Long days, fireflies and thunderstorms – summer’s here! And along with summer comes some patriotic holidays: Memorial Day, Flag Day, and the 4th of July. Let their tunes and festivities serve as an inspiration in the garden! “Ev’ry heart beats true ’neath the Red, White and Blue.” I’ve picked three favorite summer-blooming native perennials whose red, white and blue flowers will have you humming the tune of “You’re a Grand Old Flag” in the garden!
You can depend on a burst of summer color from the spikes of cardinal flower.
Photo Credit: Lane Greer
The large, white flower spike of the yucca is an eye-pleaser, but the filament-covered leaves also add a great textural element to the garden.
Photo Credit: Lane Greer
With wild ageratum in your garden, you’ll be happy to have the blues!
Photo Credit: Lane Greer
Red
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Height: 3-5 feet
Spread: 2 feet
Zones: 3-9
Blooms: July-October
In the heat of summer, the vivid red spikes of cardinal flower bring a rocket of color to the garden. This wildflower is native to the eastern US, from southeastern Canada south to Florida and west to eastern Texas and Minnesota. The brilliant-red tubular flowers are found in a spiked cluster 2-4 feet tall. Cardinal flower likes wet to moist soil (often found in the wild near streams) and grows in shade to full sun. Not only is this native beautiful to look at, it’s useful, too: The plant is a nectar source for hummingbirds, its chief pollinators.
White
Yucca/Adam’s needle (Yucca filamentosa)
Height: 2-10 feet
Spread: 3 feet
Zones: 4-9
Blooms: June-September
Yes, there is a yucca native to the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic! Yucca filamentosa, also known as Adam’s needle, bear-grass, Spanish-dagger and more, adds summer interest to the garden with its 2- to 10-foot flower stalk, displaying large, white, bell-shaped blooms. Found in the wild on sandy beaches, dunes and old fields, yucca is an evergreen plant with spike-shaped, evergreen leaves. It likes full sun and well-drained soil. The plant is also useful: Native Americans used it many different ways, including for food, medicine, cordage and soap. It’s also used as a nectar source for hummingbirds and its main pollinator – small, white Yucca moths.
Blue
Blue mistflower/wild ageratum (Eupatorium coelestinum)
Height: 1-3 feet
Spread: 3 feet
Zones: 5-9
Blooms: August-October
Blue mistflower is a great native alternative to lavender Ageratum. This tall, graceful perennial brings fireworks of fuzzy, blue flowers to the garden in late summer. It enjoys moist soils in full to partial sun, like in its wild home of low woods, wet meadows, thickets and wood edges. It also loves to spread, but it’s easy to pull up any excess. Because mistflower’s a native, it’s useful to our native wildlife, too: It’s a nectar source for butterflies and other insects, and its seeds are a food source for other animals.
While these three are my favorites, there are many more natives out there that’ll speak to your patriotic spirit! Just to name a few:
Red: Eastern wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) and red bee balm (Monarda didyma)
White: Atamasco lily (Zephyranthes atamasco), foamflower (Tiarella wherryi), white false indigo (Baptisia alba), white milkweed (Asclepias variegata) and white snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum)
Blue: False indigo (Baptisia australis), ‘October Skies’ aster (Aster oblongifolius ‘October Skies’), wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata) and wild lupine (Lupinus perennis)
Take a closer look at Mother Nature’s plant palette and see the innumerable color combinations that can be pulled together to create a festive or themed garden for various occasions through the year!
