Monday, July 29, 2013

6 More Hardy Perennials to Make Your Garden Sing

Hardy Perrenials


Hi there fellow garden enthusiasts. Welcome to my little blog. I thought I would share with you a few more pics of my flowers. 

So come along with me on a tour of my garden as I share 6 more hardy perennials that I have growing in my gardens.

I’m always on the lookout for perennials that will bloom the longest with a variety of heights, colours and bloom times.

The variety of colour and heights of the flowers will add visual interest while the different bloom times keeps your garden in bloom all season long.

For a structured garden, you may want to keep your bloom colours down to three. Just like interior decorating, you want coherency you should have one main colour and two accent colours. 

For a less formal garden just go wild. It really depends on your taste.


Purple Pink Cone Flowers

Purple Cone Flowers, Echinacea purpurea.


This first flower is very popular. They are called Purple Cone Flowers. The scientific name for it is Echinacea purpurea.

I love these. My daughter bought and planted them. I don’t think the flowers were meant for me as much as they were for the sheer fun of gardening.

These are great perennials. They propagate themselves and every couple of years they can be easily divided.

Their blossoms are a fair size and if you want a big impact of colour then these are for you. The blossoms come in pinkpurpleredand white.

The blossoms tend to get too heavy so I have to support them with bamboo or tomato cages or watch the wind and rain flatten them to the ground.

Purple Cone Flowers are suppose to flourish in full sun and moist soil. However they are adaptable and drought tolerant. They do just fine in the dry conditions of the heat wave.

If you’d like to attract butterflies and birds into your garden then Purple Cone Flowers would be a welcome addition.

Purple Balloon Flower

Balloon Flower, Platycodon grandifloruss


Ah, the Balloon Flower, otherwise known as Platycodon grandifloruss. It is named for the shape of its buds. Once established, it's virtually maintenance free.

I bought this perennial because I liked the colour, shape and size of the blooms (flower is approximately 1 ½” in diameter). Oh, and because I planned to put it in the garden that has full sun. And the plant only grows up to 8” in height which is a nice contrast to the purple cone flowers.

The petals are purple but they also come in white and pink.

Apparently they are good for borders, containers, rock gardens and cut flowers.

The Balloon Flower is supposed to bloom from early to late summer. But my flowers literally blossom and fade within a few days. I wait and wait all year long for them and if I don’t get out into the garden fast enough, they are gone before I can see them.

Or the problem just might be that I have three little angels who love to pop the buds.  If you look in the picture, you can see some roundish buds. They are full of air and when squeezed by the thumb and pointer finger, they make a funny popping sound which is pure delight to little girls. Unfortunately if the buds are popped, there will be no flowers.


pink flowers

These are so pretty. Clusters of small pink flowers. Every year there are more. These are from my daughter. Mother’s Day gift I think. Definitely want these flowers again.

They are called Arend's Phlox. The scientific name is Phlox x arendsii 'Anja'.

They are absolutely gorgeous. Full color and maintenance free.


white daisy

Shasta Daisy,  Leucanthemum

Its large, cheery flowers and trouble free foliage make Shasta daisy a natural addition to a sunny garden. This clump-forming, perennial blooms from early summer to fall on 2 to 3 feet tall stems. You may need to provide support to keep the taller ones from falling over.

It is a hardy perennial that endures a wide range of soils and is drought tolerant.


These white flowers attract butterflies. 

They are good for container and rock gardening. They also look fantastic cut and displayed on your summer table or dried to enjoy all year round.


Orange Daylily

Daylily, Hemerocallis 'Darius'

I believe this extremely popular perreinnal is called 'Lady Lucille'. It is definietely a Daylily. 

This particular daylily has bright orange, 6-inch flowers that bloom mid to late summer.

Expect it to reach up to 2 feet in height in partial sun with an average growth rate. My Daylily is in full sun and seems to be doing just fine.

Daylilies come in a large variety of colours. They attract butterflies and are drought tolerant.

This flower is good for container gardening, massing, woodland gardens and ground cover.


This was a gift from a friend. I have a few in my front garden and a few in the back. They have such nice big blooms and I am grateful to be gifted with them.


Chive Blossom

Chives, Allium schoenoprasum

I believe this is a chive blossom. Chive flowers are so pretty. My daughter planted a small batch a few years ago and they keep coming back every year. 

This edible plant enjoys full sun and grows up to 2 feet high, blooming late spring to early summer.

They are adaptable to different soil conditions.0

This flower is full of seeds. Chives tend to pop up all over the garden and the grass. That’s okay. They are easy to pull out.

On the other hand, mint is not easy to control or get rid of. I don’t have a picture of these from my garden but take it from me the roots seem to burrow long distances and I find mint in the grass. When I pull on it, I find a long root close to the surface of the ground making it’s way back to the original plant. They also spread fast and choke out the surrounding plants. I have to cut them back aggressively several times during the summer.

