The Perennials and the Annuals

A friend said it takes 3 years for perennials to really produce. You plant the first year. The second year they take root. The third year they show off. Some of them are now at year three. She was right.

yes, the daisy needed de-heading

I am finding there are several plants that flower once and then they are done. They will be replaced next season because I prefer plants that will continue to produce flowers throughout the summer. I didn't pull the tag to identify this plant. It was chosen for the color of its flowers when it was originally planted. De-heading the dead blooms has not encouraged more flowers.

The poppies looked good earlier, but I am not certain they will show up next spring. Sad, cause I really like poppies.

This spring I focused on planting annuals behind the perennial bed. There were three reasons for that. The first was the neighbor across the wash commented how much she enjoyed my flowers. That got me thinking about adding more color and visibility on 'their' side of the flower bed. The second reason was to encourage and promote bees and butterflies. The third reason is to help hold the soil in place. I'm trying to keep the grass away from the flowers, but something need to keep the soil from eroding. Flowers seem to be a better choice than grass and weeds.

 

Some of the annuals are seed flowers and some were purchased as small plants for fill-ins when I didn't think the seeded ones would make it.

I think the annuals were very successful. I will put more effort into them next spring.

I was pleased to find some milkweed plants growing close to my flower garden this year. I carefully trimmed the weeds and grass around the plants hoping they would serve their purpose.

I haven't paid a lot of attention to them, checking for eggs, etc. Late last week I saw a fat caterpillar on one of the leaves. I didn't have my phone with me, but upon a little research it was a monarch caterpillar. It was no longer there the day I took these photos, but the evidence is in the chewed leaves. I am so please the milkweed 'hatched' at least one monarch butterfly!

The flowers are a work in progress. I dug out the crocus this spring because there was one flower among the dozen plants. Besides the bunnies loved to chew on them and that seemed to be a constant battle. I might find some other spring bulbs to plant this fall, but many of them are so tasty according to the past rabbit experiences. That will be a September project.

We leave August 2nd for a month-long camping and caching adventure. So you will have to check back now and then to see where we have traveled and what we saw.