"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Some new favorites from this summer!

Like most gardeners I tried lots of new plants this spring and summer, most I was quite happy with.  I thought I'd share some of my new favorite flowers from this past summer in this post.  I highly recommend them all after seeing how well they did in my Zone 8 garden.  Not fussy and not much required other than a bit of water now and then.

For annuals a few new favorites are:
Lantana 'Honey Blush'.  I will be planting lots more Lantana next year.  I'd read about them and wondered if they were as great as people said.  I say, "Yes, they are great!"

Cleome 'Rose Queen'.  To be honest I did plant them last year, but in a place where they had no sun or space, so my fault they didn't have a chance.  This year they are in full sun with room to grow and they have gotten huge!  Over 5 feet tall and branching in all different directions with these pretty flowers.  They do have some prickles on the stems, but if they are in the middle of the border you'll never notice.

Zinnia 'Apricot Blush' was started from seed.  I told the story earlier of the Littlest Gardener dumping the seeds into her water table, so I picked up the table and poured it into the nearest flower bed and this beauty sprouted.  It's flowers get quite big, about 4" or 5" across when they are fully opened.  'Green Envy' was another great Zinnia, easy to start from seed and a very pretty color.

A few favorite perennials which I can only say how well they did this summer and will update in the spring to say if they survived winter.  They were tough and easy and are all still blooming like crazy:
Diascia 'Coral Canyon'.  It was a tiny plant when I bought it and has filled and looks great draping over the front of a full sun part of the garden.

Echinacea 'Tiki Torch' is a taller variety and looks great mixed in with other Echinaceas and Salvias.  That orange flower really catches your eye without being too bright.

 Variegated Erysimum or Wallflower.  I planted this early spring and it hasn't stopped blooming since.  It is in full sun at the front of the butterfly garden.  The purple flowers change into a rusty color as they age.

 A new favorite shrub:
Hydrangea 'Endless Summer' has been blooming for the last couple of months.  It came with a couple of flowers on it, and since has produced at least 5 or 6 more on this small shrub.  I have it planted near the Dogwood tree and it gets a good amount of shade.  My sister that lives just up the road from here planted one last summer and it survived the winter fine and has bloomed all summer for her.

I haven't bought much in the way of garden gear or tools, although I'm thinking some type of knife would be helpful with the dividing of perennials I've started doing.  But we did need something very important here:
The Littlest Gardener completely wore out her Hello Kitty rain boots.  I really didn't know it was possible to wear them out in the driest summer in a very long time, but they did.  She luckily was able to find a new pair of Hello Kitty rain boots to wear while helping in the garden.

I'd love to hear some of your new favorites from this summer.
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27 comments:

  1. Hi Catherine, What beautiful photos today. Here in GA I would be lost without Lantanas. They love our poor clay soil and heat and humidity. We had many large "holes" in our landscape in front of the porch where we renovated. Temporarily we planted Lantana this summer to "fill in" and the Lantana really did the trick! I love all your suggestions and especially love Tiki Torch. I love the Littlest Gardener's boots - so cute!

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  2. All beautiful and I especially love the Littlest Gardener's boots! Very fashion forward!

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  3. I love the hello kitty boots! Very stylish! We went to a high school football game here Friday night, and it was raining (as it has been for a month) and the cheerleaders all had on those boots. Some zebra, leopard...whatever. They were really cute. i never find any cute ones, maybe I need to order them online.

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  4. Hi Catherine~~ It's always good to get the unbiased reviews of fellow gardeners since, as you know, the catalogs will often omit the plant's shortcomings. Your Lantana blossom looks good enough to eat. [But I won't.] ... Believe it or not I have never grown Cleome. It's not that I don't love it. I have however, grown Diascias. Coral Canyon is iffy. My two year old plant died last winter. ... Aren't the Erysimums great plants? And Endless Summer is fabulous.

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  5. I love the wallflowers. I didn't know they came in that color.

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  6. Love the pictures. they are beautiful. Your little gardener has pretty shoes.

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  7. glorious photos today!!! I never tire of your gardens

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  8. Love those boots! Your flowers are lovely ... some I've never heard of. TTFN ~Marydon

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  9. I love that Tiki Torch Echinacea, as well as all of your other colorful flowers!

    I had some things bloom this year after not blooming their first (and even second for some) year - now that is exciting! I particularly enjoyed orange roadside (kwanso) daylilies, and a lavendar and white iris I got from a friend. That iris is about to rebloom, too.

