The New Hampshire Gardener's Companion by Homeyer Henry;

Author:Homeyer, Henry;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 2007462
Publisher: Globe Pequot

There are fanatics out there breeding and hybridizing daylilies, so you’ll find literally thousands of named cultivars. The best-known is the old-fashioned foundation lily, a bright orange. But daylilies come in various pastels, some with dark eyes, others with ruffled edges. Some are early bloomers, some bloom late into the fall; some flower scapes (leafless stems) are under 1 foot high, most are 18 to 30 inches, and a few reach 6 feet.

Perennial bachelor buttons (Centaurea montana): Spidery blue 2-inch blossoms on 18-inch stems appear in early summer, but if you cut them back—or pick the blossoms for vases—the plants should rebloom for you at least once. They may self-seed, appearing where you didn’t plant them. It’s a fairly drought-tolerant plant.

Foxglove (Digitalis spp.): The most common foxglove, D. purpurea, is not a perennial at all, even though it is often sold as such. It’s a biennial, a flower that gets established its first year of life, then blooms, sets seed, and dies in its second year. The flower stems are lined with small pink and purple blossoms that bloom on stalks from 18 to 36 inches tall. When the tiny seeds are black and ripe, cut a stem and shake it over an area where you’d like plants in two years. I do this along the edges of woods or fields. Foxgloves have so many seeds that a few grow even though I don’t prepare the soil.

There is one cultivar, ‘Foxy,’ that will bloom the first year if started indoors early, which is nice for Zone 3 gardeners, as fox-glove is a Zone 4 plant. There are perennial foxgloves such as D. lutea, a smaller, delicate brown-freckled yellow one that is a perennial even in Zone 3.

Catmint (Nepeta × faassenii): Related to catnip, this is a hybrid plant with silvery gray mounding foliage and small trumpet-shaped blue flowers. ‘Six Hills Giant’ is one of the best cultivars. Cut cat-mint back after flowering and it will rebloom.

Pink mallow (Malva alcea): I know that “serious” gardeners, the ones who only use Latin names, will laugh at me for this choice and call it a thug. It’s a generous plant: big, blowsy, pink, and beautiful; some might even call it slatternly. Plenty of blossoms, plenty of babies. I love it for its midsummer cheeriness. Not a great cut flower. It has a fleshy taproot and doesn’t transplant well. Get a tiny one from a friend in early spring—we all have it. Deadhead it regularly to keep it blooming and to minimize volunteer seedlings; shear it back by a third in early June for smaller plant size.

Bee balm (Monarda didyma): Bee balm is big (3 to 4 feet) and beautiful, fragrant (minty), colorful (mainly in shades of red and purple), and a great cut flower. It will grow most anywhere, full sun to part shade, and likes rich slightly moist soil. It is not drought tolerant. Mine flourish with morning sun and good soil. It blooms in mid-to late summer, a time when many gardens need blooms.

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