Don’t put away your gardening tools yet! Spring planting season may be over, but there are actually many plants that can be added to the garden later in the year. These summer annuals are perfect for replacing short-lived spring annuals. Add these late-season pops of color to keep your garden looking its best this year.

Coleus

Color isn’t all about flowers! Coleus offers stunning foliage in a variety of colors, making it perfect to brighten up your garden late in the season. For best results, plant coleus in partial shade. You can also use it for container plantings. Keep the show going longer by pinching off any flowers that form.

Alternanthera “Purple Knight”

Much like coleus, alternanthera offers stunning foliage. It does best in partial shade to full sun, and can be used as a landscape plant or grown in containers. Late in the season, it’s a great filler for areas of your garden that are looking a little thin.

Pentas

Pentas bloom in shades of pink, white, and lavender. Their flowers are clusters of small trumpet-shaped blooms, with star-shaped openings. Butterflies and hummingbirds absolutely love them, and pentas love hot weather. You can’t beat them as a midsummer fill-in for sunny spots.

Tuberous Begonias

In Maryland, tuberous begonias grow best in containers with relatively good drainage. However, spending a little bit of effort to plant them will yield a big show. Their flowers bloom in almost every color, and they’ll keep growing strong until the first frost. They make wonderful hanging basket plants for porches, and can also be brought indoors to enjoy during the winter. Plant in full sun to partial shade.

Scaevola

Sometimes called “fan flower,” scaevola is a trailing annual plant with purple or white flowers. If your container gardens could use a pep-up, plant scaevola along the edges for long-lasting color. Prefers full sun to partial shade.

Wishbone Flower

Look for Torenia, or “wishbone flower,” as another summer container filler. It’s semi-upright with purple or dark pink flowers and creamy throats. A tough plant with a bit of tropical flair, it will bloom like crazy until frost.

New Guinea Impatiens

We love these garden workhorse flowers. You can basically plant them and forget them! Some varieties have darker leaves, but all have bright, almost tropical-hued flowers. Grow in full sun to partial shade in containers, or as a mass planting in your landscape beds. They’re real showstoppers!

Geraniums

Geraniums offer flowers in a variety of hues, and are great for attracting bees and butterflies to the garden. Plant geraniums in full sun to get the most blooms and water when the soil gets dry. Be careful not to overwater because this will increase the risk of disease. You can bring a pot of geraniums indoors to enjoy for the winter, too. Just make sure it gets bright light.

Don’t let your summer garden become lackluster! Fill blank spaces and add more color and life to your garden with these summer annuals. The beauty they bring is well worth the extra effort. For help finding what would work best in your garden, come into one of our store locations and speak to an expert today.

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The Best Time for Planting 

Hydrangeas thrive when planted in the fall or during early spring. They need plenty of time to establish a healthy root system before blooming, so don’t rush them. The best time to plant is early morning or late afternoon, during the cooler parts of the day, to avoid heat stress.

How to Plant

1. Location, location, location. The best place to plant hydrangeas is in a sheltered location with sunny mornings and shady afternoons. Hydrangeas do best in moist, well-drained soil and dappled shade – not too sunny and not too shady. Too much shade can reduce flower output. Avoid south-facing positions, especially if the soil is very dry. Avoid planting directly underneath trees – this can cause a competition for water and nutrients.
2. Soil is key. Hydrangeas grow well in soil that contains lots of organic materials and is well-draining. While they like moist soil, they can easily become waterlogged if soil is slow to drain.
3. Getting them in the ground. Planting hydrangeas is not a difficult process. Simply dig the planting holes 2 feet wider than the root ball and keep the depth of the hole consistent with the size of the root ball so the plant sits level with the surrounding soil.
4. If planting multiples, make sure to account for mature size of the shrub. Space hydrangeas anywhere from 3 to 10 feet apart, depending on type.

