Hi Finn,

Some of the longest blooming ones are:

Gaillardia

Coreopsis

daylilies

Alcea, hollyhocks  will reseed (no deadheading)

Agastache  I have A. rupestris, but I think they all bloom most of the summer

Gaura (no deadheading)

California poppies  will reseed all over  comes in pretty pastels--Eschscholzia 'Thai Silk'--in addition to the usual yellow-orange (no deadheading)

English lavender  will reseed some

Hibiscus moscheutos ÂDisco Belle puts on a good show (no deadheading)  will reseed some

ÂBecky  you canÂt beat Becky!

Callirhoe  needs lots of room to sprawl or drape (no deadheading)

annual dianthus  D. chinensis  sold in spring with bedding plants but comes back every year (many of the other dianthus bloom a long time too)

Veronica spicata ÂRoyal Candles  short spike veronica  mine bloomed most of last summer with deadheading  just coming into full bloom now

Rudbeckia hirta  not reliably hardy and may or may not come back, but easy to start from seed  may reseed (IÂve never grown it personally, but I think R. fulgida ÂGoldsturmÂ, which is reliably hardy, blooms most of the summer too.)

Echinacea, coneflower, starts a little bit later, but blooms a long time too

These arenÂt all xeric, but are all easy to take care of. With most perennials, to keep them blooming as long as possible, you need to deadhead them regularly. IÂve marked some of them that need little or no deadheading.

Skybird

WOW Skybird! That is an amazing list! Much more than I expected. Now I guess I have some decisions to make....and some research to do! I really appreciate how helpful you always are. Thank you so much.

Finn

Thanks, Finn. Glad to help when I can. If you have questions about any of them, just let me know.

One thing I just thought of! There have been a lot of new varieties of Echinacea out in the last few years--unusual colors for coneflowers--but I've heard several times that people have more trouble with the new hybrids, so if you're thinking of putting some of that in, since you're looking for easy, I'd stick with the "original" purple or white.

Skybird

Okay, great. Lastly, do you think I've missed my "spring" planting time with the 90 degree temps now? Should I hold off until fall or next spring at this point?

Have a great weekend everyone!

Are you planning to buy plants rather than start seed? What size plants? SmallÂ2-4" pots or bigÂgallon size? You should be able to put most things in now, but it will be harder on themÂand probably you too! If you do, find some way to shade them for the first few days to a week, depending on how warm/hot it is. Water them daily for the first 4 or 5 days, and then start to stretch it out. DonÂt keep them wet all the time for more than a few daysÂeven if theyÂre wilting-----or theyÂll wilt permanently! ;-) The bigger the plant is, the harder it will be for it to get started. I know some will disagree with this, but if I were putting in gallon or bigger plants now, IÂd cut off all but a few of the smallest leaves to give the plant a chance to get its roots going before it needs to support much foliage again. I even do that with small plants sometimes.

BUTÂyou might want to consider getting seed for some of the things you want and start it now in pots, planning to plant it in the ground in fall sometime. The warm weather would be great for that! And youÂd save a lot of money and still have decent small plants to put in the ground in 3 months. It also gives you something to be growing and watching over summer, rather than just sitting and waiting for fall. AND, starting from seed youÂll feel more like a "real parent!"

If I raised more questions than I answered, let me know!

:-)
Skybird

Hi Skybird,

I think you missed achillea - yarrow. It is almost impossible to kill and blooms for a good long time. Some of them seem to bloom all summer. I would also add Heliopsis Summer Sun - it blooms for 6 to 8 weeks in my garden.

Nancy

Hi Nancy,

Yes! Heliopsis is another great one! Didn't think of it. I was kinda hoping some other people would be along with some more recommendations. There must be a bunch more I didn't think of.

:-) But I did think of Achillea! IÂm just so scared of the stuff I decided to not put it down. IÂll amend that decision. The yellow ones, ÂAnthea and ÂMoonshine donÂt try to take over the world, so I would recommend them. But unless you have a BIG yard, the A. millefoliums are just too aggressive for my tastesÂand I donÂt want anybody coming around trying to shovel prune ME for having recommended them after theyÂve been in for a couple years. (I love the color of ÂPaprika and the other reds.)

Does anybody else have any other ideas? Everybody has their own favorites!

Skybird

Gaillardia and lavender are the workhorses of my non-rose garden. I also have a lot of:

Ratibida (Mexican Hat)
Asters (native CO species)
Echinacea angustifolia (I can't seem to grow E. purpurea up here, but its shortgrass cousin does well)
Nepetea reblooms if deadheaded/sheared

I grow a lot of reseeding poppies to fill in among the perennials. I also plant a lot of annual sunflowers to fill in. I also fill in with thyme, "kitchen" sage, and other herbs.

I love Penstemons but I wouldn't consider them long-blooming. "Red Rocks" and "Prairie Dusk" come close and do rebloom if deadheaded. P. strictus has a decent show early in the season, but peters out by late June/early July.

Nancy

I've got almost, but not quite, everything mentioned in all the previous posts above, but for real long season blooms, nothing beats a good repeat blooming rose or a good repeat blooming daylily. I'm trying to think what else has such a long blooming season, and at the moment, these are what keep popping into the brain.

I'd like to add Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber)..Jupiter's Beard. It also comes in white.

Holy cow, cnetter...how many acres do you have again! More appropriately, how many hours a day do you spend outside!

Well, I've definitely been shocked by the variety presented. I was assuming there was maybe a half dozen good ones out there. Nope! I'm going to forget about annuals now I think. I always thought that was the benefit of annuals in the Rockies...flowers all summer.

With the temperatures rising (today excluded), I think maybe I'll try starting some from seed as suggested. I'll hate seeing bare spots in my garden all summer but it's probably way better than watching all the new stuff get scorched. I'm nervous about feeling like more of a parent to my plants, though. I think I already worry more about my garden than I do my kids! "What's that honey...diaper change? Hold on, I just need to check the soil moisture level and do a little deadheading real quick."

Finn

WhatÂs that Finn? Did you say your plants need their diapers changed, and your wife wants you to check the moisture level of your kids?

Now is the time for a few of those annuals to fill in the bare spots this summer. If you can still find them, Wave petunias will fill in big areas pretty quickly. And you could even still start marigolds or cosmos by seeding them directly in the ground yet. Or put in a few (small) herb plants to fill us some spaceÂand use for cooking too. The red basils are great ornamentals! And golden sage and tri-color sage have real pretty foliageÂand are hardy too. Since you can get most herbs in 2" pots, theyÂre cheap and they transplant pretty easily.

And consider coming to the Fall Swap where you can get a few free things. EveryoneÂs invited whether they have something to bring to swap or not!

Have fun with your seeds,
Skybird

Daylilies are very easy care perennials. They are also very forgiving and put on a good show in spite of us.