Summer bloomers

Peony season is officially over and many homeowners and gardens struggle with ‘what’s next?’. It’s a pretty common problem as many of us build gardens that are what I like to call front-end-loaded, which means that they have lots of spring blooms, but less interest going into the summer months. Here are my top five plant choices that will keep you smiling all summer long.

5. BROWN EYED SUSAN
   (Sometimes called Black-eyed Susan or Rudbeckia). This flowering perennial is happiness in the garden. With bright yellow, daisy-like flowers with dark velvety centres, these are staples in fall wedding bouquets. Beware though, these plants can get huge, sometimes over six feet tall. Look for dwarf varieties if you want to contain them, otherwise, plant them towards the back of your garden and let them shine.

4. ROSE OF SHARON
   This hardy shrub brings the tropics to your garden in the middle of summer. With white, pink, or mauve flowers, this shrub can grow over 15 feet tall if unpruned, so keep an eye on it. Unfortunately, the name Rose of Sharon has been used for many different flowering perennials around the world. In zone 5-9, it refers to Hibiscus syriacus. If you want to really have something special, look for the double- flowering varieties, which have and extra set of petals in each bloom.

3. HOLLYHOCKS
   As a farm boy, I grew up with these tall flowers—which is probably why they are number three in my list. Also called mallows, there are about 60 varieties from Asia and Europe that have been brought over for their beautiful flowers. Hollyhock can be grown from seeds, with some even flowering in the first year. That said, most hollyhocks are biennial, which means that they flower and go to seed in year two so make sure to plant seeds for two years in a row to have blooms more than one time.

2. HYDRANGEA
   There are a few reasons that Hydrangea comes in at number two and not number one. First, it’s only the hydrangea paniculata that blooms in the fall versus all of the other varieties, which are spring bloomers. Secondly, hydrangea love water, so much so that ‘hydra’ is even part of their name. You need to make sure that these stunners get lots of it during the hot summer months to ensure lots of flowers. Look for the ‘Endless Summer’ options, which are said to bloom 10-12 weeks longer than others. They often start around July 4 and go straight through to the fall.

1. PURPLE CONEFLOWERS. (ECHINACEA)
   These will always be my number one summer flowering plant because they bring so much into a space. Large pink, red or now green daisy-like flowers start in mid-July and bloom into late September. Not only do they look good, they require very little effort to grow. I always tell my clients to just leave them alone and they will happily fill the empty spaces in your flowerbed. The other benefit besides the merry blooms, Echinacea is important to pollinators and to the healing community. This plant is said to aid in cancer, boosting immune systems and used to alleviate pain.