What plants bloom the longest in Sonoma County?

WE ALL LOVE TO VISIT GARDENS IN FULL BLOOM. Yet most garden visits are just a moment in time; their appearance changes dramatically over the course of a season.

In our climate there is often a peak flowering in spring or early summer and then intermittent blooming the rest of the season. Achieving glory in our flower borders all season is hard for many gardeners. But one easy way to create floriferous gardens for much of the growing season is to use perennial plants that bloom for a long time, sometimes termed “super-bloomers.”

These generous plants don’t seem to have an off button and just keep flowering for months. In some cases, many of the plants in the genus are long blooming, and in other cases a few individual cultivars or a single species stands out. These plants bloom ferociously for months with almost no intervention from the gardener. In many cases some work is needed to keep new flowers coming. In upcoming columns I will discuss these excellent plants as well.

If full-on floral glory is your goal, use multiples of the plants listed below and sprinkle them around your whole site. Combine plants with complementary colors for a harmonious garden.

They can be bright colors or pale, or a sympathetic combination of the two. Colors like bright yellow dotted into a pastel-hued garden act to pick up the whole color scheme. White cools down orange as does purple foliage. There is no end of fun combinations.

It is important to create conditions for plants that give them enough resources to keep putting out new flowering growth. Happy plants bloom longer than ones that are not receiving what they need. Sufficient irrigation and adequate nutrients and fertile soil with organic matter is essential for most plants to bloom for a long period of time.

In our area we are fortunate to have many good compost companies. A top dressing of good quality compost once a year is often all plants need. Please note woodchips take away nutrients like nitrogen from the soil as they decompose. Also, as our area has such a diversity of climates - from frost-free to coastal, hot inland to winter frozen - plants will perform differently in each area.

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THE HUMMINGBIRD-FRIENDLY CIGAR PLANTS or cuphea are especially floriferous, and their flowers with constricted nectar tubes cater to hummingbirds. The foliage is glossy and handsome all summer and in mild winter areas, may not die back. A 2-foot-tall cultivar with flaming crimson orange flowers called ‘Vermillionaire’ is usually available locally. Cuphea ignea is also good, as well as ‘Starfire Pink’ and ‘Flaming Sunset.’

The Mendocino Coast Botanic Garden has an excellent pink variety called ‘Kirsten’s.’ It grows to about 3 to 4 feet tall and is especially attractive to bees. Cupheas do need regular water, fertile soil and compost.

Flowering maples (abutilon) have large nodding bell flowers and bloom for many months. They are hardy except in the very north of our area. There are both dwarf varieties and tall shrubby types. All benefit from fairly hard winter pruning. Abutilons come in a variety of colors to suit every taste and are hummingbird friendly. They grow in some shade and sun. All are easy to grow, especially in areas with some coastal influence.

Fuchsias are another super-bloomer that does especially well in areas with some coastal influence. There are many varieties. In general, stay away from the dwarfs. They aren’t vigorous. Instead look for plants that form small shrubs. Each is covered in dangling, fairy-lantern or mini-ballerina shaped flowers in shades of pink, rose, purple and white for months. A cold resistant variety is called ‘Galfrey Lyle’. Fuchsias with nondouble flowers are hummingbird-friendly.

Who doesn’t love a dahlia? A super-bloomer series with single flowers and deep purple foliage is the Mystic series. Mystic Haze is a soft orange, Mystic Illumination is a clear lemon yellow, and both have contrasting eyes. They are the most vigorous of the group. The purple foliage shows off flower colors beautifully.

A drought-resistant super-bloomer is lion’s mane (Leonotus leonurus). The plant is upright with deep green leaves and flowers in whorls around the stems, but the weird hairy, orange tarantula leg-like, hummingbird friendly flowers are what the plant is grown for. In coastal areas it can be very vigorous and grow to 5-6 feet tall and can seed a little bit. In warmer summer areas with colder winters it gets to about 3 feet tall and dies to the ground in the winter.

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A PLANT LITTLE GROWN IN OUR AREA is the very drought-resistant wooly ironweed, Vernonia lindheimeri v. leucophylla. It is from west Texas and has upright stems with bright silver foliage and fuzzy bright magenta flowers held on the stem ends all summer. It is striking plant with and without the flowers. It needs good drainage and absolute full sun and may not do well near the coast. High Country Gardens mail order nursery has plants in the spring.

Rosemary has a long winter and spring bloom, but Rosemary ‘Mozart’ blooms all summer as well.

Most lavenders have a spectacular early summer bloom, then great foliage for the+ rest of the year. French lavender (Lavandula dentata) blooms almost all year round. Its leaves are serrated or toothed the entire length. Vigorous, it gets to about 3-4 feet tall and wide. It does not tolerate low temperatures well and is best in areas with some coastal influence.

There are many varieties of penstemons. Many are spectacular spring or early summer bloomers, with not a lot happening after that. A couple that bloom all summer are a cultivar called ‘Enor’ and a series called Cha-Cha ™. ‘Enor’ is an upright plant to about 2 feet tall and has handsome burgundy flowers. It doesn’t like crowding. ‘Enor’ does benefit from removal of the old flower spikes. Cha-Cha purple is smaller, denser and spreading with numerous bright flowers.

Agastache, or hummingbird mints as they are sometimes called, are spectacular additions to the summer garden. All bloom most of the summer, and some barrel though all season for the hummingbirds. A good series are the Kudo’s ™ . They are low growing, to about 14 inches tall and 2 feet wide. ‘Kudo’s Ambrosia’, ‘Coral’, and ‘Mandarin’ are very showy and good choices. A couple of tall agastaches that flower all season are ‘Rosy Giant’ and ‘Tutti Frutti’, with spectacular bright pink/raspberry flower spikes about 4 feet tall. Later blooming A. rupestris is also great. With luminous grey/green leaves and sunset colored flowers, it will bloom well into the fall. Agastache ‘Purple Haze’ is a light purple, bee-friendly upright Agastache to 2 feet tall. It forms a dense hedge of flowers if planted in a line.

More hummingbird-friendly super-bloomers are the California fuchsias (Epilobium). They are not fuchsias, but are groundcovers or spreading plants that have large, showy crimson flowers that vaguely resemble them. There are many good varieties, and, in most situations, they will bloom midsummer through fall, but of a couple of outstanding selections are ‘Shieffelin’s Choice’ and ‘Catalina’. ‘Shieffelin’s Choice’ is only about 1 foot tall and spreads to about 3 feet. E. ‘Catalina’ has striking white foliage and grows to about 2 feet tall and 4 feet wide. It blooms late summer through fall.

Finally, there are the salvias. There are so many to choose from. Some are not frost hardy or do best in coastal areas. A few grow and bloom well in many areas. The well-known Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ is sub-shrub that benefits from being cut back in winter. Other lesser-known strong plants are Salvia ‘Mesa Azure,’ a small rounded shrublet, which grows 2 feet tall with bright purple flowers. Similar is S. ‘Royal Bumble,’ a salvia greggii type, with large crimson flowers. These don’t get twiggy and ratty like Salvia greggii, but form dense small shrubs. They need cutting back hard in winter. Both are cold-hardy. Salvia “indigo Spires’ is an upright large plant with deep blue/purple flowers, magnificent in fall. Smaller, just as good and more drought resistant is Salvia farinacea. It has florescent bright blue blooms and needs well-drained soil.

Kate Frey’s column appears every other week in Sonoma Home. Contact Kate at: katebfrey@gmail.com, freygardens.com, Twitter @katebfrey, Instagram @americangardenschool