Plants with a very long flowering season

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Over the years I’ve been asked by my customers and other people on gardening forums about plants with a long flowering season and particularly those that will flower from early summer to the first frosts as many people seem to have lovely spring gardens but their gardens can be a bit lifeless ,flower wise,in autumn .

These are the plants that I have in my garden that flower profusely from early summer to late autumn. There are ofcourse many others but these are all very easy to care for,are largely disease free and have some of the longest flowering seasons of any plants I know. ( The plants are situated in mid latitude UK ie in North Cambridgeshire)

Below Rudbeckia… flowers from early july to mid november. No dead heading is necessary. Remove flower stems after it stops flowering in autumn and that’s it.Leaves are evergreen. Divide every few years.

Below – Hardy Fuchsia – flowers from mid june to mid november.Dead heading not required . Trim off about half of the stems after flowering finishes in late autumn and when new growth appears in spring trim off any shoots which have died over winter.

I recommend planting hardy fuchsias about 2 inches lower in the ground than they were in the pot you bought them in ,to give the roots frost protection. You can also mulch with bark or other organic matter if the weather is to expected to be particularly harsh.

Below – Coreopsis – Perennial – flowers Early July to first hard frosts – usually in November. Dead head to ensure continued flowering. Trim off all leggy stems in late autumn after flowering .

Below – Penstemmon.- Perennial – Flowers from early June until well after the first frosts.Dead head regularly. Take off one third of flowering shoots after they’ve flowered to encourage more flowering shoots to grow.

When all flowering has finished in late autumn remove the top half of each shoot to reduce wind damage over winter . When new shoots appear in spring remove all old shoots to the base. It has been known to flower in early December in my garden!

Below – Crocosmia – perennial – Flowers mid july to mid October.. sometimes even longer. Not evergreen – Remove all dead growth in early spring.

Below – Dahlia. – annual -Flowers from early July to the first hard frosts.

Dahlias are usually treated as an annual in the UK but I’ve left mine in the ground for the past 5 years with no losses. There are many varieties , some extremely exotic looking but I prefer the simple daisy like bedding dahlias.

The ones I buy are called Diablo. . To keep them flowering they require regular dead heading . After the frosts have killed the top growth just trim them off and leave in the garden or you can dig up the tubers, and keep them in a frost free dry spot and replant in spring

This is “Bishop of Llandsdaff

This photo shows the range of simple daisy like dahlias available . These were bought as simple bedding dahlia “Diablo” I had a few left and nowhere to put them so planted them altogether – hence the mixture of flowers!

Below – Cosmos – Annual. growing to about 2 to 3 feet tall. Good for the back of the border. Flowers from Mid july to the first hard frosts. Dead heading required to keep it flowering continuously. Grow from seed in spring.

Below – Verbena Bonariensis – perennial. Tall. good for back of the border. Flowers Early July to well after the first frosts. Evergreen. Trim off half the length of shoots in late autumn and any shoots that die over winter. Is not always fully winter hardy. Best grown in a sheltered spot or against a south facing wall.

Below – Tradescantia . Perennial – Flowers mid July to first frosts. Trim off half the length of foliage in autumn and cut back any other shoots that die over winter. Clump forming .Many colours available.

Here are two in my garden

Below – Japanese Anenome – Perennial – semi evergreen leaves . 3 feet Tall . Flowers early August to late October. Cut back stems almost to the ground in late autumn.

Below – Pelargonium ( often known as bedding geranium) Annual. Flowers early July to after the first frosts. Dead head regularly to keep it flowering .You can overwinter plants indoors .Usually it is easier to buy new ones in spring.

Below. There are many repeat flowering shrub roses with a long flowering period. This one ( which I think may be called “Lena”) Flowers constantly all through June and July and then regularly but not constantly (if dead headed) until early December .

If anyone would like to suggest other very long flowering easy to grow plants please do so and I’ll try to add them to this blog. If you have a photo of the plant you recommend please put a link to it in the comments below and with your permission I’ll copy it and put it on this blog so people don’t have to cut and paste the link. I will ofcourse say it is your photo.

