Posts Tagged ‘Long Blooming’

Long-blooming Endless Summer Hydrangea

Our pick for Best New Shrub of the Decade! Hydrangea macrophylla Endless Summer brings a wealth of great features to gardeners nationwide.

Blooms in Zone 4 gardens! Finally, a mophead Hydrangea that will bloom in Zone 4 gardens across the country! This giant mophead Hydrangea was selected at Bailey Nurseries in Minnesota for its ability to bloom on new growth! Other mophead or macrophylla Hydrangeas bloom on last year’s growth (old wood), but Endless Summer Hydrangea blooms on both old AND new growth. So, in areas of extreme cold which can damage the old growth flower buds, you’ll get an entirely new flower show in mid summer & fall.

Useful as a Long Blooming Hedge Plant

Months of GIANT 10″ flower heads! Endless Summer Hydrangea begins its flower show in early summer & continues for over 5 months with its heavy reblooming flower display.  Mid-November of last year we STILL had flowers on our Endless Summer Hydrangea.

Best long-blooming flowering Hedge Plant we’ve found! Hydrangea Endless Summer makes a superb and long-flowering Hedge Plant growing to 4′ tall and 5′ wide. Used as a flowering hedge you get garden beauty as well as bouquets of fresh-cut Hydrangea flowers that last over 2 weeks in the vase!

Flowers can be either Pink or Blue depending on soil pH

Flower color changes with soil pH. As with all mophead Hydrangeas, the flower color will change according to your soil pH. Flowers are pink if you have more alkaline soil with a higher pH and are bright blue if you have more acidic soils with a lower pH.

Fall foliage display on Endless Summer Hydrangea

Don’t forget the fall FOLIAGE show! Many gardeners forget that the foliage of Endless Summer Hydrangea also changes color in the fall taking on fiery colors of orange & red before the leaves finally drop off.

You won’t be disappointed with this long-blooming Hydrangea which combines wonderfully with colorful Heucheras, bold-foliaged Hostas, & lacy Hardy Ferns!

Keep people on defined pathways and let the butterflies do the greeting!

If you want to prevent people from walking through your landscape and/or keep them on a defined pathway  you want a low growing hedge plant like Buddleia Blue Chip.

Blue Chip Buddleia is a hedge plant with a non-hedge look with its long flowering blooms that start in mid-summer and last well into fall with no need to deadhead or prune.

Buddleia Blue Chip is a compact deciduous shrub that grows about 30” tall by 24” wide with fragrant re blooming blue flowers that beckon butterflies & hummingbirds. This cold hardy flowering shrub is a new miniature butterfly bush that works well in a narrow spot.

This planting is near the office  entry at Spring Meadow Nursery.  How nice it must be walking to and from work and being greeted by hordes of butterflies!

Benefits of  Blue Chip (Lo & Behold) Buddleia:

• Create a  hedge plant barrier that prevents people from walking through your landscape
• Highly versatile flowering shrub
• Tolerant of road salts
• Highly deer proof
• Drought tolerant once established
• Easy Care
• Cold hardy to Zone 5

Butterflies swarm to the enticing fragrance of Buddleia

Whether your are defining a pathway, screening out undesirable views, it is hard to beat the overall beauty and  one time investment of easy to grow Buddleia Blue Chip

What a great way to great summer guests and keep them on a defined pathway to your office or your home.

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Easy Care Blue Combo of Stokesia & Caryopteris

There is nothing like the fresh summer blooms of Stokesia.  Stokes Aster is a easy care perennial. Chris & I are particularly fond of the variety Peachie’s Pick because of their large almost daisy-like blooms which flower well in heat & humidity.  Stokiesia Peachie’s Pick is easily grown in full sun

Blue Mist Shrub - Caryopteris makes a long lasting cut flower

Stokes Aster is paired here with drought proof  & long blooming  Caryopteris Grand Bleu.

Both are EASY CARE garden plants that thrive with good drainage and make a terrific cut flower.  They both add a punch of color often needed in the mid-late sun perennial garden.

Gaillardia Fanfare

Good gardening practices are sometimes difficult for the gardener.  Last summer I planted a variety of Gaillardia.  Now, I’ve learned from working with Mary and Chris, that the way to get the best results from your plants takes patience.  You should start by  preparing the ground, mix in some organic matter (either peat moss or compost) dig a big hole add some Osmocote fertilizer and make sure the plants are well watered.  If you want to achieve quicker branching and healthier plants you should also keep them trimmed.  That is the part that is tough for me.  I want the flowers!

Burgundy Gaillardia keeps going on for weeks even in the worst heat!

Well, last summer I planted my Gaillardia in July, after we bought our house, and I lectured myself into trimming the plants.  While it hurt me to trim off new buds and keep the plants fairly short (about 8-10 inches tall) I knew that by doing so the Gaillardia would branch out and I would have many more beautiful red and yellow blooms next summer and for many summers to come.  And it worked.  By the end of September each of my plants had about 6-9 blooms at a time.   I am not a patient person when it comes to flowers or my husband putting dishes in the dishwasher, but this was definitely worth the wait.  I can’t wait to see them this summer!

Drought Tolerant Gaillardia blooms for 5+ months!