Cait's Garden

I do not have the patience for annuals. I prefer to spend my gardening dollars on plants that will last for many seasons to come. However, I am aware of the popularity of “Wave” petunias, and have often wondered if they are really worth the extra money being charged for them. Well, this photo from a family member’s front porch appears to demonstrate, quite strongly, that Wave petunias ARE worth the extra money. On the left are the Wave petunias; on the right are the “regular” old petunias. These planters are located within feet of each other on the front porch, in the same light. Both groups of flowers were planted early in the summer, within a week of each other. If that is what Wave petunias look like in late August, then friends, buy Wave petunias if you are inclined to annuals!

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When looking for perennials that will thrive in tough situations (and Chicago weather qualifies for that every season), look no further than your local field, prairie, pond, or wildlife sanctuary. The best perennials for your zone usually have wild relatives thriving in these natural settings. In the photo above, taken at my local pond this week, you can clearly see the black-eyed susans and the bee balm are thriving in gold and purple. They often differ from their tamed and hybridized backyard cousins in one very distinct way…they are much taller. Additionally, you will sometimes notice that the wild versions of our favorite flowers have much smaller or finer flowers. One example of that phenomenon is wild liatris, which is much taller with noticeably more delicate flowers. In the wild, lots of a plant’s energy is spent on growing super long roots for the water and super tall stems to compete for the sun and the pollinators. Huge flowers are not always the end all be all.
While the hybridized backyard plants offer more variety in color and size, I do think occasionally the perfecting of the growth habit breeds out a little of the hardiness and disease resistance. Backyard bee balm is sometimes more likely to get powdery mildew, for example, than monarda in the wild. Some plants, though, look remarkably similar, whether found in field or garden. One example is Ironweed, which is a relatively new addition to my backyard. As seen in the photo at left, it is about 4 feet of green topped with tiny little fuzzy clumps of remarkably bright purple flowers. Are the flowers worth the wait (it blooms in August) and all that room it takes up? Maybe, maybe not, but I’m still happy to have it because its wildness and impracticality (at least in terms of a traditional garden) amuse me. 

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There are many staples of the Zone 5 garden for midsummer beauty, but perhaps none are more stunning when combined than Phlox, Coneflower, and Liatris (aka Blazing Star, aka Gayfeather…because it’s just that awesome of a flower to have three names!). Whatever your color combo of choice, this trio of winners will combine to make a stunning display of color and interesting textures in the hottest part of the summer. They are also reliable performers year after year. A few caveats…”disease-resistant” phlox often aren’t, so don’t go by what the label promises. Experiment for yourself, and be proactive with anti-fungals if you see a problem. Also, the new hybrid coneflowers sometimes do not perform as well year-on-year as the old-fashioned pink and purple. And finally, I’ve found that purple liatris is much sturdier than white liatris, which tends to flop. But whatever your color palette, you are sure to be pleased with the results when you plant this threesome in your garden.

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A little bit of tropical rainforest mystique accompanies a trumpet vine, even in the Midwest. Campsis radicans (trumpet vine or trumpet creeper) is a hardy perennial and an old-fashioned garden staple that has sometimes fallen out of favor due to its tremendous size and its tendency to spawn many seedlings. It requires strong, tall support and some housekeeping every year. Still, if you have the room and the patience to tame this wild beast, er, vine, you will marvel at its exotic orange trumpet-shaped flowers in midsummer. The hummingbirds will thank you, too.

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Shasta daisies are old-fashioned garden classics. One of those flowers you shouldn’t have to buy because someone will always have extras to share. They also make me smile, and even laugh. What can be funnier on a hot summer day than three foot tall daisy flowers bobbing in the breeze?

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I think delphiniums are gorgeous things. Such beautiful long stalks and such perfect bell-shaped flowers. Unfortunately, delphiniums are delicate and fussy and I’ve learned my lesson not to waste money on trying to get them to grow year after year in my garden. Although it’s not quite the perfect substitute, I have found that tall hybrids of campanula (aka bellflower) can be decent visual substitutes with none of the drawbacks and none of the delicacy. There is height, there are ruffly, bell-shaped flowers, and these bells won’t balk at anything summer throws at them.

