Author Archives: GCS Dev

Vermicomposting

Have you tried vermicomposting, otherwise known as worm composting? This simple process mixes food scraps with yard waste and other organic materials in an enclosed area containing specific types of worms. The worms (and associated microorganisms) eat the organics and turn them into a beautiful light and fertile soil amendment. This compost is almost magical! It’s packed with nutrients, improves soil structure, increases drainage and appears to improve plant growth while decreasing pest damage and plant diseases. Not only environmentally friendly, vermicomposting doesn’t require much space, is inexpensive and easy, and it’s a fun hobby for the entire family.

The Worms

The two recommended worms for vermicomposting are Red Wigglers (Eisenia fetida) and European night crawlers (Eisenia hortensis). The latter grows bigger, eats coarser food and may be heartier. They each eat their own weight in food every other day. Do not use native earthworms, as they do not live well in bin conditions.

Most people begin with 1 lb (16 ounces) of worms. These will eat 8 ounces of food every day.

TIP: To determine your average daily food waste, weigh your food debris each day for a week. Add these amounts and divide by 7. (Do not include meat, fish, oily scraps, fat chunks, bones, or dairy products, as they are not suitable for the worms or compost.)

When you know your amount of food debris, buy twice as many pounds of worms. For example, if your average daily food debris is 1 pound, order 2 pounds of worms. If your average daily food debris is 4 ounces, order 8 ounces of worms.

The Worm Bin

Your worms will need a comfortable place to live. Provide a bin with a surface area that equals the weight of the worm order. In other words, if you order 2 pounds of worms, your worm container will require at least 2 square feet of bin surface (but should be larger). This could be 1’ wide by 2’ long.

Use non-treated wood, plastic, rubber or galvanized bins. A larger container houses more worms to compost more material. Worms do not burrow deeper than 24” therefore the bin should be less than 24” deep.

The bin needs a removable cover to protect from rain, light and drying out. Remove it if the bedding becomes too wet, but place a screen across the top to prevent worms from escaping. If needed, use a moistened strip of burlap or canvas to add moisture to the bin.

Unless using wood, which is naturally porous, provide ventilation in your bin by drilling 12-18 1/8” holes on all four sides. Drill holes on the bottom to prevent your worms drowning if moisture builds up.

Remember, your worm population will increase. When sizing your bin, allow an additional 40 percent of surface area for the increase in addition to the initial population’s requirement.

Positioning Your Bin

Where you put your bin should be convenient for both you and your worms. Elevate the container on bricks to improve ventilation and drainage of excess moisture.

Place the worm bin where it will not receive direct sunlight. In a shed or garage, under house eaves or other shade structure to maintain a temperature above freezing and below 85 degrees is perfect. In the winter, prevent freezing and insulate with sheets of foam on the top and sides, add a heating pad to one side, or move inside a building if needed.

Bin Bedding

Before adding your worms, you will need to add bedding to the container so they have a place to burrow. Soak and squeeze out the excess water from shredded fibrous materials such as newspaper, egg cartons or single-layer cardboard boxes. Mix in dry grass, brown leaves and/or straw. Add sawdust or aged manure, if available. Cover with a thin layer of well-moistened soil. This bedding will give your worms a great start and will help feed your compost.

Feeding Your Worms

Until your worms begin multiplying, only feed them once a week by adding a small amount of food scraps. Chopping or breaking food into small bits helps the worms eat the scraps faster and reduces any smells and fruit flies. Mix the food lightly into the bedding on one side of the worm bin.

Ideal foods to offer your worms include eggshells, non-citrus fruits, coffee grounds, unbleached used coffee filters, leafy green vegetables, rice, grits and vegetable scraps. Do not include meat, fish, oily scraps, fat chunks, bones, dairy products such as milk or cheese or cat or dog waste. Avoid eucalyptus leaves, as these contain a natural insecticide which could kill the worms. Additionally, if adding lawn clippings, be sure the grass hasn’t been chemically treated. Green foods such as leaves, vegetable tops and green grass add additional nitrogen to the finished compost. Eggshells increase the calcium in the final compost and brown foods such as paper, wood chips and leaves increase phosphate and carbon. The more varied your worms’ diet, the richer your compost will be.

When the worms begin to multiply, provide a weekly quart of food scraps per square foot of surface area. If your bin is 2’ square, provide 4 quarts of scraps per week to nourish your worms, but avoid overfeeding. One way to tell if you are feeding too much is by smell. If it smells bad, food is rotting instead of being eaten. Reduce the amount of food going into the bin until the smell disappears.

When adding food, be sure to check the amount of bedding. The bin was full of bedding when the worms were added. When reduced to half, add more newspaper or cardboard strips, hay, straw, etc.

Watering Your Worms

Check the bin every other day and moisten the material, if needed. It should be moist but not wet. Note that the types of scraps you add will contribute to the moisture in the bin, and you do not want any puddles or sopping that could suffocate and drown your worms.

Harvesting Compost

Your worm-assisted compost should be ready in 4-6 months. The easiest way to collect the compost is to scoop out small piles of the material and place onto a flat surface. Remove as many worms as possible and return the un-composted materials and worms to the bin. You may use a wire mesh netting as a screening device. Add more bedding and let the cycle begin again.

After removing the worms and chunks, what’s left? The grand prize of worm castings (poop)! This is the “magical compost.” Some people even call it “black gold” – it’s that fantastic for your garden.

Raising worms and producing your own super compost is easy and fun. Plus, it removes food waste from the local landfills and enriches your garden. What’s not to love?

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Worm-Casting Tea

Perhaps you have used compost tea on your plants and saw the amazing effect it had. However, if you think your plants loved their compost tea, try giving them a drink of worm-casting tea. No, it’s not the liquid dripping from the bottom of an elevated worm bin – so what is it?

Making Worm-Casting Tea

This “tea” is a liquid concoction made by steeping worm castings (worm poop) in water. This is an extracting process that draws the nutrients from the castings into the water so they can be more easily and quickly absorbed by thirsty plants. Use it on your plants by drenching the soil around the roots or spray onto the leaves for foliar absorption. Both spraying and drenching eliminate the labor of spreading solid compost. And, applied as a liquid, plant resistance to pests and diseases and microbial activity in the soil are all increased. While compost tea contains many beneficial microbes, it’s nothing compared to worm-casting tea that contains a much larger and diverse microbial population due to the various physiological life processes of the worm.

To really kick up the benefits of worm-casting tea, try aerobically brewing a batch. This simple process increases the microbial populations by circulating the microbes in a nutritious and aerated solution to double the population every 20 minutes. This method also eliminates any possibility of E. coli, which can be present in both compost and worm-casting tea brewed by extraction.

To brew your worm-casting tea…

  1. Connect 3’ of tubing to an air stone. Attach other end to small air pump.
  2. Put 4 gallons of water into a clean 5-gallon bucket. Let sit for 24 hours to allow chlorine to dissipate. Alternatively, use non-chlorinated water.
  3. Add:
    1. ¼ cup sulfur free molasses or corn syrup
    2. 1 tablespoon water-soluble sea plant extract
    3. 2 tablespoons soluble fish power or liquid fish
  4. Plug in pump and place air stone at bottom of bucket to begin agitation.
  5. Add 4-8 cups earthworm castings, crushed into small bits, if possible.
  6. Brew until a froth or slime appears on the water surface. The smell should now be gone or very weak. This indicates the maximum population has been reached and no food remains for the microbes to eat. This solution may contain over one billion microbes per teaspoon of solution! The overall brewing time is temperature dependent, however, and warmer solutions will brew more quickly. At all times, leave the bubbler on to continue oxygenating the microbes.
  7. Strain the solution to remove any solid particles. Apply to plants as soon as possible to take maximum advantage of your tea’s nutritious properties.

