Purple Coneflower

My purple coneflower are really blooming now. They are in the same bed as the rudbeckia that I wrote about yesterday. They are in an area that is in more sun. I got these (can you guess?) from someone who was cleaning out their garden. I can't wait until they grow a little more and provide even more color. They are a nice backdrop behind my daylilies.

This drought-resistant perennial flower has undergone breeding and now comes in colors other than pink-ish purple. You can find them in white, as well as shades of yellow and orange. Like my rudbeckia, I will deadhead them until fall to encourage continued blooming. Then I will leave any spent blooms for the finches to feed on. The gold finches love them!

Black-eyed Susans

For those of you who are faithful followers of this blog, you have probably figured out that I have gotten the majority of the plants in my yard from other people who are cleaning out their gardens. The same is true for my rudbeckia. I am not sure what cultivar they are. I can tell you that the neighborhood rabbit likes them in the early spring. They have finally started to bloom, so I snapped this picture to share with you. They should bloom for the rest of the summer.

I think the yellow flower color is a nice addition to my back landscape bed. These are planted on the edge of the bed below my redbud tree (out of direct sum, but still in a bright location). The only maintenance that I do to them during the year is to remove the spent blooms. Once we reach fall, I'll leave them in tacts to provide winter interest and food for the finches that visit.

Blanket Flower

This is another picture that I snapped in Minnesota. My grandma has this perennial in her garden. It is called Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristata). I think it is very colorful and I am considering adding it to my garden here in Kansas.

Blanket flower are very hardy and adaptable. They are also drought tolerant and reach about 18-24" tall. Consider adding them to a sunny spot in need of color!

Crown Vetch and Erosion

Tara wrote about erosion and the important role that turf grass plays in preventing erosion from occurring. Read her blog post by clicking here.

I went up to Minnesota over the holiday weekend and snapped a few pictures from the gardens at my grandparent's farm. I snapped this picture of crown vetch. This plant is sometimes used as an ornamental (like in this case), but more often you will see it along road sides for erosion control.

Although the plant is native to the Mediterranean, it has become naturalized throughout the United States. If you see pinkish-purple flowers blooming along the roadside during June, July or August, you are most likely enjoying this perennial flower.

There are some reports of it becoming invasive. Have you had any experience growing this perennial? If so, share your story!

Astilbe

My astilbe has finished blooming for the season. I snapped this picture a few weeks ago when they were going strong. My husband brought these plants home last year and they didn't look very good. My husband had removed them for someone who had planted them in a full sun location and the leaves looked very crispy. We planted them and kept them watered. This spring they came back looking great - even better than the ones I had purchased a few years ago!

Since my backyard area is quite shady, I was hoping the flowers would be white. Even though they are a light pink, I think they add nice color because they are planted en masse. Astilbe does well in an irrigated, shady area - just like the one we provide.

Veronica

Finally, my veronica is blooming! I snapped this picture to share with you. The spiky flowers are a small version of the salvia that I have in another area of this same bed. (I posted a picture of my salvia yesterday.) This plant is much more dainty than the salvia; the entire plant is about 8-10" tall.

I also planted these last year. When they were done blooming last season, I deadheaded them and they bloomed again for me later in the year. This small plant would look nice in a mass along a sunny border. I recommend it!

Salvia

Last week, I snapped this picture of the salvia in my front yard. I believe they are the cultivar 'May Night', but I am not for sure. It is really starting to bloom well. We just added these plants to our landscape last season, so I am very happy with how big and full they look this year. I thought the purple color would look nice with the yellow St. John's wort planted behind it. (I'll share a picture when it starts to bloom in a few weeks.)

If you have a sunny place in your garden that could use a lot of color through the summer, plant salvia!

My Iris

I told you I would share a picture of my other iris when they bloomed, so I snapped this picture. The iris pictured above is a bearded iris. Like my peonies, I brought this plant from my grandma's garden. I think this iris is so pretty with the bluish-purple and white colored flowers. The flowers are so large that it often tips over when multiple blooms are open.

There is such a wide variety of iris out there. Consider adding one to a sunny area of your landscape.

Peony Blooms

I thought I would share a couple of pictures of my peonies that were blooming a little over a week ago. (Most of the blooms are spent now and need to be deadheaded.)

I have five peony plants: three that flower light pink, one that flowers white and one that flowers a very dark, deep pink. I love peony flowers. Two of my plants have been in my family for years. When I moved to this area, I brought them with me from my grandma's garden where I planted them as a little girl. The other three I inherited from the person who lived in my home before me.

Last week, Tara wrote about using flowers as centerpieces. I think this old-fashioned flower would be a great choice as well. Consider using a fully-opened single bloom, or make a bouquet using flowers that are open in different stages or different colors.

Pink Primrose

My husband doesn't like to give up on any plants or throw them away. He removed some pink primrose from someone's yard last year and brought them home. We planted them in our front landscape bed in a place without any other plants (at the time anyways). I think they are very beautiful when they are flowering. They started to flower late last week, so I snapped this picture. Many more flowers have opened since!

If you have an open area that needs some color in the early summer, consider this perennial wildflower. We have since expanded the landscape bed and I think I will need to remove some of these plants because it is spreading into areas where I don't want it to go - like too close to my roses! (I am not sure if it is from the seeds that it produces, or just the plant itself spreading underground.) Either way it is a nice splash of color by the front door area. I definitely would recommend it if you have the appropriate location in full sun for it.

Candy Tuft

The perennial plant that is pictured above is candytuft. I added it to my landscape last year. As you can see by the date, I snapped this picture in mid-April. Just yesterday I deadheaded the plant because the blooms had finally faded. Since I deadheaded it, maybe it will bloom again for me later this season. (If it does, I’ll let you know!) I have a group of three of these planted on a sloped area by my driveway. The idea was to create a white carpet cascading down the side of the small hill. It bloomed about the same time as my creeping phlox providing me early spring color. Give it a try!