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Deb Babcock: Long-lasting blooms

Deb Babcock
Earth Day celebrations will have to adjust like all other springs traditions due to COVID-19, but there are still plenty of ways to help the Earth. One example is getting started on that garden, trying to use as many native species as you can.
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For more information about plants and bloom times, stop into the Yampa River Botanic Park and talk with the volunteers or staff there. Or stop into the Trillium House at the park where a gardening lending library is available to the public from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesdays through Sundays.

— Ever noticed that if you don’t watch it, some of the perennials in your garden bloom and die before you get a chance to enjoy them?

One of the best sources of information on plants in the Yampa Valley can be found at our own Yampa River Botanic Park. The staff and volunteers have been planting native perennials and some hybrids and watching their performance for more than 10 years now. They are a wealth of information on bloom times and the best place to set certain plants in your garden.

One secret to extending bloom time on most plants is to deadhead spent blooms right away, and to cut down plants once they have completed their first flowering. Often, you’ll see new blooms pop up right away and will get a second bloom on some plants if the weather cooperates in terms of warmth and moisture late into the season.



If you like white flowers, the common snowdrop windflower (Anemone sylvestris) is a good choice. In my garden, it is one of the first to bloom after the daffodils and tulips and stays in bloom until mid-July. The creeping baby’s breath (Gypsophila repens) is another Zone 3 white flowering plant with long-lasting blooms that start in early June and last through July. And one of my favorites is the Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum), which started blooming in late July and will continue to do so until a good frost here.

Blanket flower (Gaillardia spp) is a great long-lasting bloom in shades of red, yellow and orange — all on the same flower. In my garden, it starts blooming in early July and keeps on blooming until we get a hard frost. The pretty Black-eyed Susan is another yellow and brown flower with long-lasting blooms.



Some of the prettiest yellow bloomers that lasts from early summer through late summer are the Ozark sundrops and the evening primrose, both from the Oenothera family. They feature crepe-textured large lemon-yellow flowers and a glossy deep green foliage. Once established, they are very drought tolerant and great in a rock garden as the plant will cascade beautifully over the stones as it grows.

Another pretty lemon yellow flowering plant that lasts a long time is moonshine yarrow. It’s a great accent plant that features pretty, fern-like leaves as it comes up in the spring and then a tall umbrella-type flower as it blooms in mid-summer through fall.

Lamium, also known as spotted dead nettle, is a pinkish flowering plant with beautiful variegated foliage. I keep mine planted near the house where it starts blooming in early June and continues to early August. Dianthus, commonly called pinks, is another long blooming plant that starts in mid-June and keeps blooming through August or first frost.

Penstemons in their many variations of blue, pink and red have long bloom times and are very hardy for this climate.

For long-lasting blue flowers, consider Veronica Speedwell, a short groundcover featuring spiky blue flowers on a sturdy stem. One of my favorites, though it has a tendency to spread far and wide, is the Mountain-bluet or bachelor’s button with its big shaggy blue flower and bushy gray-green foliage. Salvia is another of my blue favorites that once it finishes its first bloom will rebloom late in the season if you cut down the spent plants. Catmint is another great long-lasting bloomer.

Deb Babcock is Master Gardener through the Routt Extension Service Office. Questions? Call 970-879-0825.


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