Flowers for sun.
Following the spring profusion of flowers, my garden is verdant and lush but very few native flowers are in bloom. Each year, I note this gap and think next year, I need to fix it! Yet, here it is. Lots of green; not so many flowers.
This is exactly why garden designers recommend focusing on foliage -- contrasting textures, colors and leaf shape. While flowers are fleeting, foliage is always there doing its thing during the growing season. Nevertheless, I'm looking for flowers!
Wild Indigo
Wild indigo, (Baptisia australis), sometimes called false indigo, emerges in April and by May, spikes of graceful blue flowers bloom for a couple of weeks. The flowers are beautiful but its true value is its 3 to 4 foot high silvery blue foliage that stays strong throughout our humid and hot summers. In the fall, the seed pods turn black and can be quite interesting. Wild indigo needs full sun to bloom profusely. It easily tolerates clay soil and is drought tolerant once established. One thing to remember about this plant is you can’t move it after it establishes. It grows a deep tap root system and moving it inevitably severs the roots too severely. I can say from experience its a good idea to select a location that will not eventually become shaded.
Blue Flag Iris
Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) is our native iris and does best in soils on the moist side They grow in full or dappled sun. These bloom in late spring and sword like foliage adds texture and contrast for much longer.
Blue Eyed Grass
Blue eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) is a one to two foot high perennial has lots of tiny bright blue flowers once established. In my experience, the more sun it gets, the more flowers it yields. It is also will self seed once established.
Honeysuckle
Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) begins flowering well before the gap but the vine will continue to flower right through it. Native honeysuckle is easy to grow, attracts hummingbirds, blooms in sun or part shade and produces bright red berries in fall. It grows quickly but not aggressively.
Wild Hydrangea
Wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) are shrubs with many white flowers. Flowers are just beginning to emerge on wild hydrangeas here. The buds add interest and the flowers are long lasting. While wild hydrangeas tend to do best with some shade they can grow in part sun with enough water.
Your lull in blooms between spring and summer flowers may be earlier or later depending on where you garden. It's also quite possible that you may have no gap at all where you are! Please do share if you have other ideas for filling the gap with flowers!
Happy Gardening.
