A Late-Summer Ode to Annuals

Still going strong!

As I walk around my garden areas, I notice that one of the very few things that still look good in August and September are annual flowers. Yes, I have a few mums and asters that are now flowering, but on the whole, most of my perennials are not just done blooming, but also looking tattered, bug-eaten and withered, and actually subtract from the beauty of my gardens.

These ligularia have definitely seen better days, but the impatiens are a bright spot of color here. 

But the annuals have been at their peak for more than a month now. Zinnias, petunias, snapdragons, annual salvias, cosmos, four o'clocks, impatiens, marigolds and other annuals: they're all still looking good at this difficult time of year.

Annual salvia 'Victoria Blue' are the only thing blooming
in this border.

In my opinion, annual flowers are just not given the respect that they deserve. It seems like many gardeners feel that perennial plants are somehow more horticulturally "serious" than annuals, particularly the popular annuals that big-box retailers carry that have been bred for large, colorful, long-lasting flowers, like petunias and marigolds.

Some people might think they're gaudy and too bright, but I think these marigolds fit right into the Yellow Garden, and they've been flowering non-stop since I planted them in May.

Looking around at this time of year gives further weight to my hypothesis: that (at least here in my growing area) in order to maximize flowerage, gardeners should rely on annuals for color in the second half of the gardening season. The sequence of planting and bloom times should include the following:

1. as many spring bulbs as possible, together with the earliest-flowering perennials that will grow here, such as basket-of-gold (Aurinia saxatilis), together with a few cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons  
2. late spring- and early summer-flowering perennials for bloom in May and June
3. a select number of July-flowering perennials and bulbs such as lilies and perhaps phlox (if mildew isn't an issue)
4. significant numbers of annuals, planted in May, that will start flowering in July and continue through to frost
5. a limited number of fall-blooming perennials such as mums and asters to complement the late annuals

This area would be pretty boring without the salvias and marigolds in two colors to complement the mum that is starting to bloom now.

I've been going through my borders to clear some space for planting more annuals next May. There were a number of under-performing perennials in my front border that I will hardly miss: big clumps of iris that flower for only a week and take up more square footage every year, the so-called "obedient plant" (Physostegia virginiana) that is anything but, and other plants that take up too much room for the short-lived and less-than-glorious flowers they produce. I have started moving and removing those to free up space for planting more annuals next spring.

My front border a couple of weeks ago: overcrowded and messy, with little color.

After the clear-out, with spots left for annuals next year. Perhaps some zinnias and cosmos in the big spots and maybe some salvias, snapdragons or petunias near the edge in front. And some more tulips as well, since I have room now.

Some of my favorite annual flowers, ones that flower well for long periods here:

• Short annuals: petunias (don't sneer, millions of gardeners love them because they flower their heads off), marigolds, dianthus
• med-height annuals: zinnias, snapdragons, annual salvias, four o'clocks (these look like a flowering shrub by August)
• tall annuals: cosmos (they can get to be eight feet tall!), sunflowers (I like the smaller-flowered ones)
• shady annuals: impatiens (it's too bad about the blight that sometimes is affecting them), lobelia

The four o'clock plant makes a larger shrub than some actual shrubs and trees -- this one nearly dwarfs the magnolia behind it! I think I'll plant more of these next year here in the West Island, which is reserved for trees, shrubs and bulbs.

Additionally, I think I might be ready to try some different annuals to see how they perform, perhaps some more exotic and less common ones, like amaranth and some tropical annuals. I'll have to get out a few books about annual flowers that I haven't looked at for a while.

Does anyone have any suggestions for less well-known annuals that thrive and flower well?

Thanks for reading!  -Beth

My Redesigned Cutting Garden

Strawflowers, zinnias and poppy heads a couple weeks ago.

We've been having some pretty hot, muggy days here in Iowa, so I thought it might be a good time to stay indoors and review how the changes I made to my cutting flower garden this year have turned out. I apologize that this post has turned out to be somewhat long.

