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Summer blooms’ late arrival makes them more welcome

The Columbian
Published: July 8, 2010, 12:00am
2 Photos
Clematis vines are at their best when rambling up and through a decorative shrub or against a sturdy fence or wall.
Clematis vines are at their best when rambling up and through a decorative shrub or against a sturdy fence or wall. Photo Gallery

July arrived with a welcome blast of heat and sunshine. I have never been more excited to have to water my pots and planters.

From the look of things, the trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals are equally excited about the return of sunlight. I cannot remember seeing the plants in my garden take such a dramatic leap in foliage and flower production in such a short span of time. I can finally welcome summer to my garden.

The repeat blooming roses are at their peak now. By midsummer, the climbing Rosa “New Dawn” is a mass of silver-pink blooms rising up through any garden structure. The large shrub known as the butterfly rose (Rosa mutabalis) is awash in multi-colored blossoms. As new flowers open, older flower heads morph from rosy red to cerise pink and all the colors in between. The yellow ground cover Rosa “Sun Runner” remains continuously fresh with quarter-sized, single blooms.

If planted well and treated like royalty, English-style roses will also perform throughout the summer months. Rosa “Heritage” is easily eight feet tall by now with shell pink blossoms so full and weighted down with multipetaled flower heads that the branches bow in a gentle arch. You can look up into those on the highest branches and smell the rich rose scent of those at nose level. Rosa “Graham Thomas” is the classic, yellow English rose. Its deep yellow flowers fade to pale, buttery cream.

Rosa glauca flowered late this year, like so many other garden flowers. The small, pink petals stand out against the petite, blue-gray leaves and add an interesting depth to the rose border. The blue leaves are also a perfect complement to white clematis such as “Henryi,” “Candida” and “Duchess of Edinburgh.” Rosa glauca seems to accept the clematis as it climbs up through its branches.

Certain perennials reseed themselves and return each year as loyally as the birds that nest in our gardens.

The simple daisy is a prolific reseeder. Daisies can be the bane of the neat gardener or the blessing of the naturalist. I have learned to let them flower where they will and then I pull them out by the roots once the blossoms die back. This way they fill the empty spaces early in the season and once pulled out of the ground give established, emerging perennials room to open up and spread out.

Another plant that spreads itself freely around the garden, but is easy to keep in check by thinning out, is the clear, pink Geranium endressii “Wargrave’s Pink.”

Few plants get the attention that this one does. It has a neat, mounding shape, 18 inches high and wide.

Pull it out of the ground early, roots and all, if it is near a valued plant. It will overpower most neighbors in good soil as surely as it will fill a dry, inhospitable patch of garden where few other plants will grow.

The tall, spiky Linaria “Canon Went,” the structural Euphorbia “Chameleon” and the furry, gray leafed lamb’s ears are also good self-promoters.

Although annual and perennial flower color dominates the garden at this time of year, there are shrubs and trees at their best now, too. The wonderful Spirea “Goldflame” is a great garden performer with its pale, greenish yellow foliage and bright pink, flat-topped flower clusters that float above the plant. Spirea “Shirobana” and “Magic Carpet” are two other spireas that begin to flower in early summer. Their value extends well beyond this single season with garden structure and seasonal leaf color.

Stewartia japonica “Pseudocamellia” is my favorite four-season tree with orange-burgundy fall leaf color, mottled cinnamon and khaki bark in winter, bright new-green leaves in spring and small, white flowers with yellow anthers in summer. This is one of the best flowering trees for the Northwest garden and it’s in full flower in midsummer, a rarity this late in the season. The flowers give this tree its name because of their resemblance to the blossom of the classic camellia.

If you time it right, you might experience a lull in the garden workload as the rest of your summer flowers reach their peak of bloom.

Our gardens are filled with the color and texture of annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees that we picked and planted and cared for ourselves. Although our gardens are special in every season, this is the time of year we would like our friends to drop in for a visit. When they do, take off your gloves, put down your pruners and join them for the best flower show in town.

Robb Rosser is a WSU-certified Master Gardener. Reach him at write2Robb@aol.com.

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