Note: The odor should be minimal or vaguely pleasant. If the smell is strongly unpleasant or similar to sulfur, do not use. Pour it over some weeds for a natural herbicide instead.

You can use your worm casting tea anywhere in your garden: upper and lower sides of leaves, on flowers, vegetables, trees, shrubs or soil. Spray in the early morning or evening or in the shade during the rest of the day. Use the remaining castings as you would any compost, after all, they still contain a diverse microbial population!

Now, raise your teacup and toast to a healthy, luxurious garden and landscape, all thanks to nutritious worm-casting tea!

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Flirting with Spring

In January and February, winter flirts with spring. Despite snow on the ground, there will be occasional warm days, balmy breezes and stunning blue skies that remind us of the rich colors of spring. On these flirtatious days, quince, forsythia and pussy willow begin to emerge from dormancy. With this slight swelling of buds, it is time to cut a few branches to bring spring indoors, so even when winter reappears with the next freeze or storm, we’re reminded of the warmer times to come.

Forcing Branches

Just like forcing bulbs, forcing branches will bring their buds into full beauty even if the outside weather isn’t quite right yet. To force branches, select plants that have set their buds in the fall or early winter. Look for branches with plump flower buds, and cut branches that you would have normally pruned in order to preserve the shape and health of the plant.

Next, scrape about 2 inches of the bark from the pruned end of the branch and make a 3-5 inch cut up the branch (lengthwise from the pruned end) to allow water to be absorbed. You can also split the end by carefully hammering it, but avoid crushing the tissues. Fill a tall container or vase with room-temperature water and floral preserver, then place the cut branches in it. Place the arrangement in a dimly lit room for 2-3 days, then move into a brighter area (but no direct sunlight). Change the water and cut 1 inch off the bottom of the stem each week. Mist the branches daily. Although they may take up to 3 weeks to bloom, the delightful bursts of color will be a celebrated reward for your time and efforts.

Flowering Branches for Forcing

Depending on when you want your buds to bloom, there are a variety of great branches you can work to force into brilliance even when spring is weeks away.

Early bloomers…

  • Witch Hazel
  • Cornelian Cherry
  • Forsythia
  • Pussy Willow
  • Azalea
  • Flowering Quince

For Later Blooms…

  • Magnolia
  • Apple
  • Crab Apple
  • Flowering Dogwood
  • Hawthorn
  • Red Bud
  • Mockorange

 Decorating With Forced Branches

There are many different ways you can add a little spring glory to your interior décor with forced branches. Consider…

  • Using blooming branches in lieu of any flowers in vases.
  • Putting shorter branches in bud vases on a windowsill.
  • Adding branches to candle centerpieces or other arrangements.
  • Twining thinner branches around a wreath form.
  • Using the tallest branches in a tall, thin floor vase.

Spring will be here before you know it, and you can speed it along when you force branches to enjoy their blooms a few weeks early!

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Orchids: Exotic Beauties To Warm The Winter

Orchids are some of the most exotic plants on earth. They display an amazing range of diversity in the size, shape and color of their unique flowers. There is a misconception, however, that these floral treasures are difficult to grow, when in fact more and more gardeners are growing and collecting orchids each year. Provide the essentials of good care and you too can grow orchids easily!

Growing Orchids

Orchids have some unique needs when it comes to proper care. Because they can be temperamental at times, it is best to carefully investigate the types of orchids you are interested in growing and be sure you can meet their individual needs.