Some background: When I laid out our new Kitchen Garden design in 2013, I provided for eight rectangular beds for cutting flowers, which turned out to be far more space than I actually needed for growing flowers specifically for cutting.

Back in 2013, I used the six beds shown in the right and bottom parts of this photo, plus two more to the left out of the picture. The sparse planting only encouraged weeds and many of the flowers I planted weren't all that great for cutting.

The following year, in 2014, I tried again to do a better job of filling the beds with flowers that are good for cutting, but the results were even worse, as many of the perennials, such as Shasta daisies, had died over the winter, and several kinds of flowers, such as Love-in-a-mist and Brown-eyed Susans, had seeded around throughout the cutting beds.

And I ended up not liking many of the flowers -- the pink Achillea I planted turned brown in the vase, the dahlias were a weird purple color, the irises had a very short bloom time, and the Blanket Flowers were too short-stemmed and coarse looking for my taste (although I like them planted outside).

Last fall I resolved that this year I would reduce the size of my cutting garden area by half, and try to plant flowers that are better for cutting. This spring, I moved the few perennial flowers that I wanted to keep to one of the four beds (down from eight) that would remain as my cutting garden beds. Then I redesigned those four remaining cutting flower beds:

A plan I made of the redesigned cutting beds this May.

• One bed for perennials (Top Right): These included Shasta daisies, painted daisies, carnations campanulas and mums. I also tried to grow a packet of delphinium seeds, but they look identical to the annual larkspur that I planted in another bed, so they aren't what I was looking for. Because I have had trouble keeping perennials alive over winter in this exposed location, I will try to cover the bed with straw and/or leaves this winter. 

• One bed for spring and summer bulbs (Top Left): Tulips followed by dahlias, cannas and a few gladiolus.

• One bed for annual flowers from seed (Bottom Right) These include some remaining Love-in-a-mist, bachelor buttons, strawflowers, Canterbury bells, annual poppies and larkspur. I planted these in neat rows, something I had not done before, to make it easier to control weeds.

• One bed for any leftover flowers (Bottom Left): more gladiolus (planted in succession), annuals that didn't fit in the annual bed such as zinnias and cosmos, some alliums, and some snapdragons and salvia transplanted from other parts of my gardens.

The four beds this spring in early May, with tulips and alliums planted the fall before, plus daffodils that never bloomed. You can see that the beds are being taken over by Love-in-a-mist that is sprouting up everywhere, especially in the right-most bed.

Later in May, after getting the Love-in-a-mist mostly under control (I allowed some to grow in the left edge of the closest bed, and deadheaded it after bloom this year to prevent reseeding). The perennial bed at far right has been planted, and the rows of seeds have been sown and marked in the closest bed.

Since these beds are supplemented by a number of other flowering shrubs and annuals, such as peonies, roses and the sweet peas that I grew successfully for the first time on the east side of my house, these four small beds provided more than enough flowers for me to cut and bring into the house, without subtracting from the beauty of my borders.

By the end of July, the Shasta daisies were lovely, and the seeded annual bed beyond was quite productive, yielding larkspur, poppies, bachelor buttons and Love-in-a-mist.

Zinnias, cosmos and gladiolas were also blooming by the end of July.

I am much happier with my cutting garden this year, although this is still a learning process for me. Not all the flowers I grew ended up being nice flowers for cutting for one reason or another. Here are a few observations about the flowers I grew this year:


My favorite cutting flowers that I had the best luck with:

1. Gladiolus: these were absolutely magnificent this year! Next year, I will try to stake them so they grow more upright, perhaps by growing them through a piece of cattle panel or other grid with large openings.

2. Zinnias: I love the rainbow of colors they come in (all except blue).
3. Shasta Daisies: The cheeriest of flowers.

Zinnias, Shasta daisies, coneflowers,
larkspur and snapdragons. All my
favorites!

