Posted by Luan Akin, Tagawa’s Garden Ambassador
Even if June wasn’t National Perennial Gardening Month… which it is, by the way, I’d still be looking at the perennials in my own beds… loving my favorites… and wishing they’d just keep blooming and blooming some more. Some of them will… echinacea, or coneflowers, for example. Or blanket flowers, a.k.a. gaillardia. Once they start flowering, they’re real troopers.
But how about some of the less commonly planted perennials that also have a long blooming season? I took a wander through Tagawa Gardens’ Perennials Department and came up with a few varieties I’d like to recommend.
“Rozeanne” cranesbill (a.k.a. hardy geranium)
Rozeanne is truly one of my favorite perennials. I have several in my garden for very good reason! The flowers are a beautiful light blue, sometimes a lavender blue, with white eyes. They’re round and lovely with fine lines that pollinators use as a road map, guiding them to the nectar in the center of each flower.
Once Rozeanne starts blooming in early June, the flowers just keep on coming ’til late summer. What’s not to love!
Rozeanne needs plenty of sun but will tolerate a bit of shade. I’m so tempted to say “she,” but it grows in a lovely mound of grass-green foliage that turns red in the fall. Rozeanne does best in full sun with average water.
The plants grow vigorously and usually need to be reshaped a bit by cutting off the outer ring of growth as it gets heavy and begins to lay down. New growth will already be forming in the center of the plant and quickly replace the outer foliage that’s been removed.
Tagawa Gardens also carries hardy geraniums in shades of pink. These plants have slightly smaller flowers but are just as pretty.
Veronica (a.k.a. speedwell)
If you’re looking for a tall, upright, and long-blooming plant, you can’t go wrong with veronica. Each sturdy spike is made up of hundreds of tiny flowers that are pollinator magnets.
The flowers start blooming in early summer. With proper deadheading (carefully removing individual flower spikes as they begin to fade), veronica will continue to bloom until late summer. Veronica is especially striking in clumps of three to five plants, but even a single Rose Marvel is an eyecatcher because of its beautiful hot pink color.
Tagawa brings in veronica in pink, blue, and white. They’re all keepers.
Coreopsis (a.k.a. tickseed)
Can I interest you in some cheery, long-blooming yellow flowers to brighten up your garden? With a bonus that they love to bloom? If that piqued your interest, coreopsis may be just the flower for you!
Most coreopsis come in shades of yellow, though their flower shape and accent colors can vary. They stand between 10 and 15 inches tall on sturdy stems and can easily be used in cut flower arrangements.
Once they start flowering in early summer, they keep sending up more and more blossoms all season long. Coreopsis thrives in full sun with average water and should never be grown in soggy locations.
As with all flowers mentioned in this blog, these long-blooming perennials benefit from regular deadheading. With coreopsis in particular, removing the fading flowers will encourage even more buds to appear, easily replacing the blossoms that have been removed.
Rose Marvel sage
Here’s another perennial that I can’t get enough of! Rose Marvel sage has found a home in every garden flower bed I have, and I’d still welcome more!
Rose Marvel has especially beautiful flower spikes. The tiny pinkish lavender flowers open from the bottom of the spike and work their way up. The clincher for me is the contrast between the open flowers and the burgundy buds above them just waiting to show off. Stunning! Plant a few in a group and they’ll be the first thing visitors and passersby notice.
When in flower (which is most of the time…), Rose Marvel stands about 14 inches tall. It needs full sun and average to slightly dry soil. I grow several of these in a garden next to my driveway where a lot of snow ends up in the winter. They don’t seem bothered at all by spending time under a bank of snow for a week or two.
Some people don’t deadhead Rose Marvel and the other meadow sages, but I do. I don’t want anything blocking my view when the next flush of flowers is ready to impress!
Pincushion flower (a.k.a. scabiosa)
Pincushion flowers are just plain cute! They look like they should be in a peaceful woodsy garden somewhere, but they’re actually quite tough! They want full sun and average to slightly dry soil. They’re also very cold hardy.
Pincushion flowers will mature to about 18 inches tall when in bloom and form a nice mounded plant. They’re often used as cut flowers. They come in shades of blue and lavender pink. They’re also a nice food source for bees of all kinds.
They get their name from the appearance of the seed head left behind when all of the petals have fallen off.
The round ball of “pins” has so much character, a good reason to limit deadheading a bit and leave some of these tiny structures behind.
Just a few of many
These are just a few of my many favorite long-blooming perennials, but you’ll find dozens more at Tagawa Gardens. It’s well worth a trip to visit with some of our always-helpful perennials staff and let them guide you toward the plants that are just right for you!
