Colour: From Spring to Fall
By Anna Sauve, Master Gardener, March 25, 2025
These perennial selections are reliable, more disease resistant, have good shape and form, and require little work in terms of pruning and trimming. They are all plants of size and substance to form the framework of your garden, and with a wide choice of cultivars, any colour scheme is possible.
Tall Bearded Iris – May to June
This early bloomer makes a great accent plant, adding vertical interest. Iris requires full sun, and well-drained soil. When planting, rhizomes should be just below the soil surface. The growing point is at one end of the rhizome, so planting a group in a circular fashion creates a good-sized clump quickly. Once flowering ends, cut flower stems back, leave the leaves to manufacture food for the plant throughout the summer, then cut back to a few inches before winter.
Peonies -June
The Queen of the Garden, this large plant adds structure, is cold hardy, very long-lived – peonies will flower for generations – and relatively disease and pest-resistant. Peonies require full sun, fertile, well-drained soil and benefit from a layer of compost in spring. Installing plant supports early in the season will prevent the large blooms from flopping over during rain or a windy day. New, single-flowering cultivars, such as Bowl of Beauty, come in eye-catching double colours with stunning large, fluffy flowers. Peony foliage turns a gorgeous red late in the season, and is cut back in late fall.
Daylilies – July to August
Daylilies are mid-summer flowering show-stoppers, amazingly low-maintenance, almost entirely disease and pest-free, drought resistant and not fussy about soil. They grow quickly, are long-lived and deer resistant. Daylilies establish quickly and thrive in places too wet or too dry for most other perennials. With thousands of varieties to choose from, it is easy to find a height, bloom time and color combination to fit your garden. Be mindful of the species Hemerocallis fulva (aka the infamous orange ditch daylily) which is now considered invasive in our growing region.
Daisies – July to August
Daisies are a classic flower everyone loves. Best in full sun, average to sandy soil with good spacing, daisies are strong, extremely cold-hardy plants, low-maintenance, and will tolerate short periods of drought. Shasta daisy, a staple at the back of a garden, grows three to four feet. Other cultivars provide colour and size, including dwarf varieties for the front of your garden. The highly visible blossoms attract insect pollinators to the garden, and make excellent cutting flowers.
Tall Garden Phlox – August to September
Phlox, which thrive in full sun or partial shade, bloom for several weeks. These sturdy, upright plants should be planted in fertile, well-drained soil with regular weekly watering at soil level to prevent powdery mildew. The narrow foliage and vertical habit mix well with broadleaf plants or plants with a mounding growth habit. Available in a fantastic range of colours and eye-catching bi-colours, flower clusters attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Remove spent blooms to encourage continued flowering. Cut the plants back in the fall to a few inches.
CONSIDER THIS:
These perennials not only add gorgeous colour to your garden, they are easily divided, rewarding you with more plants to create a lush garden or share with friends.
This series of gardening articles is brought to you by the Simcoe County Master Gardeners, members of the Master. Gardeners of Ontario. For more information visit www.simcoecountymg.ca.