Having plenty of colour in the garden through most of the year means having a wide variety of plants with different growing seasons and making sure you have some long flowering garden plants to enjoy.
Plants flower at different times and different durations as part of their evolved strategies for avoiding competition for the same resources at the same time. This is good news for gardeners as it provides many different planting options. If you’re looking for long-flowering garden plants to keep the colour in your garden, here are five options, all available to purchase online from Emerald Plants:
English Lavender
English Lavender has such a distinctive rich colour and scent, and it’s a plant that’s been loved and used for centuries. For example, the Romans famously scented the hot water in their baths with lavender. English Lavender, also known as Lavender Munstead, produces blue and purple, highly fragrant lavender flowers right through July to September. A favourite also for attracting bees and butterflies, it can be planted in any location of the garden but often has maximum visual effect when planted at the edges of gardens and the edges of walkways.
Yarrow
Yarrow plant or Achillea is believed to be named after Achilles who, legend has it, used Yarrow to stop the bleeding for the wounds of his soldiers in the Trojan War. The plant may have been used in the same way as in medieval times – rolling up the leaves to be used to stop nosebleeds! Healing purposes aside, a perennial such as Achillea Walther Funcke produces beautiful deep orange flowers with yellow centres, ageing to a cream like yellow, all the way through from June to September. This is a long-flowering gem for any garden.
Rudbeckia Fulgida Var. Goldstrum
For stunning golden yellow flowers with dark eyed centres on the erect stems, blooming all the way through from August to October, Rudbeckia Fulgida Var. Goldstrum or Coneflower is a good all-round, late-flowering herbaceous perennial. Originating from North America and associated with strength and healing which perhaps comes from their use by indigenous Indians, Coneflower can be lovely addition to any UK garden. Rudbeckia Fulgida Var. Goldstrum can also be used as cut flowers to decorate the home.
Echinacea Purpurea Magnus
Echinacea is well known for its health benefits in treating cold and flu symptoms, pain, inflammation, and even migraines. Another wonderful thing about Echinacea, in this case Echinacea Purpurea Magnus is its beautiful deep pink flowerheads with orange centres. This perennial that flowers through July to September is also wonderful for attracting butterflies and bees.
Hydrangeas
There are over seventy-five species of Hydrangeas. Native to Asia and the America, and loved in the UK, its name, derived from Greek, describes the appearance of its seed pods looking like small water jugs – hydor meaning “water” and angeion meaning “vessel.” Hydrangeas have an old-style charm. Hydrangea King George, for example, blooms with beautiful large flower heads of bright red colour, flowering from July to October. Hydrangea Paniculata Phantom, on the other hand, flowers light pink, later in the year from September to December. Both of these and other Hydrangeas are long-flowering deciduous shrubs that work well in any garden.