urban growth
Delights of a midsummer garden
Some days, the best part of a football game can be the halftime show.
So, too, the summer garden. This weekend marks the halfway point through the gardening season. For many of us, the best is yet to come.
If you missed the colour and fragrance of early season - the peonies, lilacs and crab apples - no worries. There is plenty more where that came from. And there is lots of time to enjoy the second half.
With the bonus of cooler nights and increased hummingbird activity, as they move down from the boreal forest and butterflies to beat the band, we would argue that this is the best time of year not to take a vacation, as you will risk missing the real action.
Here are our top perennial flowering picks for August through October performance: Turtle head. Cherone corsuta. Watching the pink flowering panicles push their way through the top of a sturdy upright green plant is like watching a turtle’s head slowly emerge from its shell. The flowers stick around for weeks, well into early fall, attracting bees and hummingbirds as they show off. 60 cm tall. Sun. Indian feather. Gaura. A fine border plant that frequently garners questions and comments from visitors to Mark’s garden. Standing about 70 cm tall, the long flowering stems of Gaura feature a string of fine, pink or purple flowerets that bow as you walk past. Sun to part sun. Plantain lily. Hosta. An extensive family of over 9,000 varieties. Shade and part sun loving, they are best known for their stunning foliage. Some varieties produce a tall spike of flowers that are equally showy and attractive to hummingbirds in August and September. Our favourite varieties include:
›Island Breeze. Gold/green foliage, 30 cm tall.
›Fragrant Blue. Blue-on-blue foliage. And you didn’t think of hosta for
fragrance, ›Praying did Hands. you? 50 Green-on-cream cm tall. foliage. the Year 45 in 2011. cm tall. Yes, The there Hosta is a big of competition each year for this position. Have a close look and say one for us while you are down there. Ligularia. The Rocket. Well -named, as they spike skyward and announce the second half of the season with a flare. Bright yellow flowers on tall stems about a metre-and-a-half high. Add some drama to your garden with Ligularia. Part sun, damp soil is best. Heliopsis. A daisy-like flower that stands about a metre tall. Perfect for those spaces in your garden where you want a splash of colour without it dominating your yard. Blooms August through September. Sun. Two metres tall. Fall asters. The New England aster is generally available in a stunning blue- or magenta-flowering plant. It is native to eastern Canada, in spite of its name, and it is very winter hardy. Plant now, while in bud and enjoy the blossoms for four to six weeks. Sun. Black-eyed Susan. Rudbeckia hirta. Looking for a minimal-maintenance, flowering plant that attracts butterflies (each flower is a great “helicopter” pad) and comes back year after year? Mark’s garden is dominated with these come late summer and he loves them. You will want to dig back the roots each year after a couple of seasons in your garden as it does move aggressively through the soil. Grows to two-to-one metres high. Sun.
Japanese anemone. Here is a gorgeous flowering plant that stands about hip-high - or a metre tall - and produces masses of large, creamywhite, buttercup-shaped flowers. One plant will fill a substantial space in your garden as they grow about a metre-and-a-half wide. This is another spreading perennial that will root elsewhere, so don’t hesitate to dig it out and give away the young plants or move them around your garden each spring.
Your options for late summer colour are not limited to our favourites. Look for popular winter-hardy perennials and plan to plant soon. Midsummer planting makes perfect sense if you keep new plants adequately watered. Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author, broadcaster, tree advocate and holds the Order of Canada. His son Ben is a fourth-generation urban gardener and graduate of University of Guelph and Dalhousie University in Halifax. Follow them at markcullen.com, @markcullengardening, on Facebook and bi-weekly on Global TV’s Morning Show.