Care for Newly Planted Hydrangeas

1. Hydrangeas, especially newly planted ones, need consistent water. It’s best to water deeply 3 times per week to encourage root growth. Consistent moisture is important, but be careful not to overwater, causing root rot and bad bacteria growth. If the plant’s leaves are wilting, the soil is too dry.
2. Most hydrangeas prefer acidic soil, but if you have healthy, rich soil, you may not need to fertilize hydrangeas. An excess of plant food could actually create leafy growth – and fewer flowers. Feed hydrangeas with a slow-release, organic plant food for acid-loving plants when they start to show growth in spring, and again about a month later.
3. Add mulch under hydrangeas to help keep the soil moist and cool. Organic mulch breaks down over time, adding additional nutrients and improving the soil texture.

Pruning Hydrangeas

There are two types of hydrangeas – those that bloom on old growth and those that bloom on new growth – and we suppose there is a third type – those that do both. It’s important to know which hydrangea you have, to know when to prune.

The two most common hydrangeas are mophead and panicle. One is shaped like, well, a mop – or ball – and the other is more football-shaped.

Both should be pruned in early spring. However, if you prune very late in spring, it can remove the buds that were developing, so be sure to start early. First, cut out a few old, weak stems at the base of the plant to encourage new growth. Then, snip off the old flower just above a set of buds.

Bigleaf, Oakleaf and Mountain hydrangeas, however, are pruned AFTER the flowers fade in the summer. These varieties bloom on the previous season’s stems (“old wood”), so if you prune later than that, you will be cutting off the following season’s blooms.

It may be hard to know which hydrangeas to choose or what will grow best in your yard. We’re here to help. Email us at AskHomestead@homesteadgardens.com, or visit our stores.

And please follow us on social media and share photos of your hydrangeas! Because we love plants as much as you do!

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A bouquet of flowers is a wonderful way to freshen up any room and make it feel warm and inviting. But don’t just take our word for it: The University of North Florida partnered with The Society of American Florists to conduct a study revealing that having fresh flowers around can reduce stress levels! If you love flowers and can find a little extra space in your yard or garden, starting a cut flower garden of your own can be a fun summer project.

Preparing Your Garden

Design your cut flower garden for easy access. Not only will you be harvesting flowers throughout the season, you’ll also need space to weed and deadhead plants (removing old blooms). The easiest way to provide access is to plant flowers in rows, which are efficient for harvesting and maintenance.

Selecting the right site for a cut flower garden is just as important as it is for a vegetable patch. Most cut flower varieties do best in a sunny space that has rich, well-drained soil. Add compost before planting, which will help retain moisture and provide nutrients as they break down.

Depending upon the flowers you choose to grow, you may need to include stakes, a trellis, or some lattice in your garden bed to help keep taller flowers upright. These should be put in place before planting so that your flowers will grow up through them and you don’t have to try to place them in and among tender flower stems.

Selecting Flowers

Choose varieties for your cutting garden that have long, strong stems that will last well in a vase. Here are our favorite easy to grow options:

• Sunflowers
• Phlox
• Celosia
• Sweet peas
• Coneflowers
• Daffodils
• Tulips
• Rudbeckia
• Zinnias
• Asters
• Snapdragons
• Cornflowers

You will also want to consider when flowers will bloom. Choose flowers with different bloom times to ensure you have a steady supply of flowers throughout the summer.

Put some thought into the color of the flowers that will be blooming at the same time and how well they’ll complement each other in an arrangement.

Tips to Encourage Production

1. If possible, use mulch like straw, leaves, or shredded newspaper to help inhibit weed growth and retain moisture.
2. Plant your garden in blocks of the same variety. This way, if you have early season varieties that stop blooming during the summer, you can till that bed or section of your garden and replant it with another quick to bloom variety to make the most of your space.
3. Keep your garden well maintained. Watch for pests and diseases and remove affected plants before the problem spreads. Keep flowers deadheaded to encourage repeat blooming. Weed often to eliminate competition for water, food, and sunlight.
4. During peak blooming, you can give your plants a little boost by watering with a liquid organic fertilizer.

By following these tips you can easily grow a cut flower garden that will provide you with plenty of bouquets to enjoy indoors and to give away to friends and family. It’s a great project for kids, too. Enjoy!