You know, I was just going to share a few flowers from my garden, then I started going down memory lane.

I have so many more plants. I didn't get pictures of them all. Bummer.

Oh well. The garden at this house was so much better than the garden at the first house and the next garden will be even better.




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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Want to Tour My Garden? 6 Perennials to Make Your Garden Dance

Hi there fellow garden enthusiasts. Welcome to my little blog. I thought I would share with you a few of the pics of plants in my garden. So come along with me on a tour of my garden.

One of the things that I love about gardening is watching and waiting in the spring to see which plants have decided to bless me with their presence this year. I say this because I've had a few perennials disappear over the winter to never be seen again.

Spring is so green. It's refreshing after all the dreary brown. 


I have a few tulips and daffodils . . .but my granddaughters just can’t help themselves – the flowers are too pretty. The girls come running to me with huge smiles on their faces and tulips in their hands – “Grandma, look what I have for you.”


I just smile, hug and kiss them up as I thank them for the beautiful flowers. I’ll remind them some other time that they aren't supposed to pick the blossoms from the garden. Unless grandma says it’s okay.

Early in the spring the garden looks pretty sparse but as we get closer to summer it really fills in and the plants sprout up from the earth to reach up towards the sky. My granddaughters like to join me as I keep track of their progress.


dark red floribunda, roses

Roses

My roses are one the earliest plants to blossom. They look so nice this year. Better than ever before. I tried to kill them two years ago by digging them up. They came with the house and every year they were so infested and an eye sore.

Once I pulled the roses out, the plants sprang back to life almost immediately bug free from the few roots that got left behind. 

And now look at them. Gorgeous dark red floribunda, roses. This perennial grows in clusters opening up flat with a small circle of golden stamens at the center.


They flourish in partial to full sun in moist soil and bloom from early summer to late summer. They can grow up to 72".



Hens and Chicks

Hens and Chicks

These Hens and Chicks were a gift from Cole. They have been in the front garden for quite a few years now. 

Last summer there were so many chicks that I broke them up and spread them around more in the front garden and added some to the back side garden.

I also took a few handfuls across the street to one of our neighbors. She just so happened to be outside working on her garden and I thought she might like a few perennials.


You know, I don’t even remember her name. Anyway, she loved them just the same.


I love how these succulents look and how easy they are to grow. This perennial grows best in partial to full sun and are drought tolerant. My biggest hen is four inches wide and two inches tall.



Yellow Day Lily

Yellow Daylilies

Now these bright yellow flowers are Day Lilies. I have seen them growing everywhere. Like at McDonalds. And the Holiday Inn. Riverside Park. 

This perennial loves full sun. It blooms from mid summer to late summer and is drought resistant. Day Lilies grow up to 40" high and can spread out to 48".These were a gift from Cole and Sidney. So pretty.

These are all in the back yard. I think they have tripled since I got them two years ago.

Even when they aren't blooming, the foliage is nice to look at.


'Autumn Joy' sedum






Sedums

Moving along, I bought this plant. I had it at our first house. They were a gift from a friend. But because we had to move so quickly, I didn't get a chance to dig up a few to take with me to this house.

These perennials are called Sedums. They include a wide class of fleshy-leaves that vary in height, color, time and color of bloom. 

They are exceptionally drought tolerant.

I have the 'Autumn Joy' sedum. It produces broccoli-like flowers late in the summer which go from light to dark pink - almost red - as the season progresses. And as many of you may already know, red is my favorite colour.

At the time that I took this picture, the flowers have not appeared yet.




Yellow Evening Primrose

Evening Primrose

I think these flowers are called Evening Primroses. They did so well the first year I put them into the garden. They were a gift from one of the owners of the company I worked at. Thank you Fatima.

They bloom from mid summer until early fall and like partial to full sun. And they are drought resistant enjoying dry to moist soil.


They grow up to 18" high·    



This. I don’t know what to call this. Is it a vine? I think it is. I have it growing in a corner by the gate to the back yard. It winds up and around the post over the gate.

It was very unruly when we moved into this house but I trimmed it way back, exposing the vines along the base and creating a canopy over the gate. I think it turned out quite nicely.

It needs a good hair cut again. But I guess that will be up to the new home owners.

White Bellflowers



Peach Leafed Bellflowers

These delicate white bell shaped flowers are so pretty. It has several buds along the stem that blossom at different times. As some blossoms fade, new ones open up.

These perennials are called Peach Leafed Bellflowers. The scientific name is Campanula. 


I wish I could remember if these were from Fatima or Cole. I should ask Cole about them.


The Bellflower loves partial to full sun and moist soil. It grows up to 24" tall.


Wow. That's quite a few flowers. I will have to save the rest for another day.



Well, thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed this post. 


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