Pam and Karly,
You can have color late into the year if you add certain plants to your garden. I read Pam Duthie's book, Continuous Bloom (almost certainly in your local library) and she has lists of plants that bloom for months. I have nepeta, verbena and salvia (the big three for months of color if you deadhead) in my garden. The other trick is self seeding annuals. You put them in once, and they come back every year - you just pull out the excess. Old fashioned impatiens balsamina (I got a color mix years ago and separated the red and purple seeds), verbena bonariensis and nicotiana alata provide wonderful color - and they start blooming in late July (about now in my zone). I have morning glories growing up my thalactrum rochebrunianum - a purple meadow rue that is six feet tall, doesn't require staking, and is hardy in zone 5a.
Also, Casa Blanca lilies bloom now. Also double feverfew. I have white and blue borage that also self seeds and blooms continuously - again, you just pull out the excess and the spent sections. And, oh yes, four o'clocks. They are starting to bloom in fushcia and purple. And my gladiolas are starting to bloom.
I'm at work in downtown Chicago at the moment, but when I get home I'll take some pics and post them.
Donna
Finally, blooms in my garden!
Oh, that delphinium is bee-yoo-ti-full! Isn't there a whole strain of them specifically bred in the Pacific NW?
Most of those technical questions are on the plants tag or in PF already. Say, if you know it's a Delphinium, PF should figure out what family and uncles and aunts and grandparents.
Jo, like carrielamont said, maybe you find some of the technical stuff on the plants tag or from plantfiles. I'm like you, don't know a lot of that technical stuff.... I just know it's a delphinium! It is gorgeous.
Donna, can we see a picture of your garden, too? Please?! :)
Hi Karly - sure!
Stuff that blooms when nothing is in bloom. This is my peony bed. The 8 peonies are gone, although the attractive leaves remain, but verbena bonariensis in purple and nicotiana in white carry on.
There are lilacs in the background, and the glads in this bed haven't come up yet, but there is still color.
This is next to the garage on the north side of my house. I don't want to spend a lot of energy on it, so the plants have to be easy. The purple fluffy stuff is thalictrum rochebrunianum Lavendar Mist. It's blooming, and still growing, and goes not need staking. Some morning glories found their way into the bed, so I give them bamboo poles for support so they don't strangle other plants.The pink plant in the middle and rear is anemone robustisima, which blooms in July/August. I also have a white form in the front of my house that blooms in September/October, except in the front there are far more plants. The red stuff at the ground is self-seeded garden balsam. It's just starting to bloom. There musy be 20 self=seeded plants in that bed.
Earlier in the year I have white Jacob's ladder. After bloom it looks like a fern.
A closer look.
While I'm waiting for the pink glads in this bed to bloom, the nicotianas steal the show. They self-seed, and I pull ou the excess. Those are fothergilla gardenii in the background.
The first of the four o'clocks. Those stalks are red glads that are just staring to bloom.
See the intense color of the glads? I have about 15. I dig them up every year and then put them back in. Keeps your costs down.
Here is what the same bed looked like 2 weeks ago. Grasses, drumstick alliums and the buds of the lily Anastasia.
Whoops! Wrong image. Please see below.
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This message was edited Aug 2, 2008 7:36 AM
And here's how the peony bed looked two weeks ago, with saponaria bouncing bet and blue cynoglossum (self seed! YES!)
THIS is what the glad bed looked like 2 weeks ago. In the spring I have multiflowering tulips there. I dig 'em up, put in glads, put the same tulips back in the fall, store the glads. The tulips actually multiply because they originate in Turkey, where it's dry, and they decline because we get too much moisture in the summer.
OK Karly?
Can't leave out the Casa Blanca lilies!
Wow. So pretty Donna. Thanks to everyone for all your suggestions. I went out and bought some heliopsis "ballerina" (Yes,I'm adding yellow to my pink/blue/purple scheme - call me crazy!) and some anemones. It's raining now, but I'll take pictures later. I feel a little better. Thanks everyone!
Pam
Gorgeous, Donna! Your beds have such a delicate, airy look to them. Just love it! Thanks for sharing all the photos. :D
Here are some pics with my new heliopsis. My anemones are also planted behind the white vinca and finished johnson blue geraniums, but they aren't blooming yet, so you probably can't see them.
I'm really warming up to the yellow color. Who knows, maybe next year I'll get all wild and add some orange!
And next year, I'll be better about looking out for pests so that my poor butterfly bush can bloom. I feel so much better. Nothing like a little plant shopping to help you get out of a funk.
Thanks to everyone for all your support!
Here is part of my wild sungarden. BEV
Pam - I love the splashes of yellow in your garden! I never considered it one of my favorite flower colors until I saw how well it stood out in the garden and how visible it was from a distance. Your gardens look wonderful! I can't imagine why you were feeling depressed about them. Silly gardener! ;)
Bev - Wow, that's very pretty! You really did capture the wild/prairie look. I think your garden is wild sun garden is beautiful!
Thank you. I don't know how many diff things there are that you can't see but there is a lot. BEV Here is my pond garden and shade garden behind that. BEV
Everyone's gardens are lovely! Next year I will weed more sooner, before it becomes as much of a problem as it has this year! Donna, I've gotta go look up some of your plants!!!!
Pam,
There are no rules. We have pretty much the same color scheme, and there is no reason why you can't add yellow. Blue, white and yellow is the classic palette. Pink goes with them all. Just trust your eye (which is great!) I have a bed with creamy yellow nasturtiums. It's your world.
Donna
Here is my shade garden in progress behind my fish ponds. BEV
OK, Donna, now I know what you're talking about!
Bev,
I love the way you have COMPLETELY different themes for your sun and shade areas. Very cool!
Donna
Thankyou Donna, I have 9 other areas that are smaller. My fish ponds are the next big one.
Bev,
Do you have pics of your other areas? I'd love to see them. Pretty please?
Donna
There are SO MANY pictures of delphinium in Plant Files, but not a lot of posts in forums. I'd like to have a Delphinium Forum. If you would like one too, go to this spot http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/886367/ and post a reply registering your opinion.
TIA
LAS
Well, it's been about a month now since I returned to a garden that was crispy from lack of water, and with a butterfly bush that was budding brown since it was infested with spider mites. After treating with neem oil, and watering faithfully, it's looking a little better. Here are some pics.
middle
another
I like to call this the little david who could. This phlox david was brown and crispy in July. I didn't think it would survive. I cut it in half, and it leafed out again, and bloomed! Unbelievable.
This butterfly bush was infested with spider mites. It had buds on it in July, but the buds would turn brown before it could bloom. I treated it with neem oil, and now a few weeks later, it's flowering pretty nicely considering it was in such bad shape a few weeks ago.
I rescued this sad little razzmatazz on sale for $4.00 a few weeks ago, planted it, and cut it to the ground. Now it's blooming. The resiliance of plants just amazes me.
This scabiosa has been blooming since May! It's a little scraggly at this point, but it's still blooming. This is the longest blooming plant I have in my garden.
When I was sad about my July garden, I bought some anemones to add to it. They are blooming now.
I want to thank you guys for all your help and suggestions when I was so sad about my garden this summer. If it weren't for you guys I think I would have thrown in the trowel. Okay, that was a pretty bad pun, but I am really thankful for all your help and suggestions.