  • Light: Most orchids prefer abundant, filtered sunlight. This can be met with west- or south-facing windows, or you may need some supplemental light sources. A few popular orchid varieties can grow in lower light levels.
  • Temperature: Like any plants, orchids can do well in a temperature range, though some prefer warmer locations and some prefer cooler locations. Measure the temperature range where you want to grow orchids and select varieties that will do well in that range.
  • Humidity: Orchids are tropical plants that do well in more humid environments. They can do well in terrariums or greenhouses where the humidity can be elevated, or you can take steps to increase the humidity around the orchids in your home, such as through plant grouping, pebble trays or misting.
  • Watering: Orchids tend to do best if they dry out somewhat between thorough waterings. Plant your orchids in an appropriate medium, and take great care with watering so they can absorb sufficient moisture without fostering root rot or other mildew.
  • Fertilizing: Fertilizers are not critical for blooming orchids, but they can help provide better nourishment. Fertilizing lightly is better than over-fertilizing, and fertilizer should only be applied during active growth periods.

The exact care your orchids will need will depend on the varieties you choose. Research their optimal environments and you’ll be well prepared to host an array of stunning orchids in your home.

Common Orchid Varieties and Care

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The Benefits of Plants in the Workplace

Time spent in nature is well known to provide many physical, mental and emotional benefits, but what if your work schedule and career keep you in an office without many opportunities for heading outdoors? You can bring the outdoors in and reap many of the same benefits.

Plants Can Improve Your Workplace

There has been extensive research done regarding the benefits of plants in the workplace. With full time employees spending approximately one-quarter of their lives at work it is important that these buildings provide an environment of beauty, health and comfort. Studies confirm that there are both physiological and psychological benefits to surrounding yourself with nature at work. An eight-month study conducted by a Texas A&M University research team has concluded that plants significantly reduce workplace stress and enhance employee productivity, a win-win situation for both employer and employee. Other studies have verified those findings, as well as expanded the list of benefits plants can provide when used judiciously as part of an indoor workplace.

The presence of plants in the workplace can…

  • Lower blood pressure
  • Reduce stress
  • Increase humidity
  • Reduce illness
  • Purify air
  • Reduce dust
  • Lower energy costs
  • Quicken employee response time
  • Enhance problem solving ability
  • Spark creativity
  • Increase brain activity
  • Provide a positive outlook
  • Act as a mood elevator
  • Have a calming affect
  • Boost learning
  • Contribute to noise reduction
  • Improve office appearance
  • Reduce distractions

With so many obvious benefits just by including plants in office décor, every office – whether it is a large corporation, a simple business or a cozy home office – should include at least a few plants.

Bringing Plants to Work

There are many easy ways to blend plants into office décor. Popular ways to integrate plants into the office include…

  • Larger potted plants or containers in a greeting or reception area.
  • Ferns or hanging pots in broad windows.
  • A ficus tree or other large pot near a water cooler.
  • Pothos or other trailing plants on top of cabinets in a break area.
  • Small plants and flowers on individual desks.
  • Decorating for holidays with seasonal plants.
  • Giving office plants as gifts for work anniversaries, welcomes, etc.

When choosing plants for the office, be sure to opt for plants that will function best in the environment. Take into consideration temperatures, light levels and humidity so the plants will thrive. Selecting low-maintenance plants that can withstand good-natured neglect is also wise, so they will still thrive even when project deadlines, committee meetings and vacation days may make their care sporadic. Fortunately, there are many great plants that can liven up an office, and each one will bring great benefits to the workplace.

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Dormant Pruning With the Proper Tools

Late winter pruning is often recommended for many trees and shrubs. Pruning the plants while they are dormant is less stressful for the plant and it’s also easier to view the structure of deciduous trees and shrubs without leaves to ensure the pruning helps create the desired shape. It’s also a time of the year when late winter sunshine makes us all long to be in our gardens and pruning is an excellent job to get us out there.

Pruning Tools

To get out and get pruning, you will need the proper tools. There are several types of pruners that should be in every serious gardener’s tool shed.

