Please remember that all information provided here, unless otherwise stated, is from personal experience! All photographs are owned by the authors.
Bellflower - Perennial
Campanula (Spiral Bellflowers pictured)
There are may different varieties of the Bellflower, but most of the differences are in height and color. The taller variety looks lovely behind any low-growing flower or against a wall. They are too beautiful to be hidden... they need to be shown off! This Perennial blooms from June thru September. Pinch off the dead flowers to encourage new blooms! Blue is the most common color but they can be found in lavender, violet, rose or white.
Peonies - Perennial
Paeonia
Peonies need space. They can get very large. We have ours in tomato cages to hold them up against the elements and the weight of the flowers. In early summer the blooms open up in their sunny location and fill the air with their glorious fragrance. It is important also to plant Peonies away from any doorway since ants are particularly attracted to the buds. They remove the sticky honey-like beads from the buds which is important to the blooms opening. Peonies can live for up to 20 years, each year yielding more and more flowers. DEBBIE: I got my Peony plant for Mother's Day one year and planted it. It was two years before I saw my first bloom. Now it's a major focus of the flower garden!
After the Peony finished blooming and the flowers are well dead, cut them away with scissors. You are left with a large globe of lush leaves which are still attractive for the rest of the summer! Leave the plant until the next Spring. Remove the old plant by cutting just above ground level. Pulling on them might bring them out of the ground.
Brown Eyed Susans - Perennial
Rudbeckia Species
A yellow, daisy-type flower, Brown Eyed Susans are a perennial. In a sunny location, these flowers can grow up to two and a half feet tall. They start to bloom in August and continue to bloom through to frost. They tend to spread into a sort of mass so it is wise to divide them every other year. They could very easily take over the garden in a random, rather than ordered spread. Once you have them in your garden, you will never had to worry about re-seeding or re-planting them as they self-seed quite productively.
Hosta - Perennial
Hosta
Hostas are one of my favorite shade plants. The picture is a varigated leaf with light on the outside and darker part in the center. This is the Francee variety. Hosta are known more for their foliage than their spike flower. The hostas come in solid color leaves or with contrasting margins, in combinations of green, gold, yellow, blue and white.
Helen's Flower - Perennial
Helenium Autumnale
Also called "Sneezeweed" this perennial has tall sprays of daisy-like flowers in rich autumn colors - deep red, russet and bright yellow. It blooms for about a month to 6 weeks August to frost. These plants are undemanding in the gardens and need sun to semi-shade. These are happy flowers, needing no dividing and do not spread heavily or uncontrollably.
These pictures were sent in by our friend, Al Neilson. He calls these the "Mystery Flower" or the "Friendship Flower." This plant needs a sunny location but they don't open during the daytime. The flowers open at night and, around midnight, the air becomes full with their aroma. It produces a variety of colors from yellow to fuchsia to oranges and half colors - all on the same plant! We have both planted the seeds this Spring (1999) and will let you know how they come along!
Our first planting did not go well. Lorraine's plant drowned :o( and Debbie's attracted a neighborhood cat that used the base as a litter box :o( The next year Debbie put the seeds in it's own pot in full sun but they didn't like it and Lorraine put hers in the shade... and they did not like it. LOL! Well, you can't say we're not great experimenters!! We're running out of seeds!
