Toward the end of the summer, I always look forward to seeing Goldfinches flock to my Purple Coneflowers. This is one plant that I definitely do not dead-head because it continues to attract such great wildlife even after it goes completely out of bloom. In fact, I don’t cut the seed heads until the following spring because they are attractive even in the winter. Being such a relatively low maintenance perennial, it’s no wonder that Coneflowers are so popular with people (and Goldfinches). There are quite a few varieties to choose from and more being created every year. I like ‘Magnus’, ‘Alba’, ‘Bright Star’ and ‘Sunrise’. I’ve had some trouble growing ‘Sunset’ which is unfortunate because I really like the color. Next spring I plan on getting ‘Green Envy’ or ‘Green Jewel’ just because I like green flowers. I am not a huge fan of the double Coneflowers, ‘Pink Double Delight’ or ‘Coconut Lime’. I wonder if those cultivars attract Goldfinches as well as the single flowering Coneflowers?

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod

Lots of flowers have “lily” added to the name: lily-of-the-valley, waterlily, daylily, calla lily, to name a few. It’s understandable – the lily is an archetypal flower, equal to the rose in history and symbolism, with thousands of years of reverence attached to it. Those other “lilies” have plenty of charm, but none of them have the sheer presence of the true lily.

One of the pleasures of a perennial garden is definitely the anticipation of seeing favorite blooms and vignettes re-appear year after year. The scene is the same, but always with a difference. Some plants thrive, getting fuller and more beautiful every year. Others are meant to dwindle away, to eventually be replaced by something new and just as lovely. The rather short blooming period of many perennials adds to the charm of a garden that is always in flux, always on the cusp of another transition.

This is the Garden’s CK Patrick perennial border, composed of herbaceous perennials and medium-sized shrubs. All combine to create harmonies of color and texture with foliage as well as flowers. This is one of my favorite moments in this garden, when the 7-foot foxtail lilies frame a cottage-pretty view of ‘Carefree Delight’ roses, pale yellow foxgloves, ‘Bee’s Ruby’ thrift and a dozen other pink, yellow and lavender beauties.

Personally, I’d rather not see my beautiful perennials falling over in mid- to late summer, would you? It is so much easier to consider staking certain taller perennials in the early summer than it is when they actually fall over and many times, unfortunately, snap at the base. We frequently stake our Phlox, Monarda, Sidalcea, and tall Rudbeckia varieties to name just a few plants.

You can use a number of items for stakes- bamboo which comes in a natural taupe color or painted green is probably the most common staking device. It’s strong, inexpensive and will last a quite a number of years. Of course, you’ll need to replace the string around the plants every year and removing old string from bamboo stakes is not my favorite job. This year, we’re trying a new type of stake pictured here that is spiral shaped, made of steel and covered in green plastic. It literally takes less than a few minutes to install. The stake really blends in well to the plant so that you barely notice it once the plant encompasses it. Consider staking now while your plants are still a reasonable size to manipulate- or you might be picking up their floppy stems come one windy, rainy day in August.