  • Hand Pruners
    The simplest tool, but the hardest to choose, is the hand pruner. There are two distinct styles of hand pruners: the anvil type and the bypass. The anvil pruner is good for pruning deadwood or undesirable growth. For more valuable specimens anvil pruners tend to smash the wood during cutting, leaving the wound open to insects and disease. Bypass pruners are like a pair of scissors and give you an easier, cleaner healthier cut. Different hand pruners are available in different sizes and grip styles, including options for both right-handed and left-handed gardeners. To get the best results, it is important to choose a hand pruner that feels comfortable but still provides adequate strength for the job.
  • Lopping Shears
    Another tool that comes in handy is the lopping shear. They are used for making larger cuts up to 1-1/2″ in diameter, and have longer handles to provide more power without stress or strain. The longer handles also provide a better reach than hand pruners. They are also excellent for clearing away undesirable growth in your yard, including trimming hedges.
  • Pole Pruners
    The last tool you’ll need is a pole pruner. It is a combination lopping shear and pruning saw. The pole pruner extends out to twelve feet and can be used for making small cosmetic cuts or larger limb removals without needing to set up a ladder. Pole pruners are also useful in dense canopies when using a ladder would not be practical or suitable.

To learn more about pruning specific trees or shrubs and to choose the appropriate tools for the job, please stop in or give us a call. We’ll be happy to help you be sure you are equipped to make clean, appropriate cuts that will help your trees and shrubs look their very best.

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Feng Shui in the Garden

Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese philosophy that believes in attracting and guiding the flow of cosmic energy to influence your health, wealth and happiness. If you are already familiar with Feng Shui, you should know that it is assumed by many that the same fundamental principles that apply to your home also apply to your garden, maybe even more so since the energy in your home is brought in from the outside.

Feng Shui means ‘wind’ and ‘water.’ According to Chinese tradition, everything in the world contains ch’i, the cosmic life force. Ch’i means to flow freely like wind and water, but it is alleged that its movement can be blocked or trapped. This, it is believed, can cause disharmony or misfortune in your life. The movement of ch’i is thought to be influenced by several things such as colors, shapes and sound. The purpose of Feng Shui is to ensure that ch’i is flowing smoothly and gently without being allowed to stagnate or move too quickly. This harmony in your environment is understood to create harmony in your life.

Bringing Harmony to Your Garden

Feng Shui starts with basic gardening maintenance. Ch’i is believed to stagnate in areas where junk accumulates. Clean up your patio or deck and screen your garbage cans from view. Throw away any broken pots, planters or tools. Good cultural practices are also considered important in the flow of ch’i. Mow your lawn, pull up weeds, edge your beds and remove dead plants. Prune any broken or damaged limbs, stake plants and take steps to control insects and disease.

Ch’i requires smooth curves to flow. It is funneled by straight lines but impeded by sharp angles. It does not need to be costly or time consuming to remedy these types of structural problems. A straight walkway can be softened with the addition of curved beds on either side. You may also try planting perennials that mound or spill onto a walkway to break up straight lines. To help ch’i flow gently around corners, consider the addition of a tree, shrub or climbing vine. A curved bench or fountain is another option.

Bright colors, especially red, are used in Feng Shui to attract ch’i. Poor Feng Shui, it is believed, is remedied by placing the five elements recognized by the ancient Chinese – wood, fire, earth, water and metal – in their appropriate direction to beneficially affect the movement of ch’i.

Why not try some of the elemental remedies below in their appropriate directional orientations? They may assist with the flow of ch’i in your garden and perhaps you will reap the benefits of good fortune Feng Shui reportedly imparts.

Feng Shui Remedies
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Year-Round Container Gardens

The best gardens provide interest all twelve months of the year. In the spring and summer, gardens are full of color with bright, cheerful bulbs, pastel spring-flowering trees, vivid, multi-colored bedding plants and striking perennials; fall gives us shades of yellow, gold, orange, red and purple with the changing of the season, as well as abundant fruits and berries. Winter has its attractions as well with evergreens, hardy plants and persistent berries. With a little planning, container gardens can give us color and variety every month of the year.

