Well, it is officially here. This past Sunday, on March 20th, 2016, the first official day of spring arrived. I know, we all felt it well before Sunday, but with the passing of the official date we begin to slowly let out our breath in relief that it is likely we have passed the threat of any more freezes. Although, not to be a Debbie Downer, we have gotten bit as late as the first week of April. Just saying. But that aside, the nurseries have been bustling, wagons and carts have been overflowing, and the color surrounding us is almost blinding. In springtime it is easy to fill up on brilliantly blooming annuals like geraniums, petunias, and delphiniums and forget about the following seasons of summer and fall, when those flowers tend to peter out, leaving you with a “sea of green” if you haven’t planned to incorporate spring/summer/fall blooming perennials. I am not, in any way, discouraging you from selecting colorful spring annuals. I personally swoon over the bright-blue hues of delphinium and I absolutely must have the delicate petals of petunias waving in the wind somewhere in my garden. We also must keep in mind that depending on the weather, it is possible for many of these annuals to stretch further through the seasons, giving you annual color from spring to fall. But during the times when the summer sun blazes unmercifully sooner and longer than hoped for, I’ve managed to figure out how to stop myself from sinking into a sad state of depression when the last, colorful petal drops from my seasonal flowers. If I have given myself something else to look forward to, I can more easily put my “past their prime” annuals into the compost heap. When I see butterflies clamoring over the flowers on my verbena, or the glowing hues on spikes of salvia, I know the color show is nowhere near the end. These tough perennials give me color spring through fall, and they come back every year to repeat their showy bloom cycle.
Annuals:
(Geraniums lining the walks.)
(Pretty hard to resist the brilliant blue of a delphinium.)
(Gerbera daisies, always a cheerful choice for annuals.)
Like I said before, spring blooms are abound. Geraniums line the walks with big, bold flowers, stalks of brilliant, blue delphinium gently wave in the wind, and gerbera daisies greet us with cheerful, open petals. These type of spring bloomers are in their element right now. We are still having cooler evenings, and the day temperatures are sliding around between the 70’s and 80’s, with a few cooler or hotter spells thrown in now and again. When the hotter weather starts getting more consistent, and it will, it always does, the vigor of these plants starts sliding down like a snowman’s melting smile. If you don’t find a more sheltered area to place these plants, you might come home some day to a burned up, shriveled heap. When we love a certain flower, we don’t always seem to mind spending the time carting it around to make sure it gets the proper home throughout the seasons. We do it every winter with our potted plants, don’t we? But if that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, you may want to ask a few questions when buying that flower that blinded you with its beauty at the nursery. Find out if the “full sun” tag really means “full sun Texas style”. Ask how you could prolong the blooming period of the particular flower, either with deadheading or a fertilizer schedule. Or understand that an annual is just that, a plant to be enjoyed for a specific amount of time which will need to be replaced yearly. When the spring weather bids us adieu, and the heat rises and sets in, good choices for annuals that can take our Texas sun are: moss rose, portulaca, narrowleaf zinnia, gomphrena, angelonia, and vinca (periwinkle). If you are looking for annual color in your shadier, or dappled light areas, you might want to check out: caladiums, polka-dot plants, impatiens, Persian shield, begonias and torenia.
Perennials:
(A favorite annual here in S.A., vinca can take the sun all summer.)
(Gomphrena’s little globe flowers say, “Bring on the heat!”.)
(Caladiums can take some sun, but appreciate reprieve from a direct hit in the afternoons.)
(Color in the shade? With torenia, yes indeed.)
While I usually pick out a couple of must-have annuals, lately I have been choosing more perennials to fill my cart. When my perennials start rejuvenating, and I see them rising up from the ground, that, to me, is the quintessential sure sign of spring. These plants worked hard all last spring through fall, laid down for a little rest through winter, and are now waking up to take on the world again. With the mild winter we just had, many of these perennials have sprung up sooner than normal. What I also love about perennials is that you usually get multiple seasons of blooms with them. Plant lantana or salvia in the spring and enjoy them all through fall. Plumbago explodes with true-blue, clusters of flowers in summer and with a little haircut, repeats the show in fall. Throw in some butterfly weed to attract the Monarchs each year, or feed the hummingbirds with Flame aniscanthus. Perennials make a long-lasting, colorful backdrop to your annuals, and they stick around way past the time your annuals hang out. Some of our favorites in the sunny category include: red yucca, guara, daylily, yarrow, ‘David Verity’ cigar plant, lantana, salvia, plumbago, bulbine, verbena, skullcap, and firebush. If you need perennial color for the shade, opt for the likes of: firespike, native Turk’s cap, cardinal flower, columbine, coral bells, sweet potato vine, and Mona lavender (tropical perennial).
(The tubular flowers of the cigar plant are perfect for hummingbirds.)
(Go big or go home! We love the huge clusters of sky-blue flowers on plumbago.)
(Made for the shade, Firespike gives you bright-red, perennial color.)
(Beautiful foliage and striking flowers in your shadier spots. You get it all with columbine.)
Choosing a nice mix of annuals and perennials ensures a bevy of beautiful blooms season after season. It just takes a little forethought and a little extra planning, and you can have a virtual revolving door of color in your landscape. So go ahead and fill up those wagons with the gorgeous colors of spring, but remember to leave some space for those summer and fall bloomers too!
