Many assume that once the growing season starts, plants are
on constant display. If you live in an area where winter brings constant snow
and lack of foliage, any live growth might seem like a display and this might
be true. But the reality is, there are natural lulls of excitement in most
gardens across the country. One time where a lull often occurs is in the late
spring and early summer. This is because the plants that explode with growth
early on begin to fade in the late spring, while the later season bloomers are
still developing for their summer show. But there are some wonderful
exceptions.
For a great show and a seamless transition from late spring
into summer, try adding some of these plants to your landscape.
·
Roses: Throughout most of the country, roses are
wonderful landscape shrubs that really shine in the late spring through the
rest of the summer. Many overlook roses for landscape plantings, as roses have
gotten a reputation for being difficult to grow and maintain. This just isn’t
true for many of the wonderful new landscape-ready roses available now.
o The
Knockout series of roses are a wonderful example. We especially love the double
pink Knockout shrub roses. With minimal care, this disease resistant and
dense growing shrub will bloom profusely from June until frost, which carries
the garden from the spring display into the warm days of summer. We also carry Red, and a
bicolor
of yellow and white blooming in the series. You can also grab
all three colors in our collection at a great price.
o The
Drift series is another disease resistant and landscape ready rose shrub- and
at a smaller size, they make a wonderful perennial for the front of the border
for easy color that transition from spring into summer seamlessly. Apricot is a
lighter pink version of the Drift family and has a more old fashioned
appearance. The flowers are more than double, like the old English roses. This
color is also harmonious within most landscape schemes and fits in well just
about anywhere.
o If
you have a bigger landscape and need some beautiful late spring coverage fast,
try a rose from the OSO Easy line. One of the most popular is the
super fragrant pink Oso Easy spreader rose. This rose is great to plant on
difficult slopes where it can spread out and cover. Spreading to almost 10 feet
but with a very short height of less than 2 feet, this is a perfect groundcover
choice too. Plus, this rose requires no pruning (every few years some
rejuvenation pruning would be good but it’s not a necessity) and is highly
resistant to disease. Try mixing this rose among a backdrop of Munstead
lavender on a difficult sunny slope, and enjoy the mix of beautiful
fragrance from the spring throughout the summer.
o The Julia Child
rose is a wonderful cherry bright yellow heavy petaled rose that is named
after the famous chef Julia Child. Much like her life spent bringing Americans
the wonderful world of French cooking, this wonderful rose brings home gardens
the flavor of exquisite color and performance. Unforgettable, this small to
medium-sized shrub is a great performer in the landscape. While many of the
great landscape roses we carry spread, the Julia Child rose grows more upright
than out, adding another dimension to the landscape that also brings late spring
color when early spring fades and carries the landscape into summer.
·
Mentioned above, lavender is a wonderful
companion in the garden with roses, and many types of lavender are also
excellent for late spring, early summer blooms. In fact, there are several
kinds of lavender, all with different bloom times. For example, Mediterranean or French lavenders tend to be earlier spring bloomers and last into the middle of
spring. For lavenders that bloom during the transition from spring into summer,
look to English lavenders.
o Hidcote is
one example of English lavender that blooms in the late spring and carries what
is considered one of the best sources for pure lavender fragrance. Hidcote is
grown as a crop where it’s made into oils and other products that are used in
bath products, cleaners, natural medicines, perfumes, and other products that
require the best lavender scent. In the garden, Hidcote is a smaller growing
lavender which is perfect for the front of the perennial border. Its compact
growth is excellent for formal edging.
o Munstead is
a larger lavender than Hidcote but carries the same excellent quality in
fragrance, and is also perfect for edible use as well as other uses. Try
Munstead in a more natural setting that’s dry and drains fast. It’s also highly
attractive to bees, making it an essential in the garden.
o For a more
extended bloom time among your lavender plants while enjoying the late spring English
types, try our lavender collection. It includes Hidcote, Lavender du
Provence, and Lavender Grosso.
·
There are some blooming trees that will put on a
great show after the cherries and crabapples have finished. One of the best is
the Kousa Dogwood.
Happy in areas where it’s a little more shaded, this dogwood brightens up a
dark corner with its late spring display of big white blooms. On top of the
spring show, its trunk and stem form is a wonderful architectural addition to
the landscape, and the fall brings beautiful color of purples and reds. And
finally, bright red berries persist into the winter, which feed birds and make
the winter landscape merry. A landscape must!
·
And finally, this amazing daylily mix
can be grown throughout the country- from the coldest parts of the north down
into the warm south. We include a wide range of colors in bloom in this mix
which also means a great extension of blooms from these daylilies when planted
in a big mass. Starting in late spring and continuing through summer, this mix
is very impressive!
