Garden Club of Cape Coral | Fresh flowers for summer
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There are many annual flowers that look great here in the fall and winter. But by May they are looking a little tired. Annuals like petunias and geraniums bloom dependably for about four or five months and then are worn out. The summer rain and high humidity bring fungus diseases that usually kill them.
If you are looking for some new flowers to bring color through the summer and entice butterflies, here are a few you might try. All of these grow fine in our Cape Coral sandy soil and prefer sun for best flowering. Many of these will reseed. It is easy to pull seedlings out as weeds or to replant in another location.
• Mexican heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia) is a short plant with lavender or white flowers that continuously blooms for up to two years. It is often used as a border plant or ground cover. After about six months, trim off old leaves, add some compost and new ones will appear. You may propagate it by trimming a stem and rooting in moist soil.
• Vinca is a cheerful everblooming plant that comes in a variety of colors – white, shades of pink to dark purple. Sometimes called periwinkle, it becomes a 2-foot mound of glossy green leaves with flowers at the tips. They do not attract pollinators but make up for it by their WOW factor. By cutting flowers to enjoy inside, the plant will become bushy. Vinca can take our summer rains if there is drainage, but they cannot sit in water. There is also a version that spreads on the ground like a carpet, called vinca cascade. I ordered them from a seed catalog last year and received so many compliments.
• Penta is named for the five petals on each of the tiny flowers. Flower clusters form a ball of color in white, pinks, lavender and red. Native nurseries carry an old version of red penta, rich in nectar for pollinators. This version may get six feet tall, although it can be trimmed to keep it bushy and shorter. Most nurseries carry the hybridized penta, bred for short growth from 1 to 2 feet and a variety of beautiful colors. These are attractive to pollinators also.
• Scarlet salvia or tropical sage (Salvia coccinea) is a striking red flowering native, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. Long flower spikes also come in pink and white. Usually 2 feet tall but older plants may reach 4 feet if not trimmed.
• Coreopsis is that little yellow daisy flower you see growing in the swales. Also called tickseed, it's our state wildflower. There are many varieties. At the native plant sale at Rotary Park last week, was Leavenworth's tickseed, a thin, two-foot tall plant, best shown off as a group of plants. The yellow color really carries in a garden plus they are pollinator magnets. I ordered Lanceleaf tickseed from the Florida Wildflower Cooperative because I like the shorter 12 to 24-inch height. It blooms from spring into summer and self-seeds for the following year.
• Yellow alder also has bright yellow flowers with a flat base that pollinators can easily land on to help themselves to their nectar and pollen. It naturally grows in a tall, leggy manner, 2-3 feet tall by as wide. It is actually a small shrub, made bushy by frequently trimming the tips so they branch. It blooms best in the sun but can tolerate quite a bit of shade. Native to the Caribbean, it has become naturalized in Florida.
As you plant your flowers for summer, reflect on ...
"No garden truly blooms until butterflies have danced upon it."
-- K. D'Angelo
Sherie Bleiler is Past President of Garden Club of Cape Coral and a Cape Coral Library butterfly garden committee member. Visit gardenclubofcapecoral.com and like on Facebook.