Simple, Spectacular, Summer Garden

I love flowers. Riotous color or translucent petals, tall spires of miniature pink elephant heads, red puffballs stacked on top of each other resembling a sketch out of Dr. Seuss, flowers sway in the breeze flaunting their unabashed seductive beauty while calling out to pollinators “Come hither”. What’s not to love?

Wildflowers in spectacular bloom inspire the residential garden in the photograph below.

Shasta Daisy anchors this summer garden

As summer begins to wane in our high-altitude gardens, I propose preparing a place now, either mentally or physically, for your patch of spectacular next summer. The simple comes in with selecting a reasonably sized garden that you can maintain with tried and true plants that shout sun and summer during the last month or two of the season.

Here are a few samples of the most reliable perennials: Click on the photo for a link to more details about each plant.

Shasta Daisy, Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Becky’: You can’t beat the daisy as a tall anchor to your summer garden. Shasta daisy will have a denser bloom in full sun but still blooms well in dappled sun/shade and can handle morning shade and intense afternoon sun.

Bee Balm, Monarda didyma: The Dr. Seuss-like puffballs come in a variety of colors in the pink to red spectrum, also in the tall category. Monarda thrives in full sun or partial shade, and hummingbirds love them! Plant where you can see them from indoors if possible.

Coneflower, Echinacea: Echinacea is the last of the bold blossoms in my summer garden. The daisy like flower opens with petals facing up. As the flower matures the petals form a ballet skirt highlighting the dominant seed cones.

Speedwell, Veronica longifolia: The long leaved variety of speedwell adds visual contrast to the daisy, bee balm,and coneflower with their tall spires of pinks, blues and purples.

Achillea millefolium, Yarrow: Known to get a little out of hand if left unchecked, this is a perfect complement to Shasta Daisies and Bee Balm which all have equally vigorous roots to keep each other in check. (But do beware of using this plant without precaution.)

Selecting a minimum of three varieties in your garden patch will prolong the interest of the whole bed. Or, since these are mostly taller plants, select 2 varieties and a border of a lower perennial, or an annual such as Gaura lindheimeri ‘Belleza’, a shorter variety that blends well with all these varieties. And remember, perennial plants return year after year, most for at least 4 years and many for 10 or more years.

The photo below is an example of these simply spectacular summer flowers.

Foreground, left to right: Lavandula angustifolia 'Munstead'. Next tier: Echinacea purpurea 'Ruby Star', Rosa 'Morden Sunrise', Coreopsis 'Jethro Tull'. Next tier: Achillea millefolium, Veronica 'Evenline'. Tallest plants: Leucanthemum x superbum 'Becky' and Monarda didyma 'Scarlet Bee Balm'.

The southern edge of the bed gets more shade and has a color palette using the Veronica to highlight the purple undertones of the red in the monarda and white in the gaura. On the corner of the bed (top right in photo) are 3 peonies that start off the summer bloom in late June and finish with autumn leaf colors of maroon, deep green and yellow.

Lavenders do well in many high-altitude gardens but not all, especially in zone 3 and 4. But I am in that zone and have had excellent luck in the bed against the house, with an intense 6 or more hours afternoon sum. The deeper lavender shown above is Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote'. Munstead varieties also typically perform well. The lighter lavender adjacent is a surprise pale color - it should have been the same, but I actually prefer the light/dark contrast.

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