Favorite Flowers: Liriope

Liriope in bloom

Allergy Index Scale:  3
Perennial, zones 5-9
Full sun-partial shade, 10-15" tall

My liriope has just started to bloom.  The flowers look a bit like those of grape hyacinths. Later they will become clusters of dark blue-black berries. Liriope, commonly called lilyturf, is a great tough, low-maintenance plant that does well here in semi-shade, though it tolerates quite a range of light and soil conditions. 

Favorite Flowers: Morning Glories

"Carnival" morning glory

Allergy Index Scale:  4
Annual
Full sun, 6-12' tall

Morning glories grow pretty quickly, so they're great for covering a lot of the homely chain link fence around my yard every summer. Mine usually start flowering in July, and continue through the rest of the summer.  The flowers may be white, blue, pink or purple, and may have stripes or splashes of color, or picotee edges. Each flower lasts only a day. They attract both hummingbirds and butterflies.

Sunflowers

First sunflower of the year

The sunflower is the official state flower of Kansas.  It certainly is a good choice for a tall border here, as it thrives in our hot, humid summer weather.  I have a row of sunflowers planted across the middle area of the back fence, between the coneflowers and the asparagus.

Planting the Last Bed

Aglaia daisy

Over the last couple of evenings, I've been working on my final flower bed--the one in the far corner of the yard, that somehow always ends up being the last place I tackle every spring.  It's back behind the garage, the area I see the least.  It's on the west side, right out in the blazing hot afternoon and evening sun, yet farthest from a water source. This bed always gets invaded from the neighbor's yard with a variety of weeds that try to smother any lower-growing or less assertive plants I've put in. So I try to plant it with tough, low-water plants that don't need a lot of pampering.  Some of the things I'd originally planted there a number of years ago are no longer coming back, so I've been pondering over what to plant there this year.

Favorite Flowers: Sweet Peas

Annual sweet peas

Allergy Index Scale:  3
Annual
Full sun or light shade, 4-6' tall

The annual sweet pea is a fragrant flower available in many colors and varieties.  Some are cascading, and fit well in hanging containers; others are climbers that cover a fence.  Some of the newer varieties are less fragrant than the traditional ones.

First Peonies of the Year

Tree Peony

Here is the very first peony to bloom in my garden this year.  Tree peonies generally bloom a couple of weeks before the more common herbaceous peonies.  Anything that extends the blooming season of peonies is great! I chose this particular cultivar because of the wonderful lavender color, which I had not seen in peonies before.

Favorite Flowers: Creeping Phlox

Creeping phlox

Allergy Index Scale:  4
Perennial, zones 3-9
Full sun to light shade, 2-6" tall

One of the flowers that adds so much color to the spring garden is creeping phlox, also known as moss pinks.  In the spring, when it blooms, it is literally covered with small flowers for several weeks.  When grouped together or allowed to spread as a groundcover, this mass of color is stunning. Creeping phlox blooms in pink, rose, lavendar, blue, white or variegated. Even when the flowering is over, the  needle-like foliage, evergreen in milder climates, makes a nice thick ground cover.

Favorite Flowers: Lungwort

Allergy Index Scale: 2
Perennial, zones 4-9

Trevi Fountain lungwort in bloom

Partial shade to shade, 6-12 inches

Lungwort, or pulmonaria, is a reliable perennial for the shade garden that blooms in early spring.  Depending on the variety, the foliage may be plain green, spotted with white, or nearly pure silver.  The flowers may be blue, pink, or white.  The specimen in the photograph is "Trevi Fountain," which has pink buds that open to a lovely clear blue. 



Favorite Flowers: Snapdragons

Lavender and white snapdragons

Allergy Index Scale: 1
Perennial, commonly sold as annual
Full sun, 10 inches - 4 feet

The snapdragon is a cool-weather plant, so now with the pleasant fall temperatures, my snapdragons are blooming profusely again.  Since they can tolerate some frost, I plant them early in the spring, generally a couple of weeks before the last spring frost date.  They bloom beautifully all spring and into the early summer.  Then I trim them back, water them well, and see little from them until fall, when most will resume flowering.

Snapdragons are available in a wide range of colors, just about everything but blue, as well as softly-shaded bi-colors.  They bloom along a flower spike, opening gradually from the bottom upwards.  They have a light fragrance, and attract butterflies.  Snapdragons come in various heights: dwarf ones that grow to about 10 inches, medium at about 18-24 inches, and tall that may reach 3-4 feet.  I generally prefer the dwarf snaps, as they fit better into my flowerbeds, don't require staking as do the taller ones, and come in the largest choice of colors.

Favorite Flowers: Pansies

Allergy Index Scale:  1
Hardy Perennial, generally grown as annual, zone 4-8
Full sun, 6 - 9 inches

One of my favorite fall traditions is pansy planting time. Pansies are a classic fall and winter flower for the southern states, in planting zones six through nine. Mine bloom profusely all fall long, off and on in the winter, and then again throughout the spring.  They give me flowers at times when everything else is dormant.  Every winter I've seen them blooming cheerfully in the midst of snow.

Favorite Flowers: Moss Rose

Allergy Index Scale: 2
Annual
Full sun, 4 - 6 inches 

Multi-colored moss rose

Portulaca, generally called moss rose, is a great low-growing plant for hot, sunny areas.  It blooms for much of the summer, with colorful flowers that may be red, orange, pink, yellow, or white, or occasionally variegated.   A single plant may spread up to two feet, so they can make a great ground cover. I like to use them in areas that are hard to reach with the garden hose, as they tolerate hot Kansas sun better than most flowers, and with less watering. They do well along that hot drive, in rock gardens, containers or tumbling over the edges of a hanging basket.

Easy Houseplants: Coleus

Allergy Index Scale: 1
Tender perennial
Shade, 6 inches - 3 feet

Coleus is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, and comes with a variety of colors, patterns and shapes of leaves. It is a good foliage plant for shady areas or an easy houseplant for sunny windows.

Coleus is easy to propagate, by rooting a cutting in water. Cut a piece of stem just below the leaves, and pinch off any leaves that would be underwater. Once roots are well formed, it's ready to plant. in a light, well-drained soil.  Do not plant outside until the temperature stays over 50 degrees.

Favorite Flowers: Purple Coneflower

Allergy Index Scale:  5
Perennial, zone 3
Full sun, 2-3 feet tall

One of the perennial flowers that most reliably handles the hot Kansas summers without pampering is the purple coneflower, or echinacea.  This native plant can handle the extremes of both winter and summer and keep going.

Originally their flowers were a rosy pink color, but they are also available now in white, yellow, orange, and red. They bloom in the summer and early fall. If you deadhead them during the summer, they will keep blooming for many weeks.  Leaving the seedheads at the end of season provides seeds that are attractive to native birds such as goldfinches.

Spring Allergies

Spring is such a great time in the garden, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.  However, it's also a time when my allergies kick in, so there are things that I do to keep them from taking all the fun out of the season.

There are lots of suggestions out there of ways to prevent or lessen allergic reactions.  I've collected a lot of them from my allergist, books, articles and websites.  From these, I've found those that help me the most.  Which approaches are best for a particular person depends on exactly what things you are allergic to, and  how you are exposed to them--by inhaling, touching or ingesting the allergens. In gardening, allergens include pollen from plants, mold spores, and contact reactions from plant sap.

First Posting

This is my first posting on my first blog, so this will all be quite experimental.

I've wanted to begin a blog for some time, to share my experiences as a relatively new gardener who is trying to design and set up a garden that minimizes exposure to allergens. I hope to learn from the experiences of other gardeners in dealing with their allergies as well.