top 5 seasonal perennials for your cut flower garden

top 5 seasonal perennials for your cut flower garden

A fresh bouquet from your own garden adds a sense of beauty and peace to any room or space.  With a little planning, you can include in your garden some spring, summer, and fall blooming perennials that you can enjoy from spring through fall both inside and out.

 

Here are our top 5 picks for each of your seasonal perennial cutting gardens: 

Spring Blooming:

            Iris

            Peonies

            Baptisia

            Daisies

            Anemone

Summer Blooming:

            Cone Flowers

            Bee Balm

            Garden Phlox

            Lavender

            Blazing Star

Fall Blooming:

            Asters

            Sedums

            Globe Thistle

            Black Eyed Susan

            Butterfly Weed

Good fillers any season:

            Hosta leaves

            Ferns

(An FYI – 2 perennials that are beautiful in the garden but do not last in fresh bouquets are daylilies and hibiscus – leave them in the garden to enjoy.)

Read more about cut flower gardens:

Things to Consider When Planning Your Perennial Garden

6 Simple Tips to Make Your Own Fresh Flower Arrangements

5 Must Have Prairie Plants

Mary's Top 5 Plants

What makes you LOVE a certain plant? Do you look for COLOR? Texture? The shape? Do certain plants have special meaning for you? Or maybe you have memories of plants that your grandparents had in their yard growing up?

All of us here at Natural Plus love helping you find the perfect plants for your yard that you will love for years to come. And, after being in business for 42 years, we have figured out what plants do well and are our favorites!

If you’re in the market for some new trees, shrubs, or perennials, you’re going to want to follow along with these blog posts, I’ll be sharing each of our top 5 favorite plants with all of you!

Next up is me (Mary), co-owner of Natural Plus. I am drawn to some of the more unique plants that people don’t always know about.

1. Sequestered Sunshine Yellow peony: We planted the yellow peony in memory of our first son David Holtan, and I love watching it come up and bloom each year. Read more about peonies HERE.

2. Coneflowers: I love all things coneflowers, the color varieties and that they are native and attract butterflies and bees. They are one of my favorite things to photograph too.

3. Weeping Caragana Tree: We have one planted on the east side of our front door, and it reminds me of a Dr. Seuss tree. I love the yellow buds in the early spring and it’s unique foliage.

photo from Bailey’s Nursery

4. Black eyed Susans: another native perennial that just makes me smile. The black eyes with the contrasting yellow are pleasing to my eye.

5. Globe thistle: this is such a unique and cool bloom. I don’t usually like anything with thorns, but this bloom makes up for it.

And, in case you missed them, here are owner Dave’s Top 5 Plant Picks and employee Mike Watson’s and Ree’s.

6 Must-Have Late Fall Perennials

6 Must-Have Late Fall Perennials

Fall blooming perennials are especially important food sources for butterflies and pollinators.  These plants will attract butterflies and pollinators to your yard.

Asters

·      Asters – Natives come in purple, blue, and pink. A couple of my favorite varieties are Purple Dome (deep purple, globe shaped) and Alma Potsche (bright pink – grows 4-5’)  Bloom September/October

·      Black Snakeroot – Deep burgundy leaves with pink spiking blooms, shade tolerant, Grow 3-4’ , Blooms September/October

·      Dahlias – These are bulbs that must be dug late fall, stored, and replanted in the spring. My favorite color is deep burgundy red. Grow 3-4’ Bloom August-October

·      Joe Pye Weed –Native, Purple/lavender clusters of blooms, Native Americans used as a medicine for fever, etc., Grow up to 5’, Sun or part sun

Tiny Tortuga Turtlehead

·      Pink Turtlehead – Pink blooms resemble a turtle peaking out of a deep green plant. Grow 3-4’, Sun or shade tolerant.

·      Sedums – These come in multiple varieties. A couple of my favorites are Frosty Fire (green & white variegated leaves with lime green/red blooms), Mr. Goodbud (green leaves, bright magenta blooms), and Carl (red stems, magenta blooms)  Butterfly favorites  Grow 2-4 ‘,  Also come in ground cover varieties, Bloom August- October

Cherry Truffle Sedum

Grasses are another great addition to the fall landscape. You can read more about Grasses HERE.

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PLANTING PERENNIALS THAT ATTRACT BUTTERFLIES

FALL BLOOMING PERENNIALS

FALL BLOOMING PERENNIALS

Fall Blooming Perennials

Fall perennials can add vibrant color to your yard or landscaping. Many are also butterfly and hummingbird favorites.

Some of the summer perennials will hold their blossoms or color into early fall.  These include hibiscus, coreopsis, Russian sage, black eyed susans, coral bells, some cone flowers, and others. These can be planted for summer color but will last into early fall.

Of these late summer/early fall perennials, the hibiscus is a Natural Plus favorite.  Many people are surprised that they are hardy. New north varieties do very well. They emerge late – mid June – but by mid August are up to 4’ tall and wide and have very large plate size blooms in colors of reds, pinks, and whites. Some varieties have reddish leaves. Plants often have 10-15 blooms at one time. They are truly stunning. Plant in full sun. After the growing season, wait to trim hibiscus back until spring as stems are hollow and more prone to freezing if trimmed back in the fall. Mulch before winter.

Russian Sage is always an easy to grow good choice for summer and early fall color and is heat and drought tolerant. Russian Sage grows about 3’ tall with striking purple blooms and is often used as a background plant. Plant in full sun.

Later fall blooming perennials will add striking color to the late fall garden and will attract butterflies and hummingbirds. (Read more about perennials that attract butterflies)

Some Natural Plus favorites include:

·      Sedums – Large 5-6” clusters of blooms top these sturdy flowers. There are many varieties to choose from with most plants growing from 12-24”. Plant in full sun. They bloom into late fall. One plant might be host to 50 or more butterflies on a beautiful fall day.  

·      Asters – These are an excellent substitute for mums that are very borderline hardy in north Iowa. Purple Dome is a Natural Plus favorite. It grows about 18-24” and is covered with deep purple blooms until a hard frost. These are also butterfly favorites. There are many other varieties of asters including Wood’s Blue, Wood’s Pink, Alma Potschke, etc. Plant in full sun.

·      Pink Turtlehead – Turtlehead is native to wet woodlands and stream areas making it a good choice for wetter areas and rain gardens. Blooms emerge in late August and are deep rosy pink amid dark green leaves. Unique blooms resemble that of a turtle head. Plants grow 2-3’ tall. Plant in full or part sun.  

·      Joe Pye Weed- Plants grow 5-7’ tall and have large fragrant mauve-pink flower clusters that are also a butterfly favorite. A dwarf variety, Little Joe, grows 3-4’. Plants grow best in moist areas in full sun to partial shade. These are also good choices for rain gardens.

·      Helenium – also known as sneezeweed.  A native - plants have bright yellow to red daisy-like blooms. Despite it’s name the plant does not cause hay fever or sniffles. Native Americans believed the plant actually cured fevers and head colds.

Enjoy and savor the vibrant colors, sights, and sounds of fall. 

Learn more about fall plantings...