Category Archives: flowers

Virginia Bluebell Season Is Almost Here!

Virginia bluebell season is around the corner so plan now to see carpets of this ephemeral wildflower here in Virginia. Although mid-April has been the peak time in the past, it may come earlier since we had such a mild winter. Here are a few places in Northern Virginia to view colonies of bluebells; some places are already reporting blossoms now in March.

Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) are synonymous with early spring. Their blue trumpet-shaped flowers bloom above the green foliage in deciduous woodlands before the trees leaf out. These perennials emerge early in the year, bloom for a few weeks in March or April, and then die back to become dormant in the summer. The plants like the moist soil of the forest, high in organic matter. They self-seed and create colonies which is why you will see carpets of blue in the parks below. If you look closely, you will see that the buds are pink opening up to blue but the overall effect is a blue haze. These are native wildflowers, but you can purchase the plants from nurseries.

Balls Bluff Regional Battlefield Park (Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority), Balls Bluff Road, Leesburg.

Bull Run Regional Park (Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority), 7700 Bull Run Drive, Centerville. This park has a Bluebell Trail just off the Bull Run Occoquan Trail near the Atlantis Waterpark.

Great Falls Park (National Park Service), 9200 Old Dominion Drive, McLean.

Manassas National Battlefield Park (National Park Service), 6511 Sudley Road, Manassas. Best view is from the Stone Bridge.

Merrimac Farm (Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), 15014 Deepwood Lane, Nokesville.

Riverbend Park (Fairfax County Park Authority), 8700 Potomac Hills Street, Great Falls. Riverbend Park is celebrating bluebells on Saturday, April 8, 2023, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. There is a fee for attending this family event; however, the public can visit anytime to view the bluebells.

Scott’s Run Nature Preserve (Fairfax County Park Authority). 7400 Georgetown Park, McLean.

Turkey Run Park (National Park Service), George Washington Memorial Parkway, McLean.

Powdery Mildew Resistant Zinnias

Mexican zinnia

I grow zinnias every year in my Northern Virginia garden. Zinnias are probably one of the easiest flowers to grow from seed in this area. These warm season annuals can be sown directly into a container or on the ground after the last frost. They need full sun, good air circulation, and they are not particular about the soil. The flowers attract butterflies and bees; deer do not bother the plants.

The only hitch is that some species are prone to powdery mildew. Our hot and humid summer is an ideal environment for this fungal disease that creates a white coating on the plants. It does not kill the plants but makes the foliage unsightly. However, there are some zinnias that are resistant to powdery mildew.

Narrow-leaf zinnia, Zinnia angustifolia or Z. linearis, is a foot tall, bushy plant with narrow leaves and small, single, daisy-like flowers. The flowers are about an inch wide with single-colored petals such as orange, red, pink, white, or yellow. Because of its compact size, it makes an excellent window box or container plant and can be used in the garden as a border plant. These are small but you cut a bunch and put in a small vase.

Zinnia angustifolia

Mexican zinnia (Z. haageana) is like narrow-leaf zinnia in shape, size, and foliage. The flowers are a little larger and can be single, semi-double, or double petals. Each flower has more than one color – usually a spectrum of sunset colors: red, orange, burgundy, yellow, and cream. I discovered them when I purchased Renee’s Garden Persian Carpet mix, which I love. There are other flower blends such as Aztec Sunset, Jazzy Mix, Old Mexico, and Soleado. Again, small flowers but a bunch can be cut for small vases. These are excellent for containers and as border plants.

There are two series of zinnias that have been bred specifically for powdery mildew resistance:  Z. marylandica, also called Zahara, and the Profusion series. Zahara has flowers that are larger than the two previously mentioned species, about 2 to 2 1/2 inches wide. There is a wider flower color range too. The plants are taller, about 18 inches high, which is better for floral arrangements. Profusion is pretty much the same as Zahara, a taller zinnia with larger flowers. Zahara and Profusion give you a wide range of colors to pick from, these are easy to find in seed catalogs.

All of these are going to be easier to find if you look for the seed instead of a plant in a garden center. The companies below have these varieties and here is a list of more than 100 seed companies if you want to look for more zinnias.
Burpee
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
Kitchen Garden Seeds
Park Seed
Renee’s Garden

Mexican zinnias in a vase

 

Morning Glories: Easy-to-grow-from-seed Flowering Vines

Heavenly Blue

Morning Glories are so popular, they need little description. I plant them every year on a wooden banister. Their brightly colored faces greet me in the morning. By summer’s end, they have become close friends with the other plants, clasping their thin tendrils around branches of neighboring shrubs and perennials.

Growing morning glories from seed is easy if you bypass that hard seed coat. Either soak the seeds in water overnight before planting or nick the seed coat with a file to allow water to permeate. I start my seeds by soaking in water the night before. The next day, I sow them in small plastic containers with seed starting mix, under lights in my house. I do this in late April and transplant after last frost, typically Mother’s Day here in Northern Virginia. Morning glory seeds can be direct sown after Mother’s Day as well. They do need support so make sure they are planted in a place where the tendrils can clasp on to something.

Morning glories must be grown in full sun for the flowers to open up in the morning. Each flower only lasts one day but the vines produce many flowers. The vines prefer well-drained soil, not too rich or one gets more foliage than flowers. There is no need to deadhead or fertilizer.