Planning for Winter Container Gardens

While most gardeners have no trouble creating lush container gardens for spring, summer and fall, winter is more of a challenge, especially if you hope to enjoy the same plants in every season. Fortunately, many plants are suitable for winter container gardening. The best choices include evergreens, shrubs with berries, those with contorted branches or interesting bark and buds or later winter-flowering shrubs. These plants remain in the containers for year-round interest, while bulbs, annuals and perennials can be switched out for colorful seasonal interest. Consider how all the plants will change seasonally so you can create a living tableau that will retain gorgeous shape, form, color and texture throughout the year.

Planting and Care for Year-Round Container Gardens

When planting containers for all-season interest, frost-proof pots should be your choice. This includes fiberglass, polyethylene and structural foam planters. These pots resist winter damage, insulate to help regulate the soil temperature and retain moisture better than porous pots. They are also lightweight, so they can be more easily moved to a sheltered location in poor weather, or shifted to a sunny spot on a warm day.

Plant containers as you normally would, following good horticulture practices – enriching the soil, providing proper drainage and arranging plants for the best visual appeal. Be certain to give your pots shelter from the prevailing winds and water your plants when needed to keep roots from drying out. To water, check the soil moisture when temperatures rise above 40 degrees and add cold water as necessary. You may want to shift the containers’ location each season for the best light and weather protection. In winter, it may also be useful to add an insulating blanket around the pot or to provide more wind protection by stacking hay bales around the container.

Plants for Winter Interest in Year-Round Containers

While some plants are stunning for a season, the following plants are proven winners in winter and will bring great interest to your containers.

Evergreens

  • Buxus (Common Boxwood)
  • Pinus (Dwarf and Semi-Dwarf Pines)
  • Thuja (Dwarf Arborvitaes)
  • Juniperus (Dwarf Junipers)
  • Tsuga (Dwarf Hemlock)
  • Picea (Dwarf Spruces)
  • Taxus baccata (English Yew)
  • Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera Aurea’ (Golden Japanese False Cypress)
  • Pieris Japonica (Japanese Pieris)
  • Kalmia latifolia (Mountain Laurel)
  • Microbiota (Siberian Cypress)
  • Euonymus fortunei (Wintercreeper)
  • Sciadopitys verticillata (Japanese Umbrella Pine)

Deciduous

  • Amelanchier arboreo (Downy Serviceberry)
  • Fothergilla gardenii (Dwarf Fothergilla)
  • Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ (Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick)
  • Ilex verticillata ‘Nana’ (Winterberry Holly)
  • Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’ (PeeGee Hydrangea)
  • Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster)

Late Winter/Early Spring Accent Plants

  • Helleborus (Christmas and Lenton Rose)
  • Primrose
  • Ajuga
  • Violas or Pansies
  • Crocus*
  • Snowdrops*
  • Dwarf Iris*
  • Ivy

*Plant these bulbs in fall for winter flowering.

No matter what you choose to plant, it’s easier than you think to design delightful containers that will catch everyone’s eye all winter long.

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Design a Raised Landscape That Works

Raised beds have been around for years, but have become increasingly popular recently because they make the landscape orderly, organized and easy to maintain. You can readily reach over and pull weeds as they appear, plant more comfortably and enjoy the new tiered depth and dimension of your lawn and garden. Raised beds are also particularly helpful if you are working with heavy soils that drain poorly, or if you have mobility limits that make getting down to ground level more difficult.

If you’re just getting started with raised beds, it’s easy to successfully bring your gardening to a higher level:

  1. Define the bed lines with a rope or hose. Consider the overall bed size, as well as the size and shape of your building material. You may want to position the bed along a fence or in a corner for more dimension and support.
  2. Dig a 4-6” deep edge along the perimeter. Don’t worry if this line isn’t as neat as you would like, because it will be more refined once you construct the bed frame.
  3. Remove existing sod/grass from the bed. You can compost the removed material, or use it to patch other spots in your lawn or turf as needed.
  4. Place concrete blocks, wall stone or other edging along this new bed line to build your bed frame. Wooden railroad ties or planks can also be used, but be aware that they may warp or decay in time. In general, stone or other sturdy materials are preferred.
  5. Build up your flower bed approximately 6-8” with top soil, mixing in peat moss for better drainage and compost, leaf mulch, cow manure or similar organic material to adequately nourish the soil.
  6. Compact your soil mixture as you build up each layer. This will help keep the bed from settling excessively as you plant and water.
  7. Increase the visual impact of your flower bed or gardening area by planting at different levels. Arrange shorter, lower growing plants in front, followed by medium and then tall plants in the back. You might consider some “spiller” plants along the sides and front if desired. Choose plants carefully to match the size of the bed, avoiding plants that will quickly outgrow the smaller, more confined space.
  8. Apply a 2-3” layer of mulch or stone and thoroughly soak your new landscape feature. Sprinkle Miracle Gro Weed Preventer or a similar product over the area to provide an invisible layer of protection against germinating weeds.

Before you know it, your new raised bed will be thriving and will quickly become the centerpiece of your landscaping. Then it’s time to construct another!

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Long-Blooming Perennials for Summer

By choosing long-blooming perennial plants, you can capitalize on the best of both worlds – plants that come back from growing season to growing season, and those that bloom for an extended length of time. This also means you’ll have more time to appreciate the gardens you create!

Here is just a sampling of long-blooming perennial plants perfect for the sunny summer garden:

  • Achillea (Yarrow) is a very drought and heat resistant plant once established. The flower heads are long-lasting and many colors are available including yellow, gold, pink and pastels in apricot, lilac, salmon, cream and white. Plants grow from 8-36″ tall, depending on variety. The flat-topped flower heads grow up to several inches across, and make excellent cut and dried flowers. The fern-like, gray to gray-green foliage is somewhat aromatic and attractive even when the plant is not in bloom.
  • Coreopsis (Tickseed) is one of the easiest and most rewarding garden flowers. The thread leaf varieties are usually the longest blooming, typically from June through fall. The pale yellow, bright yellow or rosy-pink daisy flowers smother the slender stems and thread-like leaves. Plant height, from 15-24″, is variety dependent. A mid-summer shearing of the seed heads will keep these plants blooming for many more weeks.
  • Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower) is a sturdy, bold-textured favorite with dark foliage that grows to 2-3′ tall and wide. The flowers are large, daisy-like with unique standings of dark-rose purple and lighter in color. Birds and butterflies also love these flowers, adding even more beauty to your garden with their visits.
  • Rudbeckia (Black-Eyed Susan) is an old-fashioned garden favorite. It is hardy, reliable, insect and disease-free and an exceptionally long-blooming plant – typically from July through fall. This medium-green, bold-foliaged plant grows to about 3′ tall and bears golden yellow, daisy-like flowers with dark brown centers. Both Echinacea and Rudbeckia flowers make excellent cut flowers and a wonderful place for butterflies to sit and eat.
  • Gallardia (Blanket Flower) is an American native plant which thrives in the hot sun and has beautiful yellow-orange flowers, marked with red. Height varies according to variety. Some favorites include “Baby Cole” which is a dwarf only 8″ high, “Goblin,” a 12-15” grower, and “Burgundy,” which reaches 18-24” and whose flowers are a gorgeous shade of burgundy red.
  • Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Plumbago) features intense blue flowers from mid-summer to September. Plumbago spreads quickly to form a neat groundcover and as an added bonus, leaves turn a brilliant red in the fall before dropping. This excellent perennial grows well in light shade also.
  • Veronica (Speedwell) has neat, attractive foliage and abundant flowers in densely packed spikes. Look for the cultivars ‘Goodness Grows’ and taller ‘Sunny Border Blue’ for a beautiful addition of blue to your summer garden, and pair it with red or white favorites for a patriotic theme.

Remember, this is just a brief glimpse of the long-blooming perennials available to choose from. Stop by to see our wide selection of perennials so we can help you determine which plants are best suited to your garden.

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