4. Snapdragons: These are my go-to flower for adding spikes to a bouquet, as they bloom from the end of May until frost in my gardens, self-seeding themselves in numerous places, and all of them welcome. I may plant some longer stemmed ones for cutting in my cutting beds.
5. Larkspur: I may try to plant these in successive groups next year so that they don't peter out by August, as they have this year. They were great for bouquets when they were blooming.
6. Poppies: The first ones I picked drooped immediately until I seared the stem ends on my stove gas burner and then put the whole vase in the refrigerator for a while. Then they looked beautiful for several days. It's not that much trouble, really. Plus, the ones I didn't pick have great-looking seed pod heads that are nice in a bouquet too.

Poppies and larkspur.

7. Sweet Peas: I didn't grow these in my cutting garden beds this year, as I think that location gets too much full sun. Instead, I tried planting them as early as possible (early March) against a trellis on the east side of my house, to avoid afternoon sun. They have been pretty nice, blooming from the first of June until now (they're finally giving out in this burst of heat we're having now). Next year I think I'll try to make sure I water them more and keep cutting them to discourage seed production. Perhaps I can shade them somehow on the hottest mornings too? Or maybe I can start a second batch in mid-summer?

Sweet peas in early July. I've noticed that
the kind I grew smell wonderful, but only
for 24 hours after cutting them. Then they
lose their scent.
Has anyone else noticed this?

8. Straw Flowers: (See first photo). I tried growing these last year, but to no effect. I think planting them in rows and watering them well has helped. These are such cool flowers, which make a strange, dry, crackling sound when you touch them. I'm drying some to keep for winter.


In addition, I can't leave out roses, peonies and mock orange shrub branches, which smell so wonderful, although they are planted in different spots in my gardens, not in the cutting beds.

Back in May, I made a bouquet out some delphinium stalks that broke off :-(
and several mock orange branches with a heavenly scent.

Some flowers I tried growing with less success:

1. Bachelor Buttons: I love these in the garden, especially because they self seed and bloom quite early. But the ones I grew in the cutting bed had short stems, too much foliage that had to be painstakingly removed, and in a vase they either wilted immediately or dropped a white powder all over my table. Perhaps I'll just leave these outside from now on, although it could be that the variety I grew just wasn't so good. I did cut a few others that self-sowed elsewhere earlier in the summer, and they weren't so difficult. Maybe I'll just cut those volunteers next year.

2. Dahlias: I haven't liked the colors and shapes of the dahlias that I have bought at Menards for the past several years. Perhaps I'll have to order some better ones with nicer colors and shapes through a catalog next year. Another problem however, is that the flowers seem to be eaten by insects by the time they are ready to cut, so there have been few blooms that I have been able to cut this year. Hmmm.

3. Love-in-a-mist: These never seem to last very long in a vase for me, plus they seed all over the place and don't seem to bloom for a very long period before going over. And even worse, they somehow remind me of spiders with their fine foliage near the flowers, which kind of creeps me out (perhaps I'm just weird).

4. The tulips that I planted seemed to bloom disappointingly late (and the daffodils, not at all). I yearn for flowering bulbs to cut in March and April, not May, when all sorts of other things are blooming already. I'll try to plant some earlier varieties this fall, and maybe I can accelerate their bloom with a cold frame or something? (My efforts to force bulbs in pots was an utter failure last winter, as I'll write about in another post....) Perhaps I'll just have to buy cut flowers in winter and early spring.

5. The jury's still out about the mums I planted. Maybe I need to remove lower branches to encourage longer stems and bigger flowers (the opposite of pinching out mums to promote bushy growth). Some other colors might be good too.

6. I'd like to grow more carnations (especially the white ones, which smell so spicy) and/or fragrant pinks, but carnations never make it through my winters and pinks have such short stems. Perhaps covering the perennial bed with straw will help them overwinter? And I never know when to pick carnations, because the side buds don't bloom at the same time as the main buds; do I wait until the main bud is past, or sacrifice all the side buds? Aagh!

An all-white bouquet from last week, with carnations, cosmos and
snapdragons. The carnations smell so lovely -- I wish I could
grow more of them!

