"Early Spring is Gone, But Hooray for What Came Next"

(Written 8-19-11 by ChristopherK2 for the Uglier Marylanders Blog)

I wrote earlier about the difficulties of finding flowering plants for early spring, and ballyhooed bulbs for that. Today I'll discuss some of the glorious plants of late spring and early summer, which is most everyone's favorite gardening season.

Annuals

Annuals are one of our favorite plants, judging by the numbers sold at the nurseries I frequent. Their flowers generally last until fall, and come in a huge variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.

I continue a tradition Mom and I did for 20+ years by buying and planting a whole lot (81 this year) of annuals on Mother's Day. But you can buy them any time after May 1st or so. I buy a dozen types, and a few of them are highlighted below. But all kinds are easy to plant and grow quickly IF you water and feed them regularly. Just match them with your levels of sunlight and buy what you like!

The Flossflower below develops into a 12" ball of gorgeous, small, blue, aster-like puffy flowers. Here you see it sited in one of my main uses of annuals, to fill in around a shrub that still has a few years to grow.


Next is a colorful Sun Coleus. Coleuses are normally a shade plant, but this one has been bred to tolerate a lot of sun. It's a bit finicky (thirsty), but its amazing foliage more than compensates. Here, I have it partially-hidden behind a bird bath. It'll grow almost 2' tall, and a foot wide.


The Marigold is a garden staple, mainly because it's very hearty and grows REALLY fast. Mine guickly outgrew their projected 18" by 18" size, and thus merged into pretty globs of yellow, orange, and red. I have about 15 of them surrounding what will beco

me a large Kerria shrub.


Perennials

There's a large selection of delightful perennials that start flowering in early June and keep on blooming to about Labor Day. They're a bit trickier to plant than most types, but the instructions that come with them are usually fine IF followed exactly. I add manure and compost to most, and then water them religiously for a full year. Most will peak in their third year, and can then be divided and passed around to your friends or planted elsewhere.

I love my Blanket Flowers! The one below is smaller than most at 18" by 18". Given its wonderful "warm" colors, compact size, and long flowering season, it's ideal for the front of beds, along sidewalks, and anywhere people can kneel down and admire it. The one below is an 'Arizona Sun' cultivar and is nestled in front of a large, dark purple Barberry shrub along the front of my parking lot.


Many gardeners have several of the Coreopsis (a 'Moonbeam' below) to provide a bright yellow accent. The flowers are rather small and boring up close, though. They're generally about 18" high and 24" wide. I've sandwiched one here near beside my shed between two deep blue Plumbagos and in front of a large, plain green shrub. I like contrast! LOL


The Kalimeris ('Blue Star') below is what I call a "spot" plant. You can stick it anywhere you have a small opening because it only gets about 12-15" high and wide. Here it's plopped between two tall, thin grasses. You could also plant a bunch of them together in groups, rows, or other arrangements. It's a cousin to the much bigger Aster, with pretty baby blue flowers with bright yellow centers.


Lastly, the Black-eyed Susan, the State Flower of Maryland. So, every garden MUST have a few BY LAW. LOL They look best planted in large groups. Here, I have four of them in a curved row surrounding what will eventually be a large Osmanthus ('Goshiki') shrub. Be careful because they often DO get larger than advertised. These, in only their second year, are already about 2 1/2' wide and almost 3 1/2' tall.