Spring Flowers
By Felder Rushing
Ever wonder if there are any flowers for a small space with grim growing conditions, that are nearly impossible to ignore to death? There actually are some that don’t include the word “plastic.”
With spring flowers thinking about giving up their ghost as harsh hot weather rolls in, the inevitable question is “What summer bloomers have big the most impact with the least effort?” Small shrubs, perennials, and annuals that can take our heat, all-night humidity, and heavy rains followed by prolonged drouth. In broiling sun? With no watering?
And, adding to the ghastly conditions, what if we throw in radiated heat from a patio or curb paving and we have the conditions I call Mailbox Murder. From a plant’s perspective, the conditions way out by the street, in full sun and well past the reach of a hose, is similar to those skinny strip plantings in mall parking lots, and between sidewalks and curbs where pavement can reach 150 degrees, then radiate it well into the night. Soil dries out quickly and plants get baked; horticulturists call these challenging spots “hell strips” for good reason.
Truth is, while it’s easy for designers to draw little circles onto paper plans and assign plant names to them, in real life some of the conditions we force plants into are sheer misery for both them and us. Those that don’t peter out quickly often, to our chagrin, just languish, making a sad spectacle of themselves.
A couple other challenges particularly for pedestrian areas include sight restrictions requiring plants to stay short and not very wide lest they sprawl into foot or vehicular traffic, the ability to recover quickly from being stumbled over or being run over with cars and look good most if not all year without needing a lot of pruning or tidying. And not have thorns, or bees. And not be poisonous to passing pets. And not accumulate litter (good luck with that).
Got the picture? Well, I have found plants that survive and perform in those spots, and, to add an extra challenge, have great foliage and flowers for months on end, not just one-shot wonders. I did this by trial and error over years of stuffing hapless plants into a four- by three-foot metal box pushed up against the cab of my old pickup truck, which I drive thousands of miles a year when not being gone for months at a time with no one to water. I gradually replaced those can’t take it, with some that can.
The most durable for me, which I even planted years ago between the sidewalk and street in my neighborhood, include dwarf yaupon and Chinese hollies, various dwarf nandinas, compact shrub roses, iris (crucial year-round contrasting foliage), rosemary, silvery gray artemisia, oregano, variegated liriope, and small ornamental grasses. And I adore hardy sedums and other succulents, though not many places can safely accommodate those with pointy leaves like dwarf agaves, but compact soft-leaf yucca (Y. recurvifolia) and variegated yuccas are outstanding; I even have a thornless prickly pear cactus that fits the bill.
Of all my favorite perennials and annuals that bloom vividly for a few weeks, for now let’s stick with those that flower continuously all summer and fall including lantana, both cockscomb and prince’s feather celosias, Angelonia, periwinkle, non-stop red-blooming Texas sage salvia, and the astonishingly durable native guara, especially some of the newer compact cultivars with deep pink flowers. All butterfly magnets.
These are a good start. Other than good soil prep and mulch, just keep the mailman in mind when it comes to butterflies - and bees.
Felder Rushing is a Mississippi author, columnist, and host of the “Gestalt Gardener” on MPB Think Radio. Visit his blog at felderrushing.blog. Email gardening questions to rushingfelder@yahoo.com.
