? for NW MI gardeners

Greetings to y'all way up north! I have a question for you.

I have a dear friend that lives in southern OH and is a teacher there but summers in the Traverse City area from around mid-June to mid-August. She was asking me what would bloom well during that time period.

I looked up the zone for that area and was shocked to zone 5??? Is that correct? I would have surely guessed like zone 3? Must be the heavy snow coverage and close to the water keeping the ground warm.

Any suggestions you have will certainly be appreciated. Suggestions I made to her which I may have to retract since I have no idea what grows up there were daylilies, roses grown for that area, hollyhocks. I also suggested if she had a friend that lived up there year round, they could scatter some zinnia, cosmo, marigold, etc., all of which would be in bloom during the time she was there.

Thank you for your time and suggestions.

vic in zone 7, almost 8 and has no clue :-)

Hi, I have lived in and near TC for 17 years. Its z 5 and 6 near the water. Summers are beautiful there. June thru august are peak season there for bloom. My irises bloom all thru june, daylilis in july and all others are anywhere in between.

michelle

Thank you so much Michelle. I would never have thought of Iris as mine are bloomed and done by May. I appreciate your help!

I live just outside TC in WIlliamsburg. It's not a 6 unless maybe you live in certain spots on the pennunsulia. I am a 4 here as I live in a valley on the East side of the bays, but the rest of TC and along the bays it a good solid 5 (though this winter we had lots of below 0 days and nights as low as -5 and -10.) This area is really hand to pin down with zones, it all depends on where exactly the property is. In some areas you can get away with zone 6 plants, but one bad winter like this and they are gone for good.

She would be best off with prenninials and blooming shrubs if there is no one to take care of them before she get's there, otherwise she will have dig through the pig weed to find them. My holly hocks bloom like crazy and so do my daylillies. Iris do really well and we have a huge iris and day lilly farm to find great varieties. Fox glove, lupines and delphinium bloom then, but stay away from tea and hybred roses. The Fairy Rose and other climbers and shrub roses winter well without cover.

There are a lot of micro climates out there. One yard will be one way and another yard is a whole different situation. There arent to many limitations except like jylgaskin said the tea roses and other picky ones can be difficult to grow. Not completely though. But they are not recommended for seasonal residents

I so appreciate all your information.

I have the micro-climates too. There are areas I can force to zone 8 and others I can force to zone 6. What I miss most from when we lived in OH are the beautiful old fashioned lilacs. But even they would sometimes get hit by a really late frost. They have lilacs for the south down here but they don't hold a candle to the beauty and fragrance of the ones up north.

I hope spring comes SOON for all of you up there.

Hey, we got LOTS of lilacs up here!

Lilacs are one of my favorites too. They are all around my block in MI. White across the street and and next door. several purples next door and in the backyard. When i was little i had a fort in one of them. It was a huge lilac stand that had tunnel like openings all through it. That is one of the big flaws of the south for me. Some of my fav's cant be grown here or just not as well like delphiniums. I dont like the severe heat either. Im glad I get to go home to MI for the summer this year. Back to Traverse for me. I will be living out on the Leelanau Peninsula from May thru August.

Yes, but Northern Michigan doesn't have the wisteria like the south. I lived on an island off Charleston SC and the wisteria grew wild up telephone poles and over buildings. I was absolutely stunning.

Of course, it didn't smell as good as the lilacs do.

I here it can be a bit invasive here. Which I dont mind because it is so beautiful. Spring frosts sometimes destroy all those blooms in MI. They still grow like weeds though.
michelle

Yeah, wisteria is one of the plants - be careful what you ask for. We have some here, purple as well as white. Thankfully it's no where near my house or garden. It's extremely invasive and the "odor", to me, is more of a putrid sweet if you will. Not the wonderful scent of lilaces.

Sadly, I can't grow delphiniums here because of the heat. My "close second" is glads and they are beautiful and fortunately, the bulbs don't have to be lifted this far south.

What a wonderful group of people Michiganers are, I'm so appreciative of your input.

vic

Thanks vic,
Since I moved to NC i really miss delphiniums. Some people grow them here as annuals every year i have heard. They buy them as 2 inch seedlings and put them out. Guess it works.
Where is Rutherfordtown? Im in North Winston right now soon to go back to MI for the summer.
michelle

We are about 2 hours west and another hour south of Winston-Salem.

I had heard that about delphiniums too but I've never been successful with growing them. My thumb's not real green either. lol

I'm so happy for you that you get to go "home" for the summer. I was able to visit my childhood home last summer in IN and really enjoyed it.

Goin home is always good. I got my last summer job back and it pays well so I figured it would be a great reason to go home not to mention my family friends and garden are there.

cardinal flowers do really well, primroses, all hostas, rose of sharon shrubs are beautiful, and always lilacs love them, hydrangeas some of them have to check the zone... phlox, oh of course i cant think of more right now im having a winter brain fart!!!! Ronna

I had told her I thought Rose of Sharon would do well up there. I have tons of volunteers that come up every year. I love them. I will send her my volunteers. Hosta and plhox are easy too. I've never grown primroses. I wonder if they do well down here. I have grown cardinal flowers. They are so pretty.

Thank you Ronna and I hope spring arrives for you SOON!

I think primroses have a hard time handling the heat in NC. They would definately need a more sheltered location.

maybe but i sure do love there beautiful colors!!!!! they are so so vibrant...

I have tons of primrose. I love them. Looking to get lots more this summer!

i know so di this is a small baby but the only picture of one on the computer.... love them. but then again i love all plants, did you know i and probably you have an addiction????

I have an addiction. no cure, dont bother looking

and really dont want one.... hows the co-op going??? did you find out more info on the company??? love helebors just have a really hard time growing them dont know why...

im still researching sunshine. I may have to switch to pine knot.

Catmint is a wonderful carefree perennial that blooms almost all summer and planted en mass is very striking. It gets to the size of a small shrub. Deer and rabbits also don't like to dine on it like they do many other perennials. I also like lavender. It's another one the animals will leave alone. All kinds of cone flowers are easy and drought tolerant and reliable. I like Russian Sage also and it's hardy and pretty animal proof and has a long bloom time. Perennial salvias are hardy also and very pretty with long bloom time. If she has sun anything in the heliopsis family would look good. Many of the ornamental grasses would make a nice addition or backdrop to her perennial garden. Calendula is an annual that is very prolific at dropping seed and coming back all over the place. It's got bright daisy like flowers in many colors like orange and bright yellow. It's one of my favorite flowers.

These are all easy flowers that will come back year after year and will be blooming during the period that she is up there vacationing.

Thank you so much Loon! GREAT ideas :-)