On edit : the following plants have been suggested by readers of this blog

Below Gaillardia ( St. Clements variety) – suggested by and photo courtesy of Shirley Tulip

below is helenium pumilum ‘Magnificum’ – suggested by Andrewr. Photo by Spritzhenry.

below is a photo of Geranium ‘Rozanne’,suggested by spritzhenry. Photo by spritzhenry

below – Osteospermum jucundum – suggested by spritz henry – photo by myself

and below a photo by Spritzhenry of Erigeron karvinskianus – suggested by SpritzHenry

Below – Erysimum ‘Bowles’ Mauve’ – suggested by “Wibbleagain” on another forum.Photo by spritzhenry.

Below – Corydalis Lutea – suggested by Janey.Photo by Janey This flowers from late February to mid December. Is about 12-18 inches tall. Not evergreen. Prune off all dead stems in winter.

Argyranthemum – suggested by Shirley Tulip.First photo below by Shirley Tulip and the link below that takes you to photos of this plant grown by GoY members

http://www.growsonyou.com/plant/browse_photos/8366

Other plants recommended for their long flowering season by people on another forum :-

Below – Polemonium caerulium – photo by Spritzhenry GoY member

below is a photo of astrantia major( there are many other colours) taken by Spritzhenry and below that a link to Astrantia major plants grown by GoY members – Astrantia flowers from May to October.

http://www.growsonyou.com/genus/Astrantia

Below is a photo of Geranium psilostemon (, black-eyed, magenta flowers from May until October)taken by Annella

and below a link to other photos of the same plant by GoY membersby GoY members

http://www.growsonyou.com/plant/browse_photos/223

Below – Scabiosa – photo by Spritzhenry.scabious are long-flowering. Literally hundreds of pin-cushion flowers are produced. Dead-heading is unnecessary . Seeds are loved by many birds.

below – more photos of many types of scabiosa by GoY members

http://www.growsonyou.com/genus/browse_photos/1226

Below – Knautia macedonica – photo by Spritzhenry

Below Anthemis tinctoria ‘E C Buxton’(Photo by Spritzhenry) – lovely lemon daisies on big bushy plants. Trim hard if it gets out of hand. It will recover quickly and flower again within a few weeks

Below a link to a photo of Codonopsis Forrestii recommended by KarenSusan63 . Codonopsis is a climber and flowers from early summer until after the first hard frosts.

http://tinyurl.com/3xzg8mx

Below Leycesteria (pheasant’s berry)This shrub with rather exotic looking flowers seeds freely and grows to 6 feet in 3 years.It flowers from July to after the first frosts It does well in the Uk and seems very frost hardy. Little blackberry coloured berries appear in autumn and hang from below the pink parts of the flowers . The flowers in this photo are only a little larger than in real life.

It is very easy to care for. Just cut down to the desired size in spring. (It will accept very heavy pruning) It flowers on this years growth. If you prune after flowering you’ll miss out on the attractive blackberry coloured berries which the birds love.

In hard winters top growth may be killed by frost but it will regenerate from the base in spring and it can grow 6 feet in one year but will not get much above that height in total

Below Erysimum " Bowles mauve" Common name perennial wallflower. This is the longest flowering perennial I’m aware of in the Uk. It started flowering in March 2011 and is still in full flower in late July 2012 and has lots of new flower buds to come. It grows to about 70 cm tall with a similar spread and is evergreen and very frost hardy in mid-latitude UK

It propagates easily from 3-4 inch cuttings in Mid May.

20 Nov, 2010
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Oliveoil

Very useful advice and information thanks Anchorman

20 Nov, 2010

Bloomer

Thanks for showing these Anchorman.I love theTradescantias,and The Japanese Anemones are already
a definite for next year in my long border.Something nice to look at from the kitchen window..Do you remember me telling you,that I did Fuchsia cuttings,by your method of a pot within a pot?.I said how quickly they rooted..9 days..
Sadly,one died,but the other 5 are doing well,and I have now removed the centre pot,and filled it with compost.They are also sitting on my kitchen window sill,and seem very happy to be there...:o))

20 Nov, 2010

Plants with a very long flowering season

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