Yes They Exist!

Okay, so maybe you are not as horticulturally ignorant as I am, but until recently I still conceived (even with all my vast training) of flowering bulbs as a spring and fall thing. There is, however, a whole series of options that add interest throughout the summer. Here are a couple of my current favorites found in Hershey Children’s Garden:

• Eucomis comosa  is the pineapple lily. This semi-hardy South African bulb provides interesting spikes of color for a solid week (if I recall) and the broad, coarse leaves add great textural interest.
• Many lilies, Lillium sp., are wonderful to behold. An unknown orange cultivar, pictured above, is blooming as I write this article.
• Triteleia sp. is actually a cormous set of fourteen species, but it’s delightful summer blue is worth pointing out. The blooms last for approximately a week and definitely like more sun. Come see such a display as seen below.

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.

Plain Dealer Night Picture Editor Jon Fobes has a new floral slideshow that you can check out at cleveland.com. He snapped some of the photos here at the Garden!

I recently read that the Phalaenopsis (Moth) Orchid is the second most popular house plant in the U.S. preceded only by the Poinsettia. And that makes perfect sense since I see Moth Orchids everywhere: the grocery store, the big box stores, garden centers, etc. What I find unfortunate is that many of these orchids are now treated as throw-away plants. Once the orchid is finished blooming, why keep it? I disagree. Moth Orchids are incredibly beautiful and easy to grow and can be kept in a typical windowsill, providing years of blooms. All you need to do is provide light from an east or west window, water once per week, sometimes twice, fertilize every other week and re-pot it every two years. If you’re not familiar with growing these orchids, that’s just another reason to come to the Garden this Feb. to learn how you can grow colorful Moth Orchids.

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod