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SUMMER FLOWERS
by gladys
jeurink
June brings the end of the
early spring flowers and now we look to the bigger and sometimes
brighter summer ones.
BEE BALM is putting on its
buds of red, pink, purple, or white from 18 to 40 inches tall.
Red is my favorite as well as well as that of the
HUMMING BIRDS. As a plant it
can take care of itself but is not invasive. It spreads slowly as the
clumps expand. If you take a
flash light out after dark you might find a number of bees sleeping in
the flowers. The plants are shallow rooted and easy to pull if the clump
is too big. BEE BALM can get powdery mildew, so check your label for a
resistant one when you buy a plant.
The gorgeous, blazing red JACOB KLINE is resistant.
CONEFLOWERS (Echinacea
hybrids) of all colors will soon be blooming and there is every color
available. They are usually about 2 feet high and wide. Last year I
bought some new red ones and now this spring they have seeded into many
babies. I will let a few
grow to see if the color remains the same.
If you deadhead you will get a long time flowering. They like
full sun and most will wait until July to bloom. You can find your
choice of color and petal shape but that big cone shaped center makes
the petals show up.
Perilla is listed in
many places as a “pest”. I always let a few clumps grow in various
places because of its purple leaves that make the greens show up.
Be warned—they shed many, many seeds and they all come up. But
they are very easy to pull. They do well in sun or partial shade.
The frutescens genus is called Shiro in
By June the
tall SEDUMS are growing tall.
Mine are in cages to prevent them from flopping in the fall as
the big red or pink heads are very heavy. You can prevent this by
cutting them back halfway before July 4th.
They will then hold those big heads all winter. There is one with
variegated leaves I would like to find.
Another plant
listed as aggressive is the
GOOSENECK LOOSESTRIFE (Lysimachia clethroides) as it spreads by
underground rhizomes. It is
up now and thick but enjoying the rain. The flower heads are long, like
the common name says, white and curved about 12 inches long and covered
with small white blooms. It can get to 3 feet tall and will bloom
mid-summer.
BUTTERFLY WEED (Asclepsis
tuberose) comes up late for me and I need to remember where it is so I
don’t chop it off. It is deep rooted and almost refuses to be
transplanted. It is a bright orange, about 2 feet tall and wide. It
likes it hot and dry. The
seeds fly around so I have had some come up in weird places such as
leaning out from under a large rock but I find it one of the harder
plants to get started.
LANTANA (Lantana camara) is a
must have for me as the
Humming Birds love them. I keep a number just
outside a big window. To keep the soil in good shape, I like to add
compost every spring. They will not do much until the weather gets
warmer. Their blooms are in round balls, 2 to 3 inches across and come
in many colors and many bi-colors such as yellow and red in the same
bloom. The plants are 24 inches tall and 24 inches wide. Some people are
allergic to the foliage and all parts are toxic if eaten.
A tall (up to 6
feet) coarse plant that shows up well as a background is the
MEXICAN SUNFLOWER (Tithonia
rotundifolia). It is a very
bright orange and will not bloom until later in the summer. Painted Lady
Butterflies and Monarch Butterflies like it. Plant the seed after the
soil is warm with the plants about 2 feet apart.
This spring I found the seeds of a
bi-colored corn with red stripes in the leaves. I am looking forward to
seeing if it looks like the package. If it is, it should look nice in a
fall decoration. Copyright 2015 |