Often, We are Asked...

Many people are disappointed when late summer arrives with only black-eyed Susan blooming. Our season is too short to waste any time! Many perennials and shrubs don’t even start flowering until late summer. Use them and your garden will continue beautifully into October.
Aster - many colors
Boltonia - pink and white
Buddleia - many colors
Caryopteris - lavender blue
Chelone - pink
Eupatorium - rose and white
Hibiscus - many colors
Kirengeshoma - yellow
Perovskia - purple
Sedum - many colors

A meadow, featuring wildflowers growing in full sun could include:
Columbine (aquilegia)
False Lupine (baptisia)
Daylily (hemerocallis)
Catmint (nepeta)
Ornamental Grasses
Obedient Plant (physostegia)
Sage (salvia)
Lamb’s Ears (stachys)
Sea Thrift (armeria)
Bugleweed (ajuga)
Pinks (dianthus)
Beebalm (monarda)
Stonecrop (sedum)
Yarrow (achillea)

Gardeners can be puzzled and ultimately, frustrated by the lavish use of hort jargon found in the nursery and garden center industry. Easy for the pros but daunting to the unfortunate gardener who must wade through language (often literally) foreign to the eye and ear. And all this to buy petunias for the window boxes??? It may simply be too much trouble.

A hybrid is a new plant specimen created by "crossing" different species or varieties. {Insert example} Crossing consists of carrying the pollen from one flower to the pistil of another. This can be done by scientist or birds. When done by scientists, the results can include new vigor, improved health, new colors, heights – even fragrance. When done by birds, the results may be the same – but certainly not as predictable.

“Full sun” usually means full sun all day long, or for at least 6 or 7 hours a day including the afternoon.

“Partial shade” includes full morning sun or perhaps dappled light all day, or the bright but diffuse light on the north side of a building.

“Shade” refers to areas that receive only reflected light all day from trees, shrubs, or structures blocking light from several directions.

Such definitions should be used merely as a place to start, since your plants' response to growing conditions provide the only real definition of sufficient light.

These,then, are approximate guidelines for describing the different levels of light exposure.

Success in the garden comes from experience, so be prepared to experiment!

One of the best things about gardening is the constant learning that takes place for gardeners every day.

Everyone was a new gardener, once upon a time, and usually was guided by a friend or other mentor who pointed the way. The books and magazines available to us is almost too large! Catalogues, too. The quality of most is outstanding. Garden lectures and tours are always inspirational and provide an excellent learning opportunity. The garden clubs can be a good place to make gardening friends (who also share plants).

But just going out and doing it - trying - failing - succeeding - to us, that’s the the best place to start.

The most successful a and satisfied gardeners we know do use a plan and says it makes the difference for them. It helps them “see” what the new garden will be, lets them envision the possibilities. By measuring your space and marking it off, you can accurately determine the amount of compost needed, the number of plants and even ideas for plant combinations. A plan helps avoid problems, too. It can record wet spots in spring that may be a problem for certain plants. It can record the light and the wind. All this information is important to the successful gardener. It helps them make the decisions that are right for them.

Some perennials grow to maturity with one or two seasons but some will take 3-5 years and to have these in the garden, patience is needed. Don’t make the mistake of crowding too many in a new garden. It’s expensive! And, sooner rather than later you will be forced to move them.

To camouflage the slowly developing garden, plant gorgeous, quick-growing annuals - cosmos is always great. Some annuals look more like perennials and will help maintain the look you seek. Others that will help include nicotiana, annual asters, several different species of salvia, verbena and poppies.

Knowing the growth characteristics of the plant that you choose and the limits of your patience will determine the spacing.

Most landscapers use a spacing between 6” to 12”. If you imagine a grid, the plants are installed “on center” every 6 or 12”.

It is necessary to determine the area to be planted in square feet. Decide on the desired spacing. Multiply that number by itself. For example, 6” spacing is 6 x 6 =36. Divide 144 by 36 to get the number (4) of plants per each square foot. Multiply this number by the square feet of the area to be planted.

It is the ease of growing native plants that makes then so attractive to so many. In our Knowledgebase, see the article on this topic that was written by the Extension Service.

The Original Native Americans

Early Season

Columbine (aquilegia)

False Indigo (baptisia)

Marsh Marigold (caltha)

Bleeding Heart (dicentra)

Virginia Bluebell (mertensia)

Woodland Phlox (phlox divaricata)

Creeping Phlox (phlox stolonifera)

Moss Phlox (phlox subulata)

Mid Season

Yarrow (achillea)

Tickseed (coreopsis)

Meadowsweet (filipendula)

Coralbells (heuchera)

Beardtongue (penstemon)

Late Season

Aster (aster)

Bolton’s aster (boltonia)

Turtlehead (chelone)

Purple coneflower (echinacea)

Sneezeweed (helenium )

Cardinal flower (lobelia)

Beebalm (monarda)

Obedient plant (physostegia)

Black-eyed Susan (rudbeckia)

Stoke’s aster (stokesia)

Carolina lupine (thermopsis)

Foamflower (tiarella)

Ironweed (vernonia)

Culver’s Root (veronicastrum)

Stonecrop (sedum)

Early Season

Bleeding Heart (dicentra)

Columbine (aquilegia)

Creeping Phlox (phlox stolonifera)

False Indigo (baptisia)

Moss Phlox (phlox subulata)

Perennial Candytuft (iberis)

Virginia Bluebell (mertensia)

Woodland Phlox (phlox divaricata)

Mid Season

Beardtongue (penstemon)

Beebalm (monarda)

Blazing Star (liatris)

Butterflyweed (asclepias)

Catmint (nepeta)

Coralbells (heuchera)

Daylily (hemerocallis)

Delphinium (delphinium)

Globe Thistle (echinops)

Iris (iris)

Lavender (lavandula)

Lupine (lupinus)

Meadowsweet (filipendula)

Pinks (dianthus)

Salvia (salvia)

Tickseed (coreopsis)

Yarrow (achillea)

Late Season

Aster (aster)

Black-eyed Susan (rudbeckia)

Butterflybush (buddleia)

Helenium (sneezeweed)

Purple Coneflower (echinacea)

Rudbeckia (black-eyed susan)

Stonecrop (sedum)