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As June winds down, what was a sea of purple a week ago is now some dried husks in need of deadheading. Well, all but the catmint, which is still going strong. Through luck or accident, my garden is overwhelmingly “blue” in June. I use “blue” in quotation marks because almost no flowers billed as “blue” really are. Not blue like the sky, anyway. They are instead, inevitably, a shade of purple. The exception is delphiniums, which really are true blue. Unfortunately, they are too delicate a flower for my garden so I have to take a pass. Instead, I have plants, as shown in the photo, like catmint, several kinds of salvia, and even some highly ornamental clumps of chives (purple flowers AND you can eat them!).  These June bloomers tend to be very clump forming, creating masses or clouds of soft color. It really is quite stunning. Rather like a Monet painting. Now the changeover is occurring between the lush purple early summer bloomers and the showier, taller, wilder mid- to late-summer gang, such as the coneflowers, bee balm, and butterfly weed. What was once overwhelmingly purple will now be dotted with pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows…as it should be in the hot months when everything is more intense.

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Blue False Indigo, aka Wild Indigo, aka “Baptisia australis” is  a pretty phenomenal entry in the late spring/early summer flower category. Its time in flower is brief, but the show it gives is pretty phenomenal. I’ve heard the bright purple-blue flowers that run up the long stems referred to as “pea-like” but I think they look more like water fountains. Deep blue droplets splashing up against the bright green leaves. This is a very tall, vertical and vase-shaped plant. It gets about 3 feet tall. I have a clump of three plants that grew together and they are firmly entrenched in my landscape. They are at the back of the bed, though, so when they aren’t blooming (which is most of the year), they are a lovely green background for other plants. They stay very neat and tidy, too. Very upright, right through fall when they produce very interesting black seed pods. This plant now comes in a few different colors including yellow, but for my money, I will choose something that’s called and colored “indigo” every time.

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These are the pink phlox that have been handed down in my family for more than 50 years, ever since my grandma moved to a house where they were growing. Wherever she moved, she took them with her, and now my mom and I do the same. They are tall, they are pink, they are hardy. I don’t know what cultivar they are. They aren’t crazy and bi- or tri-colored. But they also never get mildew and they always come back just as robustly in the spring. The same can be said for the no-name pink and purple coneflowers and plain old yellow black-eyed susans. Robust, reliable, gorgeous. I have been seduced by many a “boutique” coneflower, phlox, and rudbeckia over the years. Especially the coneflowers…I fall for the fancy ones every time. But this year, I am drawing a line in the dirt. I am no longer spending $15 on a plant with a fancy name, because there’s an extremely high probability that plant will disappoint. It will come back weak next year, or it won’t come back at all. New cultivars are all flash and little substance. Instead I am moving around clumps of the old reliables to fill in the spots where the boutique flowers have faltered. That’s another thing about the oldies but goodies…they make more of themselves! Endless supply! And really, when faced with a perfect pink phlox, does anyone really care that it doesn’t have a clever name?

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Mulch has become a thorn in my side. Or should I say a sliver in my finger. Despite my desire to fill up my garden with growing things, bare spots persist that seem naked and vulnerable without a neat coating of chopped cypress. This is especially true of the long swaths of shrubbery that circle my house. You cannot crowd growing things, especially shrubbery. If a shrub will get 3 feet wide, then by golly, I’m going to give it 3 feet to grow. Cue the mulch! Ground cover can certainly work at times. Sedum is an especially pleasant and well-behaved ground cover. But I’d need about a truckload of sedum to cover the bare spots in my landscape. A more vigorously spreading ground cover could do the job, but I’ve heard horror stories of creeping leaves that swallow up everything in their path and that you can never rid your yard of again. No thanks.

So, we all run out and buy bag after bag of mulch. Every single year, because mulch has a way of disappearing. I’ve found cypress mulch has the best longevity. I also like the look of it around my shrubs. But it’s expensive and I need a lot of it. A couple of years ago I had 3 yards delivered by truck. It seemed easier than trying to wrangle all those little bags. And it was, but the mulch has dissipated and it’s already time to reorder.

Around my flower garden (all flowers, no shrubs), I’ve occasionally used a smaller, finer mulch, like Scotts Naturescapes. They make a nice dark brown color that goes well with the flowers. But that mulch never lasts past a year. And really, shouldn’t I be able to grow flowers close enough together to avoid the mulch? I’ve planned it that way, but flowers keep getting in the way of my plans by suddenly coming back in the Spring half their size, opening up that dreaded patch of bare dirt. But I am making a stand this year to at least avoid mulch in my perennial beds. Which means I’ll be reaching for alot of “fillers,” both annual (can’t beat alyssum) and perennial (the aforementioned sedum).

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