It’s getting so nice out and many of the spring bulbs are blooming and perennial plants are sprouting. This is a very happy time of year for gardeners. If you ask gardeners what may be a favorite flowering plant, I’m sure they would not be able to list just one. I am going to list some of my favorites this list may be especially helpful for a beginner gardener. When purchasing plants make sure they are hardy for our zone 4a. This is listed on the plant label. The plants I have chosen are hardy here.
They are favorites for several reasons: easy to find at a nursery or even from a friend-gardeners LOVE to share, easy to grow and maintain, lovely colors and attraction of butterflies and other pollinators.
My favorite sun loving perennials:
● Day Lilies (Hemerocallis) — Very easy to care for and they come in a large variety of colors and some have very fun names. Usually bloom July-August.
● Purple Cone Flowers (Echinacea) — The most common color is purple but they have now developed some other colors such as white, orange and red. From my experience the purple are the hardiest and have many long-lasting blooms. Butterflies love them. They bloom all summer and are nice as a cut flower.
● Coral Bells (Heuchera) — This plant is best planted on the edge of a bed as it has low growing attractive foliage and gets tall erect stems of tiny flowers that hummingbirds love. The first bloom is in June and when finished is easy to deadhead (cut off old flower/stems) and will get another bloom later in the summer. There are now many varieties available many with different foliage colors that are attractive for a long time.
● Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata) — This is a taller plant best located in the back or center of a flower bed. The most common color of the large flower head is purple but there are now varieties of pinks and white. Try to find a powdery mildew resistant variety. When planting give this plant extra room as it will spread in a few years.
● Shasta Daisy (Chrysanthemum x superbum) — These white petaled yellow centered flower is probably one of the most recognized flower and just makes everyone smile and butterflies love it too. Grows about 12-15 inches tall. Blooms all summer especially if the spent blooms are cut off.
● Sedum (Sedum species) — This very easy to grow and start plant has very fleshy leaves. A common variety is Autumn Joy that gets large long lasting flower heads. There are many new varieties with colorful foliage and varying heights. The dried flower heads can be left for winter interest.
Shade loving perennials that I like are:
● Astilbe (Astilbe species) — This plant has fern like foliage in a variety of colors and feathery flowers in white pink and red colors. Dead head for a tidier look.
● Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis) — This fun plant is very sentimental to gardeners. They bloom in the spring. This is an ephemeral — the foliage dies back in the summer so you may want to plant an annual flower nearby to fill in the space.
● Hosta (Hosta species and cultivars) — There are very many hosta varieties with many different leaf shapes, sizes, colors and textures. Very easy to grow and one of the most shared garden plant. Hostas get a tall flowering scape that hummingbirds love.
I like to mix a few annuals in among my perennials to have some continuing and maybe different colors.
Sun loving favorites are:
● Pentas (Penta lanceolata) — They have long lasting flower heads in red, white and pink. Butterflies and hummingbirds love them.
● Marigolds (Tagetes species) — Very easy to grow and bloom into the fall for lots of bright color and also very heat tolerant. There are several different varieties with differing heights.
● Zinnias (Zinnia elegans) — This has been a garden favorite for many years. Very easy to start; grows quickly from seed. Zinnias come in a variety of colors flower size and heights. Some of the tall varieties may need to be staked up. I like the shorter dwarf varieties.
Shade loving favorites are:
● Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana) — These low growing plants are best planted on the edge of a bed. Impatiens come in a variety of colors and one plant can spread in a large area and blooms all summer. There are now some more sun tolerant varieties available now.
● Coleus (Solenostemon scutellareiod) — This plant is actually loved most for its colorful foliage that comes in a variety of colors, heights and leaf shapes. It is best if the flower heads actually be removed as this makes the plant get fuller. Some gardeners bring this plant indoors for the winter.
I know this is just a few of the many plants available in the nurseries and I encourage you to try out some new plants.
Some of these plants will be available at our Green County Master Gardeners plant sale on Saturday, May 15 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Green County Fairgrounds, 2600 10th St. in Monroe.
Happy Gardening!
— Kris Winkler is a master gardener with the University of Wisconsin-Extension. She can be reached at kriswink56@gmail.com.
