Friday, June 26, 2015
3 Summer Flowers To Plant In Your Garden Now
With summer in our part of the Northern Hemisphere not quite in full swing, I thought this would be the perfect time to tell you about three of my favorite summer flowers that are also very easy to grow - hydrangea (seen above), lily, and dahlia. Any of these perennials might be available right now at your local nursery or grocery store in gallon pots, ready to plant. This is a great way to add instant color to your yard and have beautiful flowers that grow back each season, producing more blooms in subsequent years.
Hydrangeas come in several colors - white, blue, purple, and pink, and it truly is a flower for all seasons. In early summer they produce big beautiful showy blooms, with soft dreamy petals. Then in the autumn they can be cut and brought inside to display in your home. Once dried, they will last for a very long time.
Lilies come in a range of colors as well; I think that the best lilies are the fragrant kind, such as this Oriental variety:
When there are several of these blooming all at once, a heavenly scent fills the air. What a pleasure it is to sit in the backyard on a warm night and take in this perfume! Plus, you might see a hummingbird or two flitting around looking for some nectar!
Dahlias come in what seems like an endless variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. My favorite type are these cactus, or spider-like ones shown below:
Not all dahlias are perennial, so reading the label is a good idea. Although some of the first dahlia starts that I planted a few years ago were labeled as annuals, some of them have come up every year as if they were perennials. So who knows? It's all fun.
One thing I've learned about gardening in general, is that the seasonal potted flower starts you see available for purchase in stores are there because someone has already done the research, and figured out that those certain plants will grow in your particular zone. So trust your local garden center or even your grocer, if they have plants for sale. Chances are that once you've planted and watered and cared for your perennials, you'll see them again next season.
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Wonderful pictures June. Did you take them recently or last year? My hydrangea and dahlias are not blooming yet, but we did have a very cold spring. Your lilies look stunning! Maybe I should try growing them.
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