We're heading into the height of the summer season, yet when you look around your outdoor spaces there's not much in bloom! All the spring bulbs have sprung and fizzled. The early-summer dazzlers are withering, and the late-summer offerings are just beginning to bud. What to do?
Of course, this is a great time to stock up on annuals--spreading their bright, cheery efflorescence around your yard--but not everyone has the time and money to tide over garden spaces this way. It's more cost-efficient, and less time-consuming, to plant perennials that prefer flowering in the middle of summer. Here, the most reliable mid-season bloomers:
Rudbeckia fulgida 'Early Bird Gold': Unlike the original black-eyed Susan, which is just beginning to bud now, this early-blooming cultivar begins flowering around July 4th, and doesn't stop until nearly Halloween! Pair it with 'Endless Summer' Hydrangea macrophylla--which begins blooming earlier than the traditional version because it's been bred to grow on new and old wood--and you've got consistent color from early July until late autumn (both pictured, above).
Coreopsis verticillata begins pushing out sunny yellow petals in late June, and will flower through August, and even into September. Not only does this cultivar differ from the widely known Coreopsis lanceolata in foliage variety (it has feathery, string-like greenery as compared with the lanceolata's thick, rounded leaves, which makes for interesting textures in the flowerbed), but it buds later...and therefore, flowers last until deeper into the summer season, as seen in the background, below.
If you love the bright shot of color provided by daylilies, but lament the fact that they're nearing the end of their bloom cycle, you can opt for Asiatic lilies, which have flowers similar in shape and color. They're just reaching their potential now (check out the magenta lily on the left-hand side of the shot, right). Besides being available in a variety of hues, they boast playful whirls of greenery along their stems for foliage variety.
The gentle white blooms of the Physostegia virginiana, AKA Obedient plant (foreground), provides a neutral value in the center of the garden, and is just beginning to bloom now. It makes a great mid-summer anchor, and is a must-have (along with Rudbeckia) for those who prefer only native plants in their outdoor spaces.
Don't forget about flowering groundcovers and trees. The fuschia blooms on the creeping sedum in the front of this photo offer unending interest to garden visitors. This versatile plant sports intricate foliage that's shaped like finely crafted florets, which only become more interesting when topped by the delightful pink blooms. And while it can be challenging to find flowering trees in the middle of the summer, I've found that the Cornus kousa, a small deciduous tree (usually 8-12 feet tall) in the dogwood family, can "flower" for up to six weeks. The flowers consist of four petals which are actually bracts (like poinsettias), and last from mid spring through the first few weeks of July. Mine is done blooming (as you can see from the last ravaged blossom, below), but it's far from finished providing interesting color and texture to my yard. After the bracts drop, the flower centers--small cherry-shaped berries--take center stage, turning from green to the color and appearance of a raspberry (bottom photo). The edible berries not only keep the summer color going, but attract birds of all varieties. What could be more colorful than that?
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