Grandpa Ott’s

These annuals produce large seeds, many large seeds so it is easy to find them and save for next year. When the seeds develop in the fall, they are black with a papery brown coat. I cut the stem and drop the cluster of seedheads in a paper bag. Later, in the winter, I separate the seeds. One vine can produce many so this is a perfect plant to grow for seed exchanges.

For a while I have been growing Heavenly Blue from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Heavenly Blue is an heirloom with bright blue flowers and a white throat. This year I got Glacier Star from Renee’s Garden which is light blue with dark blue strips, creating a pinwheel effect. This is an heirloom so if I save the seeds, the resulting plants will look the same as the parents. If you want to save seeds, look for heirlooms or open pollinated, not hybrids.

Usually, morning glories have five fused petals in pink, white, magenta, or purple colors. For something different, check out Botanical Interests’ Chocolate which is salmon brown, or the Flying Saucer which is white with broad light blue streaks and a yellow throat. Or try Japanese morning glories from Baker Creek — the Kikyozaki mixed has pointed petals and the Imperial Japanese mix has a wide variety of markings on the blossoms. Kitchen Garden Seeds has a frilly pink called Split Second and a double purple one called Sunrise Serenade.

Try growing this easy annual vine this year. Morning glories are a great investment — one packet of seeds can reward you with flowers every year..

Mix of blue and pink

Early Spring Bloomers: Dwarf Irises

2014Marchgarden 017

Harmony

It is January and already I can see the green spikes emerging from the mass of dead, brown leaves. Dwarf irises are one of the earliest bloomers in my zone 7 Virginia garden. These irises are only 4-5 inches tall and bloom solitary flowers in February and March. Mine have been in my garden for a long time, nothing bothers them.

J.S. Dijt

J.S. Dijt

Also known as netted iris, dwarf irises (Iris reticulata) are very small bulbs, covered with a fibrous netting. There are many cultivars; flower colors range from light to dark blue or light to dark purple. Preferring full sun and well-drained soil, they thrive in rock gardens, on steps and terraces, in containers, and can be forced to bloom indoors in pots. The flowers can be cut for small desk top vases, bringing early spring cheer to the office or home.

They are available to plant in the fall, along with other bulbs, at local garden centers or through bulb companies. Because they are so small though, buy at least a handful. Plant with roots pointing down, spike pointing up, three inches deep and three inches apart. Hardy to zone 5, they die back in the summer and come back in the spring every year. In my garden, ‘J.S. Dijt’ and ‘Harmony’ have thrived for years with no pests or diseases.

Home for the Holidays: Florist’s Cyclamen

I am sure you have seen the beautiful holiday plant, cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum). Also called florist’s cyclamen, this plant blooms during winter and is a popular gift plant. The flowers, which are high above the foliage, last for several months. Cyclamen is available in a range of sizes, from mini to large, as well as flower colors in magenta, red, pink, and white. Beautiful as it is, it is not an easy plant to grow. Here are tips to prolong the bloom and save for next year. Continue reading

Pineapple Sage for You and the Hummingbirds

Currently, my pineapple sage plants (Salvia elegans) are blooming in my garden, their bright scarlet flowers are attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. Members of the salvia or sage family, pineapple sage plants are herbaceous, tender perennial herbs. I have two pineapple sage plants, which I bought last year as tiny babies, and I often use their leaves and flowers in the kitchen. Continue reading

Deformed Flowers? It May Be Aster Yellows

Lately I have seen a lot of chatter on Facebook about distorted Echinacea and Rudbeckia flowers in the garden. I too noticed this in my Virginia garden, so I looked it up.

Sure enough, my plants have “aster yellows.” Aster yellows is caused by a phytoplasma, a small bacterium. This is a disease that affects more than 300 species of plants, including asters, coneflowers, zinnias, marigolds, heleniums, and chrysanthemums. And it is not just ornamental plants but edibles such as garlic, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, and celery. Continue reading

Monarda: Native Herbs with Beautiful Flowers

Lately I have noticed more hummingbirds in my garden. I’d like to say it is because of the Monarda ‘Jacob Cline’ I planted but really, I have so many flowering plants it is hard to say. I purchased ‘Jacob Cline’ because a Mt. Cuba Center report said that out of all the Monarda plants in their trial, this one was visited the most by hummingbirds. Although hummingbirds love large-flowered, red cultivars of Monarda in general, they seem to prefer Jacob Cline because (researchers theorize) the plant is taller than the others, thus easier to find.

Continue reading

Cool Season, Hardy Annuals for Spring Flowers

snapdragons

Now is the time to plant cool season, hardy annuals. Annual plants grow and die in one season. Usually we think of the warm season annuals (i.e., summer) such as marigolds and petunias. However, cool season, hardy annuals are started in the fall, don’t mind the winter, and bloom during the cool spring months before summer.  Typically these are started from seed now and planted in the fall before our first frost in late October. Continue reading

Evening Bloomers: Four O’ Clocks

yellow four o’ clocks in my garden, 8:30 pm

A few years ago my family visited Monticello in the summer. I was struck by how large Thomas Jefferson’s four o’ clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) were compared to mine. I also liked the fact that it was a plant he grew and could still be grown today. Four o’ clocks are heirloom, perennial plants that bloom in the summer. Continue reading