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fire bush
lantana
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perennials and bulbs to friends or neighbors.
To a gardener there can be no better gift.
As for the perfect spot, some plants
are pickier than others. If something has
simply gotten shaded out or has become
too exposed, then move it accordingly.
Remember that full-sun plants here in the
southeast usually don’t mind a little shady
down-time.
Keeping everything happy and blooming
in the muggy South is unrealistic. There are
few plants tough enough to sustain both the
late summer heat and the frosty winters while
maintaining perfect flowering composure.
Though there are, Ericson says, a few failproof
gems that give-and-give-and-give that
every Wilmington gardener should have.
Consistent Color
For the dog days of summer, there are
few that can beat the heat. The commonly
used rudbekia gold strum (black-eyed Susan),
butterfly bush, daylilies, lantana (the list goes
on) are all great choices for summer color,
but Ericson suggests some rarely used specimens
that keep the color longer.
Caesalpinia spinosa has bluish, mimosa-like
airy foliage and big yellow flowers like snapdragons.
It can get up to five to six feet tall,
tolerates drought, heat and sandy soil, and
makes a great background plant for perennials
blooming early to late summer. Hamelia
patens or fire bush electrifies the late summer
garden with orangey-red blooms and makes
a nice background for shasta daisies or white
annuals. The most tolerant though, Ericson
says, is cestrum, with bright golden yellow
flowers that cover this six-to-eight-foot tall
woody perennial. It blooms from late April
to early December. “Mine did everything
and asked for nothing,” Ericson says. “All it
wants is sun.”
Other under-used winners, he says, are
quaint, low-growing rain lilies that need
full sun and a nice rain shower to put on a
charming show of white, pale pink or creamy
yellow flowers; the annual shrimp plant that
the hummingbirds go wild for from May
to October or November; and self-seeding
larkspur that shoots up to three to four feet,
topped with gorgeous flowering heads of
blue, pink and purple.
Beauty berry daylily
gomphrena
September blooms in Tom
Ericson’s garden