Anyway, this year has been a great year for learning for me. I have learned more about which flowers I like best, which flowers perform well in a vase, and how to grow them successfully. Next year I'll make some more changes (although I think I'll stick with the four-bed approach, which worked pretty well and seemed like the right amount of space to devote to cutting flowers).

I'd certainly like to hear from you about which flowers have worked particularly well as cutting flowers in your own gardens, or any advice or thoughts about the issues I have mentioned here.

I appreciate your patience in reading all the way to the end of this long post -- Thanks! -Beth

My New Adventure in Color!

My New Adventure in Door Color....

So I know this is a gardening blog, but there's not much going on in my gardens at this time of year so I just had to share a change of another sort that I was finally able to make: After more than seven years living in this house, I finally painted our front door a different color!

I know this is an incredibly easy task that requires only a couple of hours and a small amount of paint, certainly less than $20 worth, or no additional cost in my case, since I already had the paint. And I have painted the walls in every room in our house at least once since moving in, so it's not as though I couldn't physically paint our door. The trouble was, I just couldn't decide what color to paint it.

Over the years, I've spent a lot of time considering this issue, yet I've remained paralyzed by indecision:

• I've read numerous articles on Houzz about how to choose a color for your front door and what the colors traditionally signify. 
• I've tried changing the color in pictures of my house using Photoshop and Sherwin-Williams' Color Visualizer software. 
• I've looked at countless photos of nice-looking house fronts that beckoned me with their curb appeal and their sophisticated door colors.

Now this is curb appeal! I've been saving this photo in my Houzz folder called "Front Doors" for several years, as I liked the blue door against the white wood (I also like the classical, symmetrical entrance area, and the winking eyebrow window too, and, in fact, many things about this very grand house). (Houzz.com)

Or how about this cute house? I considered painting my front door a soft yellow, which I think looks very nice against white siding and trim, and as my door opens into my kitchen which is yellow, I thought it might look good from the inside too. (Houzz.com)

When we moved in, our door was dinged-up white paint over a dented, gray, steel hollow-core door, and as I wanted to paint the door a different color, I put off painting it at all for several years while I tried to decide what color it should be. After a few years I couldn't stand how grungy it looked any more and re-painted it white, so that it was at least clean looking. But I really wanted a more fun door color.

It was impossible to find a photo in which my front door was closed, but here it is last year after I cleaned it up by repainting it white. I know the white looks crisp, but I really wanted something different.

The problem was that my house and every outbuilding on my Iowa acreage is white, as are most older farm houses here in Iowa. My husband, who grew up on a farm not far from here, is highly suspicious of any other color than white for farm houses, or perhaps tan/beige in the case of newer construction. And he's undoubtedly right that our house should remain white -- but I wanted to try a different color, just for the front door.

Recently, my nearly teenage daughter decided that she no longer likes the light purple that I chose for her room when we moved here (too girly!) and chose instead a bold blue called "Mr. Bluebird," and we repainted her walls together.

Since there was leftover paint, and my husband and the kids had left me on my own last weekend while they attended the ComicCon in Chicago (superheroes, comic books, etc.), on the spur of the moment on Sunday afternoon I decided to throw caution to the winds and Just Do It, and I rolled on two coats of "Mr. Bluebird" with a little roller.

This door is a similar color to the "Mr. Bluebird" that I first painted my front door. I decided upon reflection that the color was too dark.
(Houzz.com)

But after I finished the second coat and took a look at it from outside, it looked too dark. Then I remembered that I still had some paint left over from painting our downstairs bathroom seven years ago, called "Walden Pond," that was a few shades lighter, and before "Mr. Bluebird" was even completely dry, I re-painted over it.

Our front door after two coats of "Walden Pond."

Now our front door matches the pots on either side of the door, which I bought to match the light blue on the underside of the porch ceiling. And I think it makes it easier to tell where our front door is for people who visit for the first time.

