Gardening with Allen: Not too late for summer blooms
By Allen Wilson
Published: July 25, 2020, 6:00am
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Coreopsis Moonbeam (Photos by Allen Wilson)Photo Gallery
I neglected to plant annual flowers this spring, and now I miss the color. Is it too late to plant flowers?
Most garden stores and big box stores still have flowers available although selection is quite different than in the spring. Annual flowers are often available in larger sizes like gallon- and 6-inch pots. One plant fills a lot more space so sometimes it only takes three plants to make a nice splash of color.
Perennial flowers, which last more than one year, are available in a larger selection now than in the spring at full-service nurseries and garden stores. Many of them are in bloom so you can see exactly what you are getting. More perennial flowers are now available that have long blooming periods. I have planted many of these in recent years to take the place of annuals.
One of my favorite perennial families is thread leaf coreopsis. As suggested by the name, thread leaf coreopsis has very fine cut leaves and small daisy flowers in abundance. Most varieties continue to produce new flowers as the old ones die and fall off. They range in color from orange to various shades of pink and yellow. My favorite is Moonbeam which has light yellow flowers and blooms from late June until hard frost in the fall. It grows about 18 inches high. A 1-gallon plant will quickly fill a 3-foot space.
There are several perennial geraniums that look much different than annual geraniums. Their flower colors range from pink to blue. The most continuous blooming variety is Rozanne which is a sky blue. Rozanne also grows about 18 inches high. A 1-gallon plant also grows quickly to 3 feet in diameter.
I have planted these two varieties beside each other. The blue and yellow colors are very compatible.
Although they do not come into bloom quite as early, both purple cone flower and black eyed Susan are also quite long lasting. Both of them have daisy flowers. There are varieties of both that grow anywhere from 1 foot to 3 feet. Cone flower (Echinacea) now has varieties with flower colors from pink to orange and red in addition to the traditional lavender purple. Black eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) come in shades of yellow to orange.
Newer varieties of Coral Bells (Heuchera) are grown for their colorful leaves rather than their flowers. Single and bicolor leaf colors range from deep purple to rose, peach and bright green. They are shade tolerant and make great ground covers.
Another one of my favorite perennials is a short ground cover that grows only 3 to 4 inches high. Lamium has spotted bicolor leaves and flowers that range in color from white to pink to lavender to crimson. Lamium starts blooming in April and continues until frost. I have planted Lamium over my daffodils and tulips. When they are through blooming I am left with a nice blooming ground cover.
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