Colorful Perennials for a Dry Garden

These long-blooming selections will fill the lull between spring and summer

Late May into other June is a wonderful time in a Northwest garden . The coolness of the early spring days has yield way to warmer daytime temperatures . The afternoons are take with warm and sometimes hot sunny weather . Get out your wide - brim hat to help you keep coolheaded while you ’re work in the garden , because our afternoons can already be HOT . With this change , there is a whole new chemical group of flowers that are getting ready to bloom and exciting the gardener in all of us . Here are a few perennial that are starting to look great at this prison term of the yr and will continue to bet great into summertime .

‘ Margarita BOP ’ foothill penstemon

‘ Margarita BOP ’ foothill penstemon ( Penstemon‘Margarita BOP ’ , Zones 6–10 ) is a beautiful long - blooming perennial for gay , ironical sites . This prospicient - season blooper has dour bluing to intense purple - flushed flowers that counterpoint nicely with its greenish - grey foliage . It will provide nutrient and habitat to insect and birds all season long and is a great addition to a highly plan garden , native landscape , or summertime - ironical garden . ‘ Margarita BOP ’ bloom from saltation all the mode through fall , and with coherent deadheading it looks great all time of year long . As with all foothill penstemon , do not straighten up this perennial until novel growth is present in fountain . Penstemon resent hard decline cleanup spot and will perish without their premature season ’s stem turn and result to protect them in the winter . ‘ Margarita BOP ’ is an fantabulous option for the Northwest due to its wintery moth-eaten - hardiness and long bloom time . It can grow 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide with some swooning summertime water .

Butterfly rose

Butterfly rose ( Rosa‘Mutabilis ’ , Zones 6–9 ) is an first-class long - blooming rose that is corking for low-spirited - water gardens . It is unremarkably call in the “ butterfly stroke rose ” because the bush look like it is traverse in masses of butterfly . The glowering , moth-eaten , purplish - red stems and leave-taking provide a beautiful hydrofoil to the blooms . The flower can be a kaleidoscope of colors . These single roses set out off yellow , then change to orange , then pink , finally changing to a dark pink - redness before dropping . This rise is also excellent at attracting pollinators and all types of good insects . It respond well to hard pruning to hold in size , as it will become a very big bush otherwise and take over more place than most of us are willing to give it . Butterfly roses grow well in average soil conditions and can handle dry conditions once establish . Their typical size is 3 feet by 3 feet with pruning and 6 feet by 6 feet or even larger without pruning .

‘ Alkanet ’ Italian bugloss

‘ bugloss ’ Italian bugloss ( Anchusa azurea‘Alkanet ’ , Zones 3–8 ) is a newcomer to the Northwest garden scene , although it ’s not new to other parts of the United States . It has been in culture since the early 1900s . This sturdy and fuzzy plant life shares some feature of the other well - known flora inBoraginaceae : coarse , hairy , and thick leaves that help retain moisture ; pollinator - attracting purple blue flowers ; and a repute for being tough , long - lived , and well - rooted . Italian bugloss can be prune down to the ground once it has flower and will bloom again after in the summer . Its tough leaves are resistive to the appetency of cervid and snail ( rabbits have also been staying away from mine ) . Some gardeners remember the leaf are setaceous , so wear gloves to be on the safe side . Italian bristly oxtongue does best in mediocre to ironical soil that are well drain , and it will not tolerate soggy , wet conditions . It will arise 2 to 4 feet grandiloquent and 2 feet blanket .

I hope that you are animate to strain one , two , or all three of these faithfully long - flower summer plants in your own Northwest garden . glad gardening !

Jason Jorgensen is a landscape designer in Seattle , Washington .

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