Turn mid-summer garden blahs to blooms
By Dave Marciniak
We’re entering the middle of summer, a hard time for gardeners ? and I'm not referring to the heat. By this time of year, most of our commonly used trees, shrubs, and perennials have finished blooming for the year. The annuals are trying their best, but they can't provide the same excitement and bang for your buck as perennials. It may seem like there's nothing new and exciting in the wings except for fall foliage which is still several months away. What's a flower-loving gardener to do?Fortunately, there are several varieties of summer-flowering trees that can bridge the gap. If you’ve spent any time in Virginia, you’re familiar with the crape myrtle (Laegerstroemia). With its distinctive vase shape, multiple trunks, and blooms in white, pink, purple, or red, the crape myrtle’s a standout in any landscape. If you feel like crape myrtles are too common, you could try a very under-used summer bloomer, the franklinia (Franklinia alatamaha). Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it; most people haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy its creamy white flowers that bloom from July all the way into September. Keep in mind, however, that the franklinia is what I would call an “Adventure-Club Only” plant. Not only does it demand extensive soil preparation and a bit of babying to get it established, but it can be very difficult to find one. If you’re the type of person who likes to have plants that no one else has, and you’re not afraid to take a chance, you’ll fall in love with the franklinia.
There are even more options for summer-blooming shrubs. The most obvious, perhaps, is the hydrangea. Many varieties will hold their blooms well through the heat of summer, providing a lush display of blues, pinks, whites, or even purples. For many of my clients, the biggest drawback to hydrangeas is that the deer find them to be an irresistible entrée. If you’re looking for a summer-flowering shrub known for its deer resistance, consider either the butterfly bush (Buddleia) or the summersweet (Clethra). There are countless varieties of butterfly bush with flower colors including white, hot pink, red, and deep purple. Many varieties can get quite large, but growers have been developing hybrid butterfly bush cultivars that remain as small as three to five feet tall at maturity. Summersweet, on the other hand, tends to be a less expansive shrub, with fragrant white, pink, and red blooms. While butterfly bush does best with lots of sun, summersweet will tolerate a range of conditions from full sun to partial shade.
Perennials give you the widest array of options for flowers in the late summer garden. Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), Russian sage (Perovskia), asters (Aster), and coneflowers (Echinacea) are some common summer-blooming perennials. Sedum is a great fall bloomer, especially the aptly named ‘Autumn Joy’ sedum. By this point in the summer, Autumn Joy has sent up broad flowerheads on tall stalks, but they’re still green; over the next few months, the heads will change from pink to a deep rust or burgundy color, lasting all the way until frost. With so many options for perennials, why don’t we see more in use? Perhaps it’s because when we’re in the garden center in the springtime, excited about getting flowers now, the summer bloomers look like little more than a few leaves in pots of soil. Next spring, make a promise to yourself: look beyond what’s currently blooming or ready to pop, read some plant tags, and try something that may not look like much right then. Chances are good that if you’re at a quality, local garden center, you’re looking at a plant that will impress you.
Hopefully, some of these plant recommendations have gotten you thinking about ways you can make your landscape a little more exciting. That’s my goal with this column: to point out some things you may not have considered and provide you with the resources to take the next step. If you have questions or comments, I’d love to hear them. They may even provide the seeds for a future column!
David Marciniak is an avid gardener as well as a professional landscape designer. You can email any questions or comments to david@revolutionarygardens.com