Contrary to popular belief, we can’t grow everything in California. Or at least not everything in all of California. And not everything all the time and in the same way that it’s grown elsewhere in the country. But we can get quite nice rewards from some plants that aren’t completely adapted here by using them in a different way than their familiar distinction. (Garden lovers living in most southern states, including Florida, the coasts of the Gulf States and the desert areas of Arizona: Take note as well!)
You can get satisfying results from growing
Catananche caerulea as a cool-season annual.
Photo Credit: Joe Seals
While
Delphinium hybrids are perennials elsewhere, they make fabulous annuals in California.
Photo Credit: Joe Seals
If planted in late fall,
Echinacea purpurea will begin to bloom as early as late winter.
Photo Credit: Joe Seals
I like the plants known as “hardy perennials,” for instance. (Familiar examples include columbines and delphiniums.) Yet true “hardiness” – a plant’s tolerance of serious winter cold – is not an issue for those of us in California or for those in warm-climate areas. We just don’t need plants that tolerate below-zero temperatures.
Our real dilemma is that true hardy plants actually need that cold winter slap in the face to put them into a resting stage. It’s this “hibernation” phase that not only helps these plants through the coldest winters, it persuades them to push out an abundance of new growth for the coming spring and summer.
Without a cold winter, hardy perennials simply limp into the coming year rather than burst into it, and they become even limper over the following years. Often such perennials suffer in California’s dry summers, making them look as trashy as they would look if they were going into Eastern winters.
But I’ve found a way to make hardy perennials work for me: If I change my expectations of these luscious flowers, I come out a winner.
I simply grow hardy perennials as cool-season annuals.
The schedule looks like this:
I plant young plants in late fall – October and November – after summer heat or Santa Ana winds have passed us by. (If you don’t expect to find young plants at the nursery this fall, start your own from seed in late August or September.)
The plants grow during fall and winter. They bloom as early as late winter, or they start in spring and sometimes carry into summer, depending on the species.
When the plants start to wither away in our dry summers or when they start to weaken, just yank them out of the ground and declare, “Hurray! My cool-season annuals performed magnificently!”
Besides columbines and delphiniums, you can get similarly satisfying results from other hardy perennials such as Aurinia saxatilis, Campanula lactiflora, Catananche caerulea, Delphinium grandiflorum and Primula sinensis.
The many “pinks” are also easy, including Dianthus deltoides, Dianthus gratianopolitanus and Dianthus plumarius.
But wait, there’s more! You can also try the ever-popular Echinacea purpurea, Erysimum x allionii, Erysimum cheiri and Rudbeckia hirta.
And finally, there are plenty of hardy perennials that we already consider winter annuals, such as Alcea ficifolia, Coreopsis grandiflora, Papaver croceum (also known as Papaver nudicaule) and Primula x polyantha.
This way of planting is nothing more than a mind shift. We’re just changing the category from “hardy perennial” to “cool season annual,” and voilà! Gratifying flowers in a garden sure to please!
