These flowers are like Canada Day fireworks
Canada Day is just around the corner. What are you doing to celebrate?
Most GTA festivities will be virtual events this year as we continue with social distancing and other pandemic rules.
And with fireworks displays also suspended in most municipalities, now is a great time to create your own fireworks — in your garden.
We’re talking about using returning perennial plants with outstanding displays of flower colour, and which will just keep blooming from early summer onward. On top of their draw to humans, these plants attract pollinators — and they’ll give you a longer, deeper sense of satisfaction than a fireworks show in the dark.
Here are our top eight picks for this summer’s best show in your garden.
We’ve selected perennial plants that are in bloom now, or will be very soon. Most flower for an extended period. Plant a few and celebrate this great country with us: 1. Bee balm (Monarda). “Bubblegum Blast” is a bright, Bazooka-gum pink. It blooms right through late summer into early fall, lasting eight to 10 weeks, and grows to 60 cm tall. It’s hardy to Ottawa and Montreal, Zone 4. Bees, of course, love it as do many other natural pollinators. Bee balm spreads by root. While we would not classify it as invasive, it does move through your garden. Dig and divide every three to five years. 2. Filipendula (Filipendula rubra). Mark calls this his candy-floss plant — it is that much fun. The bright pink or red blossoms look like whipped sugar in candy colours. Grows to about 80 centimetres tall, thrives in the sun and attracts butterflies to beat the band. Hardy to Zone 5 (Barrie). 3. Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis). If we were creating a list of our favourite hummingbird plants, this would be at the top. An amazing, native flowering plant that blooms for up to six weeks. It blooms bright red and reaches over a metre high. Good to Zone 4. Sun or partial shade. 4. Black-eyed Susan ( Rudbeckia hirta). The famous, long-season, brilliantyellow bloomer with the black eye. The
Goldsturm variety has become the gold standard for a whole generation of Canadian gardeners. It grows to 60 cm tall and looks stunning planted en masse in groups of five to 10 or more, in full sun. Blooms through early fall, for up to 10 weeks, and it’s good to Zone 4. What is not to love? 5. Astilbe, (Astilbe japonica). “Lollypop” — while we’re on a confections theme — spouts a colourful bloom that resembles the spire on a country church. Inspiring! This one loves partial shade and does not like to dry out, so keep it out of the direct afternoon sun. It’s super winter-hardy to Zone 3 (Regina) and grows up to 50 cm. The Lollypop variety is just one of many that are worthy of your attention while shopping for perennials this time of year. 6. Tickseed (Coreopsis hybrid). Ignore the unfortunate common name and plant the “Zesty Zinger” variety of tickseed for bright pink colour that will last in your garden right through to mid-fall. It will hit 40 cm tall and loves the sun as much as butterflies love it. We like the name Zesty Zinger for a Canada Day celebration and others that are mindful of fireworks include white-flowering “Big Bang Galaxy” and yellow-flowering “Big Bang Star Cluster.” Hardy to Barrie, Zone 5. 7. Hosta “Bridal Falls” (Hosta). You don’t likely think of hosta as a great flowering plant, but hummingbirds do. “Bridal Falls” is sun-tolerant, and won’t bleach out like many hostas do, and features a green/white variegated leaf.
Like all hostas, it is droughttolerant, therefore low maintenance. It also clumps nicely, lending itself to digging and dividing every five years or so. It’s hardy to Zone 3. 8. More hostas: “Seducer” and “Striptease.” Just to prove that plant hybridizers are not a bunch of prudes, along come a couple of hosta varieties with some out-of-the-box names. Both varieties flower for an extended period, to late summer. “Seducer” is green/ yellow and “Striptease” is green/gold. Sun/shade, Zone 3.
Our garden fireworks may be slower than the sky-bound variety. But they more than make up for it with their longlasting performances.