The sun’s out and the flowers are starting to peek their heads out from the winter snow! We’ve received a lot of questions regarding garden plans and native plants so we decided to put together a blog post just for you! Check out part 3 in the series below where we highlight tips and tricks for your gardens!
Cut Flowers
Coneflower (Echinacea spp.) – These full sun loving flowers from 18-30” tall. Most widely known for the bright purple blooms, echinacea comes in an array of colors, from hot pinks to deep oranges and yellows, too! Her rigid stems are great for bouquets.
Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida) – Growing 18-24”, they love full sun to part shade. These cheerful yellow blooms pair nicely with the purple of the echinacea. Consider Redbeckia hirta, “Cherokee spirit” for densely petaled variety in deeper oranges and browns at only 12-16”.
Yarrow (Achillilea millefolium) – These plants love full sun to part shade and frow 12-36” tall. You’ll love how differently this flower blooms from others. It forms a plate-like head with dozens of tiny, spicy-gragrant flowers. The foliage is feathery, adding a lovely texture to your gardens. Most common in white, you can also find pinks, oranges and yellows.
Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum) – Full sun loving, this plant can grow up to 48” tall. Daisies come in a wide selection of varieties, so choose the height that best suits you. We have a variety that reaches about 48” tall, which is a perfect, white, long-blooming variety in the back or our border. Having a tall plant like this one provides a lovely palate for the rest of the flowers to “pop” from.
Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla spp.) – Hydrangeas can grow 4-5’ tall and like full sun to part shade, *but not hot*. They don’t like to be baked, so don’t put these in a south-facing unless it’s consistently moist. The large leaves and even bigger, blobular flowers are a showstopper in gardens and bouquets. “White Ball”, “Endless Summer” and “Nikko Blue” are popular varieties. This plant is flourishing on the north-sdie of our home, in dappled sun. Since these are shrubs, they do require pruning for health. Don’t be shy about this step! We’ll post soon about pruning tips and tricks!
Hosta (Hosta spp.) – Depending on the variety, they can grow 4-28” in full to part shared. I’m a hosta convert. I used to be so “over” hosta, because my mom used them EVERYWHERE! It was only when I began my own gardening journey that I began to appreciate these leafy beauties. Hostas come in 5 major leaf categories (green, blue, gold, Medio-variegated (dark margins with a light center). On top of that, the leaves can be heart-shaped or even long and skinny. I have a variety that’s a beautiful yellow-green with slender leaves resembling the edges of lasagna. Hostas offer only only foliar visual interest, but they sent up a stem with beautiful lavender bell flowers. I love to intermix not only the flowers, but the large leaves into bouquets. Hostas have the added bonus of being part of your edible landscape! Deer like them too. So be watchful, this is their favorite lettuce!