GET GROWING!
SUMMER IS LOOKING GOOD!
In this vase: Solomon’s seal leaves, ferns, purple coneflowers, anemone robusta, phlox, monkshood, Veronica, obedient plant, hosta, hydrangeo and bee balm.
By LADYBUG
When I first began gardening in Canada, I’d heard that it was hard to have colour in summer. Which, of course, came as a surprise to someone who came from a land of almost year-round sunshine and warmth – and a profusion of colourful blooms.
But I soon saw that while my spring garden was saturated bursts of colour from all the bulbs – hyacinths, daffodils, tulips and the exotic looking fritillaria followed by peonies and iris – and fall was ablaze with mums and asters, July and August were pure blah. In fact, a friend who visited us in August once asked if “all those plants do anything” as she surveyed a palette of green from the deck overlooking the backyard.
I had her over recently for a completely different view. Same deck, same backyard, but lots of colour. It took some planning and making note of blank spots, of thinning some of the all-encompassing green clumps and moving plants around, but after some years of plotting and planning, I have got in a good mix of seasonal perennials which provide a colourful summer canvas.
On this recent visit, I sent her home with a bunch of blooms that included purple coneflowers, anemone robusta, phlox, monkshood, Veronica, obedient plant, hosta, hydrangea, bee balm, set off by Solomon’s seal leaves and ferns. All blooming at the same time.
And these are not the only ones. Brown-eyed susans, cup-and-saucer plant (check), Joe Pye weed, trumpet vine and rose of sharon in white and all shades of pink and mauve, are all blooming their heads off. Other than brown-eyed-susans, they don’t necessarily make the cut for a bouquet, but oh, are they beautiful.
Oleanders, hibiscus, canna and dahlia, my potted tropicals, add their own punches of colour.
The funny thing is they are all plants I had in my garden all along, I just hadn’t given them the space or the prominence to come into their own. And as they are mostly native plants that are also generous self-seeders, I have a never-ending supply of seedlings that I share with friends and neighbours.
And we all enjoy seasons of brightness and beauty until the first frost sends us packing inside.