Hello Garden Friends
By Monica Rylski & Gardening on the Cay,
Summer is in full swing! The sun is shining, birds are singing, and colorful butterflies are gracefully fluttering throughout our Carolina gardens. Are you looking for an easy going, minimal maintenance, and cost effective gardening idea? Planting perennials is a wonderful option and solution.
A perennial flower has more than one life cycle that will come back year after year. They bloom, survive winter, and regrow their roots to rebloom in the next season. Perennials grow from seed, can be purchased as a young plant from a store or divided and transplanted from a mature plant.
Daisies, Black-Eyed Susans, and Purple Coneflowers are charming and classy standards for any home’s garden. These attractive additions require little care to flourish and maintain their strength. Bee Balm and Aster are also easy and popular flowers in the South. Pollinators such as bees and hummingbirds are drawn to their petals and pollen. Milkweed is a host plant for Monarch caterpillars. This flower and Joe Pye Weed support the Monarch migration and attract many butterflies. The dazzling Daffodil is a hardy spring showstopper that will enrich your landscape year after year.
All of the flowers mentioned so far in this article are native to South Carolina. These perennials naturally thrive in our region. These plants and flowers promote a healthy ecosystem and bring balance and harmony. They are low maintenance and support our local wildlife and pollinators because they are a part of our regional landscape, and they depend on native plants.
There are endless eye-catching species and hybrid varieties of Lilies. For as long as I can remember, my favorite flower has been the stunning Stargazer Lily, thanks to its lovely appearance and delightful aroma. Their special fragrance fills the air when the sun shines on their vibrant hot pink petal clusters.
Chrysanthemums (Mums), Lenten roses, Lantana, and Lavender all add color to your garden and continue to grow and expand over the years. The climbing vines Clematis, Jasmine, and Honeysuckle provide a charming and pleasing appeal. Coleus comes in a plethora of colors to enjoy season after season.
Bushes such as Rose of Sharon, Rhododendron, Butterfly bushes, Azalea, and the classic Rose also provide pretty foliage year-round and grow stronger and will multiply in blooms year after year. As always, you get to choose which pattern, colors, and unique varieties of flowers you will enjoy in your garden. There are so many perennials to choose from. Which one will be your favorite this summer?
It’s fun and sometimes surprising to discover which seeds you planted in one season are waking up and revealing themselves in the next. Your garden is always growing, changing, and maturing just like you, its gardener. Nature is creative, beautiful, and new every day. It is providing sunlight, warmth, and watering the seeds that have been planted. Nature is bringing out the best in YOU so you can grow and consistently bloom and rebloom in each and every season.
