Celebrate Year of the Garden with bold, blooming colours
“Plugged-in colour” is an expression that Mark germinated — and cultivated! — while working on a TV shoot a few years ago.
To help celebrate Canada’s Year of the Garden, colour that pops is something to aim for when planting up a flower display in a bed or container garden.
So let us introduce you to our favourite flowering plants that are guaranteed to attract attention with their plugged-in colour:
Annuals
■ Portulaca. Plant in full, blazing sun and enjoy the knock-’em-dead primary colours — brilliant red, orange, yellow and also pure white — of this low-growing beauty to use as a ground creeper or to hang over the edge of containers.
A close relative of portulaca, ice plant, features flowers that open in the sunshine and close late in the day when the sun is going down. A sunworshipper if there ever was one. Tolerant of dry conditions.
■ Gerbera. Pure advertising. It is like someone wired them underground, in the root zone, with high voltage for colour. A member of the dandelion family, this flowering annual also blooms when the sun is shining on it and closes when the sun goes in. It wilts when roots are not moist but rehydrates like a sailor. Brilliant red, yellow, and orange. Grows to 15-20 centimetres in height.
■ Calendula. Once known as pot marigold, this hardy annual flowering plant produces hordes of bright orange flowers that are suitable for cutting. While it is technically an annual, Mark sows his calendula directly in the ground this time of year as the plants are marginally frost hardy. Matures to about 30 cm high. Plant in full sun. Blooms are edible.
■ Zinnias. Perfect for the frugal gardener, as zinnias grow best when sown directly in the soil from seed. Perfect also for the cut flower gardener, producing a riot of colourful blooms — those on shorter, 20 cm stems resemble pom poms. Zinnas prefer full sun.
Perennials
■ Gaura. A long-flowering perennial that will thrive in your Toronto/ Zone 6 garden for three or four years — then disappear. Gaura is not exactly a true perennial, the way daylilies and peonies are, yet they are worth having for their pure white or pink spike-like flowers.
Line the walkway to your door with gaura and the next Amazon delivery person may just knock on your door and ask what they are. Butterfly attractant.
■ Geum. Not as popular as it deserves to be, geum is a short, 20cm-high accent plant that flowers from late spring to early summer. Tolerant of dry conditions, look for bright orange, pink or yellow flowering plants.
■ Cardinal flower (lobelia). This bright red beauty blooms in late summer through fall — and is worth the wait. Attracts butterflies, hummingbirds and people who love its strong, primary colour. Perfect for this Year of the Garden as we are all encouraged to plant plenty of red flowers to mark this special year. And, even better, it’s a native plant in southeastern Canada.
■ Columbine. An eye-popper if there ever was one. Not a reliable perennial, but columbine will regrow in your garden for at least a couple of years. Matures to 40 cm in height with mixed, attentionseeking colours.
■ Phlox. Creeping phlox blooms around this time of year and is popular as a rock garden plant that easess over rocks and borders, and attracts attention to itself. Pink, white and violet. Summer phlox grows to about 75 cm high and flowers early to late summer. It deserves a shout-out from us since it is always shouting in technicolour.
Take your time perusing the selection of wow-factor flowering plants at your garden retailer, and enjoy the return to vibrant hues and tones as we ease back into gardening season.