For more information come into one of our Homestead Garden locations to speak with an expert!

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When you think of flower gardens your mind probably jumps to familiar, favorite plants such as the roses your grandmother always grew, or daffodils and peonies you see popping up next to farmhouse driveways across the nation each spring.

These flowers that are so widely loved even people who don’t garden know them by name. Their classic beauty, often coupled with reliability, has earned them a place in many gardener’s hearts.

And, while we’ll always love the classics, there are so many more unique and interesting plants available! Here are some of our favorites that might just have you looking at your garden with a fresh eye this spring.

Toad Lilies (Tricyrtis hirta)

Toad lilies are largely overlooked, but wonderful, late summer and early fall flowering plants perfect for moist shade gardens. Intricately designed, orchid-like blooms really wow wherever they’re planted. There are few plants that rival toad lilies’ beauty and color for shade. Their petals are typically white or light yellow with pink or purple spots. As an added bonus, because they like more water than some shade plants, they’re perfect for planting around a bird bath.

Passionflower (Passiflora)

The flowers on all passion flowers or passiflora look similar but there are hundreds of passion flower species available. Some are shrubs and trees, some are annuals, others are perennials, and many grow large vines. What they all have in common are their impressive flowers and incredible fragrance.

The flowers have wide, flat petals, a circle of thin filaments, and a central stalk with the ovary and stamens. They appear in mid to late summer and are typically a combination of colors including blue, purple, pink, white, and red. Grow in a container near your front door or on the patio where you can enjoy their stunning display.

Birds of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae)

This flower is named for its striking resemblance to the colorful stature of the Greater Bird of Paradise, with its orange plumes and inky blue under feathers. Except in the tropics, this banana relative is typically grown indoors and blooms in late winter or early spring.

In its native lands of Indonesia and Australia, or closer to home in places such as Southern California and Florida where the native climate can be replicated, it can bloom year-round. Brightly colored flowers emerge from the ends of long stems erupting from clusters of broad green leaves. These plants are attractive even when not in bloom.

Hibiscus

You might think of tropical island breezes when you hear the word, hibiscus, but did you know there are many cold-hardy varieties, too? Tropical hibiscus, with their brightly colored flowers and dark green foliage are spectacular specimen plants for container gardens on sunny patios. Hibiscus “standards,” which are shrubs pruned into small tree forms, are striking accent plants. Cold-hardy hibiscus plants can die back to the ground each year, only to emerge again in late spring, sometimes growing to heights of six feet or more. Flowers in shades of pink, white, purple, and red can be as large as dinner plates. Hibiscus acetosella, the cranberry hibiscus, has pink flowers and red leaves, which are used to make a tart, vitamin C rich tea.

Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)

Named for its upward-facing, tulip-shaped green and orange flowers that cover the tree in late spring, the tulip tree is a tall, striking, native hardwood that blankets the hillsides in the Washington, D.C. and Maryland area. They are fast-growing and can reach heights of 80-100 feet over time (Not an ideal choice for small yards, but beautiful if you have plenty of space).

Butterfly lovers might want to make room for a tulip tree because it’s the larval host plant for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. Plant one for the caterpillars and enjoy the butterflies that emerge.

Hopefully we’ve opened your eyes to some new and unusual plants to try growing this summer! Or, if you don’t have room for a huge hardwood tree or interest in tending tropical plants, you’ll have some new gardening trivia in your back pocket.

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Peonies

Ants

Ants are drawn to peonies right before they bloom. For years, it was believed that the ants facilitated the blooming process by consuming the nectar and “unsealing” the buds. We now know this to be untrue. While the ants do not seem to benefit the peony, nor does it seem to harm it either. They are casual acquaintances. If you are cutting peonies to bring indoors, give them a good shake to lose any unwitting passengers you might not have noticed.

Click here to read about the Itoh Peony varieties available at Homestead Gardens.

Written by: Tim Hamilton
Photo by : Melanie McCabe

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