Our front door is easier to see now. (And my "Welcome" sign with the bluebirds fits in now.)

I think the new door color goes well with the blue porch ceiling, as well as with the blue in the pillows on our porch bench.

And since this is a garden blog, after all, I'll close with a
closeup of the reblooming delphiniums along our front
fence, not incidentally in a color reminiscent of my
new front door.

My husband and children are still not sold on this color, and perhaps I will want to try a different color in the future, but at least I have finally painted it some color other than white. (Now we only have to pay someone to repaint the white exterior of our whole house, the expense of which I've been dreading. I think we'll have to put that off until next year -- it's too bad that job won't be as quick, easy and inexpensive as painting the front door was....)

What do you think of experimenting with front door colors? Have you tried different colors on your own front doors, and did they change the look of your house?

Thanks for reading!  -Beth

August Malaise

As I walked around my gardens this week, I found myself feeling totally and utterly dissatisfied with nearly every area. I'm currently contemplating redesigning all three of my large borders next spring because when I look at them, all I see are weeds and very few flowers. Hmmpph.

My North Border has a few blooming daisies and phlox, but not much else -- unless you count the grass and weeds that are taking over the back of this border, because little else seems to grow there. Grumph.

I suppose all gardeners must go through times when they feel deeply dissatisfied with their gardens in nearly every respect -- I know I cannot be alone in feeling this way. And I'm not sure what triggers this, but in my case there are probably several factors:

1. Perhaps the heat of late summer, which makes it unpleasant to spend time outside, is partly responsible. I know that I often feel unenthusiastic in hot weather, when I seek refuge in air conditioning for weeks on end. 
2. Since many of my favorite flowers bloom in spring and early summer, it can often seem like all the fun and excitement are past by the end of July. I try to include late-flowering plants in my gardens, as well as relying on numerous annuals that are just starting to reach their crescendo at this time: zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, petunias, four o'clocks and the self-seeded snapdragons that seem to go on all summer long. But these still lack the excitement of the glorious times of tulips, peonies, delphiniums and roses. 
3. The weeds can often get out of control by midsummer if we do not make an effort to stay atop them. This year is even worse than usual in this respect in my situation, as my husband, since his hip surgery, has been unable to do his usual share of weeding, trimming and spraying of hardscape areas such as our driveway.

   

   Not many flowers here in the Front Border either, but plenty of weeds are growing in our driveway. Hummph.

4. Maybe I feel that if I am not constantly improving my gardens, that they are of less interest to me, and most of my "projects" and planned improvements are usually finished (or put off until next year) by midsummer. Lack of direction breeds lethargy.

   

   Not much color in the so-called Rainbow Border. Meh. I think some changes are in order....

5. Also, I tend to experience annual "seasons" of interest in various activities: 

• April, May and June are "the gardening season" 
• July is a month of rest and summer activities 
• August and September are "back to school" in my homeschooling family
• October and November are the depressing Autumn months which although beautiful and not unpleasantly hot or cold for planting bulbs and doing other outside tasks, do signal the coming bleakness of winter
• December is for preparing for "The Holidays" and enjoying the novelty of the first snows 
• and January, February and March are marked by dreary desperation and attempts to leave Iowa and spend at least a few days in a warm climate while waiting impatiently for spring. 
• Rinse and repeat yearly. 

Does anyone else have trouble maintaining their interest in their gardens each year after spring and early summer? My malaise is even affecting my desire to write and read garden blogs -- it's been a whole month since I've posted....

I know I shouldn't complain -- perhaps I'm simply expecting too much (who knows what?) from my gardens.

And there are a few areas that do look pretty nice, so to try to be more upbeat I'll conclude by showing a few scenes from the past couple of weeks:

Zinnias are blooming like crazy in the Mint Circle. I started these inside and planted them outside after the tulips in this spot had a chance for their foliage to die back, in early June.

Rose of Sharon has been blooming well in a beautiful shade of blue.

The relative of Rose of Sharon, hardy hibiscus, is at its peak too. I just
planted this one this spring.

