Plan room in your garden for summer bulbs
Here are some summer-blooming bulbs to consider:
• Dahlias: With blooms that range from simply daisylike to cushiony pompons, in sizes from 1 inch to 6 or 10 inches, on plants from 1 to 7 feet tall and colors from white to fire-engine red, the wide-ranging dahlias are the secret weapons of the fall garden. They start blooming when the weather begins to cool off and continue blooming until frost. Dahlias need full sun.
• Elephant ears: Another plant that has enjoyed a revival in recent years, these huge-leaved taro plants, often 5 feet tall and just as wide, can make a garden look "like another country," says Holmberg. Black Magic, a moderate-size cultivar with dark, velvety leaves, is popular, but Kunst likes Colocasia esculenta Fontanesii, with green leaves held on bright violet stems. Elephant ears need light shade, shelter from the wind and lots of moisture, so Kunst often grows them in containers that sit in saucers full of water.
• Tuberous begonias: Not the bedding plants bought in flats, these lovelies, grown from tubers, have luxurious rosettes of bloom that brighten shade in beds or pots. The colors are incredibly lush and velvety.
• Gladioli: Some people still associate tall, stately gladiolus with stiff funeral arrangements, Holmberg says. But Kunst thinks the tide has turned, especially for smaller-flowering varieties such as Atom. They seem to be more disease-resistant, he says. Ferguson likes to spot gladioli in clumps of five to nine among perennials, such as Flower Carpet Pink shrub roses, Autumn Joy sedum and perennial mums, which she says will hold them so they don't need staking.
• Gladiolus callianthus: Recently reclassified as a member of the gladiolus family, it looks very unlike its cousins, with sharp, bright white petals around deep purple centers, held on slender stems that sway in the wind.
• Cannas: Once derided as old-fashioned, cannas, with their often striped leaves and spikes of tropical-style bloom that add height to beds or containers, are red-hot in gardening circles. Maybe too hot. Kunst thinks some gardeners are turned off by "that hard edge that comes with a blazing red or blazing yellow flower." He points out the many more subtle cannas, such as the delicate pink Madame Paul Caseneuve, that bloom in much softer shades. Cannas do best in full sun, though they can tolerate a bit of filtered light.
• Gloriosa vines: Ferguson loves these because "they look like alien intruders from another world," with far-reaching tendrils and "flowers like orange and yellow butterflies." Grow in sun on a support such as a trellis.
• Caladiums: Grown for their heart-shaped leaves that range from green to silver, often touched with pink, caladiums brighten shady spots.
• Lilies: Don't forget: The hardy lilies -- early summer Asiatics, midsummer LA hybrids, late-summer Orientals and later Orienpets -- can be planted in spring as well as fall. Don't lift their bulbs; they are hardy and will thrive for years.
• Dahlias: With blooms that range from simply daisylike to cushiony pompons, in sizes from 1 inch to 6 or 10 inches, on plants from 1 to 7 feet tall and colors from white to fire-engine red, the wide-ranging dahlias are the secret weapons of the fall garden. They start blooming when the weather begins to cool off and continue blooming until frost. Dahlias need full sun.
• Elephant ears: Another plant that has enjoyed a revival in recent years, these huge-leaved taro plants, often 5 feet tall and just as wide, can make a garden look "like another country," says Holmberg. Black Magic, a moderate-size cultivar with dark, velvety leaves, is popular, but Kunst likes Colocasia esculenta Fontanesii, with green leaves held on bright violet stems. Elephant ears need light shade, shelter from the wind and lots of moisture, so Kunst often grows them in containers that sit in saucers full of water.
• Tuberous begonias: Not the bedding plants bought in flats, these lovelies, grown from tubers, have luxurious rosettes of bloom that brighten shade in beds or pots. The colors are incredibly lush and velvety.
• Gladioli: Some people still associate tall, stately gladiolus with stiff funeral arrangements, Holmberg says. But Kunst thinks the tide has turned, especially for smaller-flowering varieties such as Atom. They seem to be more disease-resistant, he says. Ferguson likes to spot gladioli in clumps of five to nine among perennials, such as Flower Carpet Pink shrub roses, Autumn Joy sedum and perennial mums, which she says will hold them so they don't need staking.
• Gladiolus callianthus: Recently reclassified as a member of the gladiolus family, it looks very unlike its cousins, with sharp, bright white petals around deep purple centers, held on slender stems that sway in the wind.
• Cannas: Once derided as old-fashioned, cannas, with their often striped leaves and spikes of tropical-style bloom that add height to beds or containers, are red-hot in gardening circles. Maybe too hot. Kunst thinks some gardeners are turned off by "that hard edge that comes with a blazing red or blazing yellow flower." He points out the many more subtle cannas, such as the delicate pink Madame Paul Caseneuve, that bloom in much softer shades. Cannas do best in full sun, though they can tolerate a bit of filtered light.
• Gloriosa vines: Ferguson loves these because "they look like alien intruders from another world," with far-reaching tendrils and "flowers like orange and yellow butterflies." Grow in sun on a support such as a trellis.
• Caladiums: Grown for their heart-shaped leaves that range from green to silver, often touched with pink, caladiums brighten shady spots.
• Lilies: Don't forget: The hardy lilies -- early summer Asiatics, midsummer LA hybrids, late-summer Orientals and later Orienpets -- can be planted in spring as well as fall. Don't lift their bulbs; they are hardy and will thrive for years.
posted by blogger at
Monday, February 21, 2005