    Cute rainboots!!

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  10. I don't think you could ever go wrong with lantana. It is so easy and so beautiful. Some people don't like the smell but it doesn't bother me.

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  11. Lantanas are the best! I am swimming in butterflies this year due to them as they just bloom their hearts out. My favorite perennial was the Autumn Sun rudbeckia. So glad the little gardener got a new pair of boots-too cute!

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  12. Great post! I love those boots! I can see why these were your favorite new flowers to grow. I'd have to think about what mine would be. I just started growing the larger sized dahlias last year, and my roots got thrown out by my husband, so this year, I have a different kind, which I promptly forgot the name of, but it is what comes to mind first.

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  13. nice post catherine. i have never seen this echinacea before, its different. Is your wall flower fragrant? the one we grow is yellow one and fragrant.
    i am impressed with the little gardener's cute boots lolz. they are really pretty.

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  14. I like lantana too. Here , the Cleome self seeds itself and sometimes becomes a pest.

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  15. Hey, do those boots come in adult sizes? Cute! Love the Tiki Torch photo, Catherine. I'll try the variegated wallflower next year, like how the flowers change color.
    My favorites: zinnias, cosmos, shasta daisies, oriental poppies, asiatics and, you know...daylilies ;)

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  16. I love the hydrangea( you are too cruel-blue hydrangeas again!-) the wallflower and the diascia. I've not had much luck with diascia. I bought some about four years ago and they hardly flowered and just perished..I wonder what I did wrong?

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  17. Oh Catherine, the boot shot is priceless! She is a hard working gardener to wear her boots out at this tender age. I want to recommend a hori hori knife. It is my favorite hand tool and has a serrated edge that will cut most perennial root balls easily, then dig the hole and can snag a few weeds while at it. Multi purpose. I love all of your new plants too, but that wallflower is one I love, it bloomed during the coldest part of winter for me, covered in ice and the foliage is evergreen and gorgeous.
    Frances

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  18. It's amazing what a slight difference in climate will make! Many of your favorites did terribly this year in Atlanta, though I would have to agree about those two zinnias.

    As for cleome, in the South it's one of those plants that shoots off about 300 babies every season!

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  19. You have some great summer favorites here. I want to try the tiki torch for sure. I want Hello Kitty boots......mine are just black!

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  20. I love Lantana too. I wonder where the seeds are I would love to plant some more?
    Your cleome is so pretty.
    Your favorites are just beautiful and wonderful plants.

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  21. I love cleome! I planted some for the first time 3 years ago and they've been one of my favorite in the garden. You've got some great blossoms in your garden. Love the Hello Kitty boots on your little one!

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  22. Those are some sweet boots! I'm trying to think if I've ever worn a pair out?!! I tend not to stick to the same shoes so I wear them all evenly.
    I have had Diascia 'Coral Canyon' in my flower bed for four years now and it's fantastic. Some of the others are not as hardy but it's a great one, I agree. In my garden, after the initial bloom period, I shear off the top (with my weed eater) and it reblooms beautifully. Your 'tiki torch' echinacea is so vibrant too. I may have to consider a few more colors. I have 'green wizard,' 'sundown' and regular pink but 'tiki torch' is more of a true orange, isn't it?
    Great idea to post your favorite new plants. Some of mine are Cerinthe, primula vialli and a couple new penstemons.

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  23. I've always loved our Diascia 'Coral Canyon'. Did you start your cleome from seed? I always have a difficult time with it.

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  24. Good to see some other favorites. It sounds like lots of people love Lantana.

    Muhammad khabbab - I don't know if this one is, my 'Bowles Mauve' smells good. I'll have to smell it tomorrow.

    Kim and Victoria - I didn't start them from seed, but the few that did flower last year must've reseeded a bit, although those plants weren't very big this year.

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  25. Wow, I got behind on my comments and almost missed those neat pink boots. That is such a sweet picture and they remind me of your precious little girl. Beautiful colors in your flowers.

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  26. Do you think I'm too old for Hello Kitty boots? I sure do like them.

    I've never heard of Wallflower but I luv how it looks, both the blooms and the foliage.

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  27. I love littlest boots. Two handles on each side is fascinating.. Good to carry around almost like bags. Lovely display of flowers...
    ~bangchik

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