Another of my new hibiscus acquisitions. It doesn't seem safe for such a small
plant to have such oversized blooms....

Surprise! The surprise lilies / naked ladies / Lycoris are shooting up and blooming next to my
East Patio. 

My husband's vegetable garden has been productive this year -- perhaps the best year since we've lived here, despite his surgery keeping him from the garden for over a month. I tried to help keep it in order during his absence, but since it's not my garden, I'm never quite sure what to do in his domain. But I do know how to make salsa and pickles. Mmmm!

My husband and I went to St. Louis for his final checkup on his hip surgery last weekend and stopped at a garden center on the way back, where we happened upon just the kind of garden bench I had been looking for to put in my Yellow Garden -- and it was on sale too. It's a light, airy design that doesn't overpower the space, I think.

So maybe things don't look as bad as I've implied -- although I'm still thinking about big changes next spring. And I hope the coming cooler weather will allow me to focus more of my time and attention on gardening and blogging. I look forward to catching up with everyone's posts.

Thanks for reading! -Beth

MIA During a Floriferous Time of Year

The front border is full of flowers, and the neighboring farm beyond the fence and field provides a picturesque view.

It's official: I should be declared MIA from blogging. It's been nearly three weeks since I have posted or read any blogs, and in fact, I've hardly had time to use the computer at all in these nearly three weeks since my husband had his hip resurfacing surgery.

The great news is that he is recovering well and getting stronger every day, and he can get around the house pretty well using his crutches. Even though he is still sore from the surgery, his hip already functions much better than it did before, and he is able to walk more than a mile now, as long as he stays on level surfaces.

However, I've had to help him quite a bit with meals, getting dressed, going on walks with him, etc., as well as doing all the chores he usually does around the house and gardens in addition to my own. I thought this week would be easier, as our two children have been away at summer camp, but I guess they really aren't much work these days, and in fact I've had to do their chores this week too, like feeding and watering the chickens and gathering the eggs each day.

At any rate, some things have had to go by the wayside, and gardening is one of those things, and blogging is another. The weeds are beyond control in some areas of my gardens, because my husband can't offer his usual help with weeding and I've had little free time these days -- so that's Zero people pulling weeds. Plus it's been so hot and humid this week that even mowing on a riding mower is unbearable work.

However, now that my husband is stronger, I did finally find a little time yesterday evening and this morning, during a cooler spell of rain, to address some of the worst weeds. There's still a lot of work to do, but I feel a bit better having done a little work.

Flowers, Flowers Everywhere!

At any rate, I finally had a chance to snap a few photos of what's looking good in the gardens (strategically keeping the worst of the weeds just out of the shot). It's the time of year when flowers are, figuratively speaking, "coming out of our ears," because while the heat and humidity are hard on us, many plants here thrive on it. Here are a few scenes:

Lilies, phlox, yarrow and snapdragons in front of our porch.

Coneflowers, daylilies, hollyhocks and marigolds.

White coneflowers in the White Garden.

Cimicifuga or now called Actaea racemosa, in the shadier part of the White Garden.

the Yellow Garden is coming into full bloom as the Black-eyed Susans begin flowering.

The North Border.

A candy-striped phlox in the North Border.

Some pretty pink daylilies, also in the North Border.

The phlox in the Pond Gardens looks like cotton candy  when it's in bloom.

Coneflowers, lilies and sedum.

Roses, hollyhocks, petunias, snapdragons and white phlox, around the East Patio.

Basil, German chamomile, dill, borage and potted rosemary in the Herb Garden.

A final scene, looking across the fields of tall Iowa corn. A Grant Wood scene to be sure.

I greatly appreciate all the kind comments that were left on my last post just before we left for my husband's surgery. I can't wait to catch up with what's been happening in your gardens as I read the posts I've missed over the past few weeks, and I hope you are enjoying maximum flowerage in your own gardens during this floriferous time of year.

Thanks for reading! -Beth