellent cut flower and thrives here; it likes sun and has low water needs
once established.
