When I first started flower gardening, I planted mostly annuals. I would look at the perennial bed diagrams in books, which plot out perennials for successive bloom periods, and it seemed too complex and geared towards East Coast flowers. Since then, I have found perennial flowers with long bloom periods that are happy in the Central Valley, making fussy plotting unnecessary. As a result, I have a perennial garden that blooms from early Spring to early Winter.
This articles introduces some of these long blooming perennials. The Master Gardener Demonstration Garden which you can see at 2101 Earhart Avenue, Stockton, has a number of sections to demonstrate different kind of gardens, including a flower garden. All of the plants below can be seen in the Flower, All Star, and/or Pollinator sections of the Demonstration Garden.
All the plants listed below have similar requirements. They prefer full sun, well-drained soil, are drought tolerant once established, and will be happy in Sunset Climate Zone 14, which is most of San Joaquin County. If you have soil that has more clay, working organic material into the soil will improve the drainage. Some will do all right with partial sun, but may bloom less. As an added bonus, all have long bloom periods, attract pollinators and butterflies, and some provide seeds for birds. They make excellent cut flowers.
This mounded plant blooms from early summer to frost with daisy-like flowers in shades of red, orange, and yellow. It forms attractive seed heads, which can be left on or deadheaded. It will continue to flower without deadheading, but looks tidier and produces more if deadheaded. It is about 20” x 20”, depending on the cultivar. While many species are native to parts of North America, the Gaillardia x Grandiflora cultivar is the most common garden form. Among my favorite cultivars are Gaillardia x grandiflora ‘Sunset Flash' and Gaillardia x grandiflora ‘Celebration', which are compact and heavily blooming plants. The plant is heat tolerant, prefers full sun and poor but well drained soil. It dies back in winter. In the photo at right, Gaillardia x grandiflora ‘Celebration' is in the lower right corner, along with yellow Rudbeckia and purple Coneflower.
Rudbeckia fulgida (Black-eyed Susan)
This plant blooms from summer to fall, and has yellow daisy-like flowers with a prominent black or brown seed head. It can grow 2 – 4' tall and blooms profusely whether deadheaded or not, although deadheading makes it tidier. It is easy to grow and tends to spread. It dies back in winter. This photo shows yellow Rudbeckia in the Demonstration Garden, along Sombrero® Tres Amigos coneflowers.
Echinacea purpurea and hybrida (coneflower)
This plant blooms in late spring and summer, and has cone-shaped flowers and a prominent seed head atop a tall stalk, with rough leaves. It can grow to 2' – 4' tall and 1' – 2' wide, depending on the cultivar. Each flower lasts several weeks, and deadheading encourages more growth, although it will continue to bloom without deadheading.
Originally a purple native prairie flower, in recent years many hybrids have been cultivated in shades of orange, red, yellow and white. The traditional purple coneflower can grow tall and leggy, while newer hybrids tend to be more compact. Among my favorites are Echinacea x hybrida Sombrero® Tres Amigos Coneflower, which grow about 2' tall by 20” wide. It dies back in winter. The first photo has a purple coneflower, while Sombrero® Tres Amigos coneflowers are seen with Rudbeckia in the second photo.
Achillea millefolium (Yarrow)
This plant blooms from early spring to late summer, and has flat topped flowers with airy leaves. It can grow to 2' tall. Each flower remains for many weeks. When the flower turns brown, cutting it off to a lateral bud will encourage more blooms. After all early spring and summer flowers have bloomed, cutting the stems to the basal leaves encourages strong new growth. Originally a white-flowering native, there are many hybrids. One of my favorites is Achillea x ‘Moonshine' (Moonshine Yarrow), which is pictured below, along with Bulbine Frutescens ‘Tiny Tangerine'.
This plant blooms virtually all year long, with a large flush in spring and continuing blooms in summer and fall, with a few in winter. It produces abundant spikes of yellow or orange flowers above fleshy green leaves. It will produce more flowers if deadheaded. The base leaves are about a foot tall, with the flowers on long stalks another foot above them. This plant grows and spreads easily, and can reach 3-4 feet wide. It can be pruned back to contain size, and the rhizomes divided every few years. The plant remains green in winter, giving some color while other plants die back. My favorite cultivar is Bulbine frutescens ‘Tiny Tangerine', which is more compact. The photo at right shows Bulbine Frutescens ‘Tiny Tangerine' along with Moonshine Yarrow.
Other perennials can be added to these long blooming choices to add interest, even if they bloom for shorter periods. The Demonstration Flower Garden has daffodil, bearded iris, day lily, and gladiola bulbs, which bloom in succession from early spring to early summer, as well as Canna Lily and Shasta Daisy and two roses. Victoria Blue Salvia provides cool blue color against the yellow yarrow (while technically an annual, this salvia has continued to thrive for the last three years in the Demonstration Garden). In spring, we add a variety of annual zinnias, which add color from late spring to fall, and are excellent for pollinators and birds.
The Demonstration Garden is filled with gardening ideas of all kinds and is always open. We welcome you to come, enjoy, and be inspired! The address is 2101 E. Earhart Avenue (near the Stockton Airport).